The 111th Classicissima Has Taken Place

The year’s first Monument has taken place (la Classicissima di Primavera)! Milano–Sanremo, originally scheduled for March 21, was held today. For epidemiological safety, the organizers routed the race away from places where crowds gather, and as a result the year’s longest race became even longer. The 111th Classicissima covered 305 kilometers, but — most importantly — the final 30 kilometers remained unchanged: the two classic climbs (Cipressa, Poggio) and the finish in Sanremo on the Via Roma!

 

 

Since August 1, yet another race has now been held in Italy, and it must be said that the epidemiological safety measures are strictly observed everywhere. Observing these measures is a great responsibility for every cycling lover; by following the relevant rules, we all help cycling survive in these extremely difficult times!

 

 

 

The race really did happen! After the long distance, a fairly significant climb that appeared in the third hundred kilometers due to the route change, and the heat, an exhausted peloton approached the legendary Cipressa. As they say, you can’t win the race on this climb, but you have to get over it in such a way that you can give your maximum on the decisive Poggio.

On the Poggio someone will always try something, and it often becomes the decisive attack. This year, too, last year’s winner Julian Alaphilippe of the Belgian team Deceuninck–Quick-Step attacked here, and Julian’s attack was so sharp that no one could hold his wheel on the climb. Wout van Aert could only react; it’s worth noting that at the start of the Cipressa Wout had been at the back of the leading group. On the Poggio climb, during the Frenchman’s attack, his task was simply to minimize his losses.

 

 

And so they began the descent of the legendary Poggio di Sanremo. For a while the group behind the attacker and the counter-attacker came noticeably closer, but both, at the cost of great risk, kept their advantage. Toward the bottom of the descent the Belgian caught the Frenchman, and together they continued toward the Via Roma.

 

 

At the finish Wout was stronger, and the legendary cross man (three-time world champion) joined the legends of the road as well!

 

 

The Belgian Wout van Aert of the Dutch team Jumbo-Visma, riding an Italian Bianchi, became the winner of the year’s first Monument! This is Wout’s second big win this year — last Saturday, after all, he also flew first onto Siena’s Piazza del Campo!

 

 

I want to highlight the cyclocross factor: a large part of the world peloton’s constellation got their start precisely in cyclocross. At the very least, the conditions for that could be created in our country…

 

 

 

 

Featured image: ROBERTO and LUCA BETTINI/www.bettiniphoto.net

Inside post thumbnail image: ROBERTO and LUCA BETTINI/www.bettiniphoto.net

 

Special thanks to the Italian photographers ROBERTO and LUCA BETTINI for permission to use their watermarked works in our publications.

 

 

 

 

Translated from Georgian with the assistance of Claude (Anthropic), reviewed by the Velorbola editors.