Route Milan–San Remo

1 route

1.1 present course
1.2 race characteristics
1.3 proposed changes

route
present course

route of 2011 edition

upon inception, milan–san remo conceived straightforward line milan, industrial heart of northern italy, san remo, fashionable seaside resort on italian riviera trademark belle epoque villas. race starts on piazza del duomo in heart of milan , heads southwest, on plains of lombardy , piedmont, along cities of pavia, voghera, tortona, novi ligure , ovada. race enters liguria, peloton addresses passo del turchino, first climb of day, after 140 km.

after descent of turchino race reaches ligurian sea in voltri @ halfway point. here course follows aurelia highway west, spectacular , typical scenery along ligurian coast. race crosses towns of arenzano, varazze, savona, finale ligure, pietra ligure , loano, followed seaside resorts along riviera dei fiori (alassio, andora, diano marina , imperia). between alassio , imperia, 3 short hills along coast included: capo mele, capo cervo , capo berta. in san lorenzo al mare course turns inwards cipressa, next climb, top @ 22 km finish. after towns of santo stefano al mare , arma di taggia comes last , famous climb, poggio di sanremo, in fact suburb of san remo, built upon hill along sea.

from top of poggio, 7 km finish, course heads down via fast , curvy descent towards center of san remo race traditionally finishes on via roma, city s illustrious shopping street.

race characteristics

being longest professional one-day race, milan–san remo unusual test of endurance in season. won not fastest sprinter, strongest , best prepared rider strong sprint finish. cipressa , poggio have foiled many sprinters not stay front group.

profile of 2015 edition

in years significant difficulty passo del turchino, pivotal site of race – when cycling became more professional, climb not demanding enough , far finish decisive. in 1960 poggio, 4 km climb few kilometres before finish, introduced. in 1982 cipressa, near imperia added. other hills capo mele, capo cervo , capo berta. 2008 2014 organizers added climb of le manie well, between turchino , capi. turchino , le manie longer climbs, meant cause first selection in peloton, while capi, cipressa , poggio rather short, inviting attackers distance peloton.

in recent years there has been big selection in latter stages of race. many sprinters able keep main peloton on climbs, , therefore race ends in group sprint. nonetheless, location of poggio close finish has meant riders position on top of poggio crucial in order win race.

despite flat course , long finishing straight, sprinters teams have been foiled time time determined attack on last hills. examples include laurent jalabert , maurizio fondriest escaping in 1995 , staying ahead finish. in 2003, paolo bettini attacked luca paolini , mirko celestino stay ahead. in 2012 vincenzo nibali , fabian cancellara attacked on poggio, followed australian simon gerrans outsprinted them @ finish.

proposed changes

milan–san remo has had little significant course changes since first edition, , organizers have made matter of honour stay true original intent.

view on pompeiana, proposed new site milan–san remo

the last change course inclusion of le manie, in 2008. in september 2013, organiser rcs sport announced race include pompeiana climb between cipressa , poggio. keep race @ reasonable distance, exclude le manie. pompeiana, named after village road passes, climbs 5 kilometres 13% maximum gradient, , therefore difficult climb in race finale.

the proposed route reversed weeks before race in march 2014, when pompeiana had been damaged recent landslides, making dangerous cycling race pass. hence race re-routed , made more traditional , sprinter-friendly. led number of sprinters, had earlier ruled out due addition of climb, including mark cavendish, declaring interest in riding again.

in 2015, climb of le manie cut race, , neither pompeiana included in trajectory. pre-2008 route, race organizers stated want respect race s traditional course.