The first monument of the cycling season and the longest one-day race in the professional calendar at close to three hundred kilometres, run from Milan across the Turchino pass and along the Ligurian coast to Sanremo. For six hours very little happens; the race is decided in the final twenty minutes on the Cipressa and the Poggio, two small climbs close enough to the finish to break a sprint.
It has run since 1907 and is known in Italy as la Classicissima.
No attendance figure exists; the audience is roadside and free, strung along the coast road.
Two planning points. It is anchored to the third Saturday of March, not February, where it is sometimes listed. And the only places worth standing are the Poggio descent and the via Roma finish, both of which close to traffic for most of the day.
PlanningAnchored to the third Saturday of March, not February. A single day, and the route is roadside-free.