Pavia is situated south of Milan. For starters, the riders cycle 13 kilometres to the east, a diversion in the wrong direction, but then they turn in southerly direction and go on for tens of kilometres towards Novi Ligure.
The riders leave the Po Plain via the Passo del Turchino, basically an endless false flat leading to the highest point of Milan-San Remo. The Turchino is 25 kilometres long, averages 1.4%, and peaks out at 532 metres above sea level.
Milan-San Remo reaches the Mediterranean around the midway marker and continues on the flat to the three capi – Capo Mele, Capo Cervo and Capo Berta. The attraction of the capi is that the race starts to catch fire by now. There are almost 40 kilometres remaining after the Capo Berta.
Tension rises further when the riders move through San Lorenzo al Mare, the village at the foot of the Cipressa. The 5.5 kilometres ascent is averaging 4.1%. Usually, the sprinters are dropped on the Cipressa, notably in the 9% section halfway up the climb.
Still 20 kilometres remaining at the top. The riders descend back to the coast to tackle the Poggio 9 kilometres later. The 3.7 kilometres climb at 3.7% has its steepest ramp – at 8% – 1 kilometre before the summit. Obviously, this is a perfect spot to launch an attack, which is exactly what happened last year. Pogacar made a move and Ganna, Van Aert and Van der Poel followed. The latter kicked again just before the summit. He distanced his rivals in the 3.3 kilometres descent and continued his winning streak in the last 2.2 kilometres on the flat towards the Via Roma in San Remo.
The Poggio has always been important in Milan-San Remo, but in the last seven editions the hill has been decisive, whether by an attack of a small group or a solo effort. In 2022, Matej Mohoric distanced his rivals on descent and won La Primavera in Van der Poel style – or actually, the other way around -, thus succeeding Jasper Stuyven (2021), Wout van Aert (2020), Julian Alaphilippe (2019), Vincenzo Nibali (2018), and Michal Kwiatkowski (2017).
Ride the route yourself? Download GPX Milan-San Remo 2024.
Other interesting reads: results and start list 2024 Milan-San Remo.
Milan-San Remo 2024: routes, profiles, more
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