Cycling, all ready for Milan-San Remo. Everything is ready for Milan-Sanremo 2023, the Very classic which starts in Abbiategrasso and ends on the traditional finish line of Via Roma. Many big names have stormed the throne of Matej Mohoric, winner of the 2022 edition: Tadej Pogacar, Wout Van Aert, Mathieu Van der Poel, Pedersen, Julian Alaphilippe, Arnaud Démare, Jasper Phillipsen, Peter Sagan and Filippo Ganna.
Start at 9:55 am. In Italy, the Rai men’s race will be followed live on RAI Sport HD from 09:50 to 14:00 and then on Rai 2 from 14:00. The Raiplay platform broadcasts the entire race live. Widespread coverage across Warner Bros. Discovery platforms, both linear, Eurosport and on-demand – GCN. Looking at the coverage in European countries in detail, the Very classic will be broadcast live in Belgium by RTBF and VTM and in Switzerland by SRG, while the Flemish channel VRT and Dutch channel NOS will broadcast the race on different services.
Cycling ready for Milan-San Remo: the route
The Milan-Sanremo starts in Abbiategrasso and, after around 30 km on flat roads on the edge of Ticino, returns to the classic route in Pavia. From there you will once again follow the road that has linked Milan to the Riviera di Ponente for more than 110 years, touching Ovada, the Turchino Pass and descending towards Genoa to Voltri. Then head west along the sea along the Aurelia state road through Varazze, Savona, Albenga (do not take the Manie track inserted from 2008 to 2013) until you reach Imperia.
In San Lorenzo al Mare, after the classic succession of the Capi (Mele, Cervo and Berta), the two climbs introduced in recent decades will be tackled: Cipressa (1982) and Poggio di Sanremo (1961). La Cipressa exceeds 5.6km at 4.1% to enter the very technical descent that takes you back to the ss.1 Aurelia.
9 km from the finish begins the climb of Poggio di Sanremo (3.7 km with an average of less than 4% and peaks of 8% in the section before the crest). The ascent takes place on a somewhat narrow road and 4 hairpin bends in the first 2 km. The descent is very challenging on the paved road, narrow in some places, with a series of hairpin bends and curves and counter-curves until it joins the Aurelia state road.
The last part of the descent takes place in the city of Sanremo: 2 km on long straight stretches, notable is a left turn at a roundabout 850 meters from the finish and the last bend 750 meters from the finish that leads to the straight Via Rome.
Cycling, everything is ready for Milan – San Remo: the favorites and the main participants
The first monument of the season has been targeted by many big names ready to challenge each other in a final open to multiple solutions to conquer a race coveted by everyone that has seen fifteen different winners in the last fifteen editions. On the 294 km there will be a parterre of stars. If the Milan – Sanremo race has always been difficult to predict, never has the prediction been more uncertain than this year, not only in terms of the name of the possible winner, but also in terms of how it will be played out in the via Roma will end. From long-distance action to mass sprinting, all options are on the table, each with the right chances of being the crucial one that will result in the winner.
The last time the Very classic It was decided with a group sprint in 2016 when Arnaud Démare prevailed, after which the epilogue always saw the arrival of small groups or individual riders, as happened with last year Matej Mohoric. Precisely these last two seem to be the most suitable scenarios also for this edition, since there will be different teams that intend to make the race tough.Among those who want the toughest possible race, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). The Slovene, whose numbers at the start of the season are impressive (9 wins from 13 racing days), has never hidden the fact that he’s upping the ante Very classic to his palmares.
Among the names of the favorites are Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step). ), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious), Caleb Ewan (Lotto Dstny), Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies), Magnus Cort ( EF Education – EasyPost), Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Davide Ballerini (Soudal Quick-Step) and Alberto Bettiol (EF Education – EasyPost).
