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Milano-Sanremo, Italy

18 March, 294K

La Classicissima

Overall Map, Profile Ultimi 30K, Profile
Startlist
Photos
Report and Results
2005 Results

Milano-Sanremo, La Classicissima, La Primavera or just Sanremo ... However you like to refer to it, this race is one of the spring staples and lives up to its legend. For one it is the distance of the race, the parcours covers 294 kilometers from the fashion capital Milano to the resort town of Sanremo on the Mar Ligure, making it the longest classic still thriving on the international cycling calendar.

Then there is the scenery of the Milano-Sanremo. There are le donne Milanese milling around the partenza at Sant'Ambrogio, then the race heads out of town crossing the Lombardia plain and Po River. The course is mostly flat, with some rollers, until the riders reach the Passo del Turchino (180m). It is a 24K brute but too far from Sanremo (at 151K to go) to make a difference.

Over the top of Turchino will make all the difference, because the peloton will smell the salt water and after 12K of downhill they will reach the Liguria coast. The Capi (little hills) start to pop up and the palm tree roads become narrow and twisty, this is where you really need to be at the front to avoid disaster and position yourself for the finale.

The final 50K from Allasio to Sanremo contains the famed climbs: Capo Mele, Capo Cervo, Capo Berta, Cipressa and Poggio. The Cipressa (240m) and Poggio (169m) are the climbs where riders like Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), Paolo Bettini (Quick-Step) and Mirko Celestino (Milram) will launch their missiles to try to crack the gruppo and escape the sprinters. These final two climbs will be lined with tifosi and they make for a great place to watch the action.

There are 5.7K from the top of the Poggio to the arrivo on the Via Roma in Sanremo. Any attackers will be heavily gunned-down by the big sprint squadras, but the right mix of riders could stay clear. If not, then brace yourself for the biggest sprint royale in the cycling business. Winning a bunch gallop on the Via Roma is THE DREAM of every sprinter and make no mistake, any of one of them would kill to punch the air in victory.

Look down the list of winners and you will see the who's-who of sprinting and Italian cycling. Riders like Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck, Francesco Moser, Sean Kelly and Mario Cipollini. Then there are the active riders who will be returning for a repeat victory at the 97th Milano-Sanremo: Bettini, Alessandro Petacchi, Erik Zabel (Milram) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank).

Past Winners (from 1960):