History Milan–San Remo

1 history

1.1 pioneering days
1.2 la classicissima
1.3 sprinters classic

history
the pioneering days

the idea of bike race between milan , sanremo originated unione sportiva sanremese. first amateur race held on 2 , 3 april 1906 on 2 stages (milan-acqui terme , acqui terme-sanremo); albeit little success. milanese journalist tullo morgagni, had launched tour of lombardy in 1905, put forth idea of organizing professional cycling race in single day on course. proposed project eugenio costamagna, director of popular sports newspaper gazzetta dello sport, took on organization.

lucien petit-breton won race s first running in 1907

on 14 april 1907 first official edition of milan–san remo held: 60 riders registered, 33 took start @ 5 a.m. @ conca fallata inn of milan. inaugural edition raced under extremely cold circumstances , won frenchman lucien petit-breton, completed 286 kilometers (177 miles) average speed of 26.206 km/h (16.5 mph). 14 riders finished.

the race commercial success , attracted of best riders of european cycling, prompting gazzetta dello sport organize second edition in 1908, won belgium s cyrille van hauwaert. first italian winner of milan–san remo luigi ganna won in 1909 hour on frenchman emile georget.

in 1910 primavera gained eternal fame , place in cycling legend because of extreme weather conditions. riders needed take refuge in houses along roads because severe snowstorm scourged peloton. 4 out of 63 riders made finish. frenchman eugène christophe won, though thought had taken wrong road , did not realize first reach sanremo. christophe finished race in 12 hours , 24 minutes, making slowest edition ever. giovanni cocchi finished second @ 1h 17 minutes winner.

la classicissima

after pioneering days of race, began era of costante girardengo, connected name indelibly classic. 1917 1928 girardengo had record 11 podium finishes, 6 times winner. subsequent years marked rivalry between learco guerra , alfredo binda, emulation caused them lose several victories. similar rivalry 1 in 1940s mythical years of fausto coppi , gino bartali, duels subject of intense coverage , resulted in epic races.

milan–san remo @ peak of popularity , italian press started coin untranslatable term la classicissima, greatest of classics. 1935 1953 race run every year on 19 march, feast of patron saint joseph, hence press in predominantly catholic italy gave other nickname, la gara di san giuseppe (saint joseph s race). in 1949 race finished first time on iconic via roma, busy shopping street in heart of sanremo.

as 1950s race won belgian , spanish sprinters, , after 1953, italian riders not seal victory 17 years. in 1960 race director vincenzo torriani added climb of poggio, before arrival in sanremo. intent make race finale harder, decision did not have aspired effect , streak of non-italian victories continued.

in 1966 began legendary era of eddy merckx, achieved historic , unsurpassed record of 7 victories. 7 wins record number of victories rider in single classic date. after cannibal s streak no rider dominate milan–san remo again until 1997, when german erik zabel began series of 4 victories , 2 second places.

the sprinters classic

sprinter alessandro petacchi winning 2005 milan–san remo

in 1990 gianni bugno set race record of 6h 25 m 06 seconds win 4 seconds on rolf gölz. average of 45.8kmh (28.45 mph). other memorable editions in 1990s 1 in 1992, when seán kelly caught moreno argentin in descent of poggio , beat italian in sprint; 1999 edition, when andrei tchmil launched decisive attack under one-kilometer banner , narrowly stayed ahead of peloton, zabel winning sprint second place.

in 2004 zabel have won fifth time, lost Óscar freire because lifted arms celebrate , stopped pedalling early. freire go on secure total of 3 primavera wins in later years. in 2008 finish moved different location first time in 59 years, due road works on via roma. swiss fabian cancellara first winner on lungomare italo calvino, ultimate solo attack in streets of san remo.

michał kwiatkowski winning 2017 milan-san remo narrowly outsprinting peter sagan , julian alaphilippe on via roma.

in 2009 100th edition of milan–san remo held, won british sprinter mark cavendish on first attempt. cavendish beat australian heinrich haussler in millimeter sprint .

the race of 2013 epic contest. heavy snowfall , below-zero temperatures forced organizers shorten race 298 kilometres (185.2 miles) 246 kilometres (152.9 miles) eliminating 2 key climbs – passo del turchino , le manie – , arranging bus transfer, race begin second time. race won german gerald ciolek outsprinted peter sagan , fabian cancellara.

in 2015, after 7 years on seaside, race director mauro vegni decided move finish via roma, stating change 2015 , beyond. german john degenkolb won race ahead of previous winner alexander kristoff.

the 2016 milan-san remo won fdj sprinter arnaud démare in mass sprint. 1 day after race, both matteo tosatto (tinkoff) , eros capecchi (astana) accused démare of having used tow of teamcar rejoin pack after crash before cipressa climb. démare rebuffed these allegations, saying race commissioners right behind him , have disqualified him, had done illegal. on 8 may 2016, became public italian cycling federation making inquiries accusations démare, tosatto saying had given written testimony officials incident.

team sky s michał kwiatkowski won 2017 milan-san remo in three-up sprint finish ahead of world champion peter sagan (bora–hansgrohe) , quick-step floors rider julian alaphilippe after trio broke clear on race s final climb – poggio di san remo – .