 Klemme got the team 's first @-@ ever win early in the spring season , at Le Samyn . After a solo escapee was caught by an elite 12 @-@ rider group that came clear of the peloton , Klemme timed his attack on the day 's final climb with precision and stayed out front for victory by eight seconds over <unk> Ista . The team came to the first monument race of the season , Milan – San Remo , with high ambitions . Cancellara aimed for a second triumph in the race , having previously won the 2008 edition , but he recognized that slipping away unmarked in the race 's final kilometers as he did three years prior would be difficult to do again . He considered Philippe Gilbert to be his principal rival for the race . Cancellara and O 'Grady made the day 's major selection on the Le Manie climb , after a crash 90 km ( 56 mi ) from the finish . O 'Grady hit out on the attack a few times shortly before the end of the race , but it was Cancellara who was present in an eight @-@ rider group that formed on the Poggio which decided the race . These eight riders represented eight different teams , so no one was able to get a proper leadout . After Gilbert , Vincenzo Nibali , and Yoann <unk> opened up the sprint , Cancellara tried to come around them for the win , but was beaten at the line by HTC – Highroad 's Matthew Goss . Cancellara was deeply disappointed to finish second , feeling that even though he had done one of the best sprints of his life , he had not done adequately to pay off his team 's efforts on the day . 
