History
of Milan-San Remo: The Beginning
Nearly a century has passed since the creation of an international
cycling classic, a now legendary event conceived at the counter
of a small San Remo café. A vacationing Eugenio Costamagna,
the director of Gazetta dello Sport (Italy’s leading sports
newspaper) was approached at the café by local politicians
eager to attract events to their city. Several failed promotions
had the politicians looking for new ideas. Costamagna suggested
a spring cycling event to challenge those already established
in France and Belgium.
A spring
cycling event would not be easy to organize and promote. The
race from Milan-to San Remo had
two major obstacles: distance
and topography. The cities are 288 kilometers (about 180 miles)
apart. In between lies the climb of the Passo di Turchino,
where road conditions were often less than optimal in spring.
To test
the new course, Costamagna, as he had done at the beginning
of the Giro di Lombardia in 1905, invited ten of the top professional
riders to ride the route before the inaugural Milan-San Remo
(M-SR) road race. When the riders returned with enthusiasm,
the
race was on.
On Sunday,
April 14, 1907 thirty-three riders came to the start line on
Pedesimo Piazzale in Milan. The rules
were strict:
no supplies or other accessories, no changing of bicycles,
and no
technical team support. Most of the top Italian riders entered
but in order to make this event international in scope, Costamagna
paid French stars Lucien Petit-Breton (riding for Bianchi)
and Gustave Garrigou to compete.
The race
started in the early morning hours in rainy conditions. Italian
favorite Giovanni
Gerbi from the Bianchi team attempted
the first major attack at the 90 km mark of the race. Gerbi
powered through the rain and mud to ascend the Turchino
alone. He was
caught shortly after the climb by Frenchman Gustave Garrigou
in Savona and then by Bianchi teammate Petit-Breton. The
trio rode steadily down the Ligurian Coast onto the Via
Roma finish
in San Remo. Lucien Petit-Breton, with the help of teammate
Giovanni Gerbi, soloed away in the closing kilometers and
won the first
ever Milan-San Remo road race. The Classic known as “La
Primavera” was born!
Throughout
the remainder of the 20th Century, Milan-San Remo has given
the cycling
world great stories of individual
effort
and gained the distinction as one of the Five Monuments
of Cycling.
The Development
Unlike the other Monuments, M-SR has not varied the race
course significantly over the years. One change did occur
after World
War II. As the road surfaces improved, the race became
a sprinters festival. In an effort to combat bunch sprints
the organizers
added the “Poggio di San Remo” in 1960. The
modest hill was only 3 kilometers long, but its placement
a few kilometers
from the finish and at the end of a very long race the
effect was telling. The Poggio became a famous launching
pad for last-minute
attacks. In 1982 the addition of the Cipressa climb,
20 kilometers from the finish increased the difficultly
of the closing kilometers.
In part 2,
later this month, Cycling Revealed presents
Milan-San Remo 1946: Coppi’s
Grand Journey, a
description of a legendary edition of the Classic.
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