Milano-Sanremo is scheduled for March 19th and will mark the opening monument of the season. Known as the longest race of the season, this year boasting 293 kilometers, it has earned a formidable reputation as one of the most challenging races to conquer in professional cycling.
Most of that comes because of the fact that it's a race that so many riders focus on with top form, and the route doesn't ever make for a specific set of riders to be the outright favourites, there are dozens of riders within a shot of winning the race. The distance is the main factor for the toughness in the race's finale, as the slight ascents will be more complicated as the riders will have over 6, 7 hours of racing in the legs when they go up them.
The race goes from the heart of the Po valley in Milano into the rugged Ligurian coast where it will develop after descending the Passo del Turchino. The riders will face the Tre Capi with 52, 47 and 39 kilometers to go. The last one of which, Capo Berta, has 1.8 kilometers at 6.7% and is likely to be used as a spot to harden up the race for those looking to cause damage in the peloton.
The first critical moment of the race is the Cipressa which summits with 22.5 kilometers to go. It's 5.6 kilometers long at 4.1%, not a hard climb but taking into attention that many pre-race favourites are sprinters and others are climbers, it is likely that there will be a lot of interest in taking this ascent at the highest pace possible by some. It leads to a technical descent that will leave the riders in the run-up to the Poggio.
The leadout is frequently furious into the base, the Poggio di Sanremo is only a small hilltop but it's usually raced at full-speed from the base. A ~5:45-minute effort, it suits the puncheurs, but the gradients also mean that rouleurs can usually get over them quite well. It summits with only 6 kilometers to go and antecedes a fast and technical descent. It is the place where attacks usually succeed, other than the base of the descent where there is frequently no organization.
The final 2 kilometers are flat and fast heading towards the center of Sanremo. It is one of the most tense finales in cycling, and will be the end of La Classicissima.
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