Male Team 17 Mar
Milano-Sanremo
294 Kilometers
The 109th edition of Milano-Sanremo keeps alive a formula that is seen less and less in modern cycling: a tremendously long event –at 291km, this is the furthest-flung event in the whole UCI calendar-, with a route suited for both attackers and sprinters. In any case, only those able to cope well with small hills after long efforts and also with a strong kick at the end of a race can be called favourites to win in Via Roma. That’s what Peter Sagan, Julian Alaphilippe and Michal Kwiatkowski needed in 2017 to break a streak of eight consecutive years with smaller or bigger bunch finishes.
As every fan of cycling already knows, the ‘Primavera’ is divided into two distinct parts. The first half of the race, a gentle route through the interior of Lombardy, leads the riders to the Passo del Turchino (142km), after which a long descent directs the race towards the Riviera Ligure, the course never leaving the coast until the finish. 52 kilometers from the end, the ‘Capi’ arise: short ascents just next to the sea, becoming harder and harder as the riders approach the finish and the clock ticks past six hours of racing.
Capo Mele (239km), Capo Cervo (244km) and Capo Berta (252km) will preceed the two climbs which always decide the race. The Cipressa (269.5km; 5.6km at 4.1%), whose ascent is always covered at high speeds and offers room for the most valiant attempts; and the Poggio (285.6km; 3.7km at 3.7%), venue for the final moves and featuring a very tricky descent, both lead the race into the Corso Cavallotti and the Via Roma in Sanremo, the last section for the fastest ones to recover and make terrain back before the sprint.