La Primavera opens the Spring monuments in stunning style
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Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia celebrates on the podium winning the 100th Milan-San Remo
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Bobby Julich (Team CSC) attacks at the 2004 Milan-san remo
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Mathew Hayman of Australia and SKY Procycling drops back to his team car during the 2012 Milan San Remo
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Ian Stannard of Great Britain and SKY Procycling takes a turn at the front of the chasing group during the 2012 Milan San Remo
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The peloton rides over a bridge during the 2012 Milan San Remo
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The peloton make their way along the Italian coast during the 2012 Milan-San Remo cycle race on March 17, 2012
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The peloton make their way along the Italian coast during the 2012 Milan-San Remo
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Mark Cavendish of Great Britain and Team SKY rides in the peloton during the 2012 Milan-San Remo
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Simon Gerrans reacts as he crosses the finish line to win the 103th Milan San Remo spring classic on March 17, 2012
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Italian Vincenzo Nibali competes in the 102th edition of the Milan-Sanremo race on March 19, 2011
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Philippe Gilbert of Omega-Pharma attacks in the 102th edition of the Milan-Sanremo race on March 19, 2011
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Gerald Ciolek (yellow) crosses the finish line to win the 104th Milan-San Remo
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German Gerald Ciolek sprays Champagne next to Peter Sagan and Fabian Cancellera on the podium after the104th Milan-San Remo
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Oscar Pereiro (Phonak) attacks near the finish in 2004
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The 2004 Milan-San Remo podium: Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis), Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Erik Zabel (T-Mobile)
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Descending from the Passo del Tuchino
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2004 winner Oscar Freire speaks with the press
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Ludo Dierckxsens (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) attacks in the 2004 race.
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Michele Bartoli, Team CSC after his crash on the descend from Cipressa in 2004.
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Alexander Kristoff won in 2014 ahead of Fabian Cancellara and Ben Swift
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The moment of John Degenkolb's first monument victory at the 2015 Milan-San Remo sinks in for the Giant-Alpecin rider. Runner-up Alexander Kristoff and tird-placed Michael Matthews shared the podium
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John Degenkolb of Team Giant-Alpecin sprints on the finish line to win the 106th Milan San Remo.
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Stuart O' Grady and Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland compete in the 102th edition of the Milan-Sanremo race on March 19, 2011
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Matthew Goss of the HTC-Highroad team crosses the finish line and wins the the 102th edition of the Milan-San Remo race on March 19, 2011
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Second place in the 101st Milan-San Remo spring classic, Tom Boonen of Belgium, reacts at the end of the race.
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Italians Mario Cipollini and Alessandro Pettacchi ride together at the start of the 2005 Milan-San Remo
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Oscar Freire was a multiple Milan-San Remo champion
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Erik Zabel's expression shows the effort of the 95th edition of Milan-San Remo in 2004.
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Sylvain Chavanel smiles as he rides during the 95th edition of Milan-San Remo in 2004.
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Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) grabs a change of clothing during the 95th edition of Milan-San Remo.
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Spain's Oscar Gomez Freire bides his time in the peloton during the 2004 Milan-San Remo.
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Spectators get a glimpse of the action at the 95th edition of Milan-San Remo
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The peloton rides next to the sea in Varazze during the 95th edition of Milan-San Remo
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The peloton rides next to the sea in Varazze during the 95th edition of Milan-San Remo
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Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC) celebrates, on March 22, 2008 as he crosses the finish line of the 99th Milan-San Remo
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Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC) celebrates on the podium of the 99th Milan-San Remo
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Oscar Freire crosses the finish line of the 101st Milan-San Remo spring classic in victory on March 20, 2010
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The pack races during the 101st Milan-San Remo spring classic on March 20, 2010
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The pack races during the 101st Milan-San Remo spring classic on March 20, 2010
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Oscar Freire crosses the finish line of the 101st Milan-San Remo spring classic in victory on March 20, 2010
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The pack races during the 100th Milan-San Remo classic cycle race on March 21, 2009
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Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia) crosses the finish line to win the 100th Milano-San Remo ahead of German Heinrich Haussler
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Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia reacts on the podium after winning the 100th Milan-San Remo
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Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC), Filippo Pozzato and Philippe Gilbert celebrate on the podium of the 99th Milan-San Remo
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Oscar Freire crosses the finish line and wins the 95th edition of Milan-San Remo ahead of Erik Zabel.
Cyclingnews will have live coverage of Milan-San Remo from 8am GMT on Saturday, March 19.
Milan-San Remo always features a backdrop to match the excitement on the roads. La Primavera stretches nearly 300km from the start in the shadows of Castello Sforzesco in Milan to the finish along the coast on San Remo's iconic Via Rome, which was reintroduced to the race in 2015 after a seven-year absence.
The first edition of Milan-San Remo in 1907 witnessed just 14 finishers, but it was a success and there have been just three years since then that it did not take place.
The legendary Poggio and Cipressa climbs regularly throw the race into chaos, with adventurers putting the pressure on over the Cipressa before a descent and flat run along the sea to the bottom of the Poggio with just under 10km to go. The road twists and turns heads via three hairpins. The early attacks, the softening up moves, usually go here but the real contenders let them go as they wait for the serious attacks on the steeper eight percent section on the ridge of the hill.
The most recent winners have been Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka) in 2013, Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) in 2014 and John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) last year, but the list of Milan-San Remo champions is rich with the top names in the sport. The gallery above takes a look at the past dozen years of racing at Milan-San Remo and at the champions crowned along the way.
Cyclingnews will have live coverage of the 291km race, which starts in Milan's Piazza del Duomo and finishes on the Via Roma, along with a full race report, results, photos and news.
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