Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews’ live coverage from La Classicissima Milan-San Remo. It’s the first Classic of the season what a feast of racing we have in store for you today. At 298km, it’s the longest race on the UCI calendar and is traditionally regarded as the true start of the Spring Classics. Here we go...
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09:09 GMT
Let's begin with an update on the weather. As expected - shock horror the weather man got it right - there's some light drizzle at the start today in Milan. Some of the riders are wearing capes but the good news is that the roads outside of Milan are dry.
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09:15 GMT
With the weather out of the way we can take a look at the route. It’s the same as last year meaning roughly seven hours in the saddle for our riders today. I don’t know about you but I can’t imagine doing anything for seven hours. Sleeping, perhaps.
Anyway, the route is fairly flat until the climb of Le Mànie after 204 kilometres and could be a key point in the race. The legendary coastal Capi climbs begin 50 kilometres from the finish and mark the start of the traditionally tense finale of the race. The big attacks usually come just afterwards, on the climbs of the Cipressa, 25 kilometres from the finish, and the Poggio, which overlooks San Remo.
The Cipressa switch-backs its way up into the hills through olives trees and a small group of attackers often carve out a gap before the summit at the church. Some sprinters are dropped here but most make it over the top in the peloton and then get their teammates to chase down the break. While the Cipressa rarely decides the race, it does leave the sprinters in the red and with lactic acid burning in their legs.
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09:17 GMT
Positioning on the approach to the Poggio is vital and there is effectively a sprint to decide who will start the climb near the front. The roads twist up the hillside through massive greenhouses full of early season flowers. The false flat near the summit is one of the favourite places to attack and try to get a gap before the high-speed descent to San Remo. There are just three kilometres between the bottom of the descent and the finish. That can be enough for any attackers to make a final move but also helps the sprinters' teams chase them down.
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09:18 GMT (3km remaining from 298km)
And we have our first attack of the day. Three riders have nipped off the front and the peloton seem keen on letting them go. Names to come..
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09:26 GMT (284km remaining from 298km)
Our three leaders are none other than Fabrice Piemontesi (Androni Giocattoli), Aristide Ratti (Carmiooro NGC) and, Diego Caccia (ISD – Neri) and they have 5:10 already.
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09:29 GMT
With our three breakaway riders building up a healthy lead lets have a look at some of the favourites for today's race.