Cyclingnews will have live coverage of Milan-San Remo from 8am GMT on Saturday, March 19.
Milan-San Remo, or La Classicissima di primavera as it is also affectionately known, is the first of road cycling's five annual monuments. The first edition of the race in 1907 witnessed just 14 finishers in San Remo but it was a success and there have been just three years since in which it was not held.
While the start and finishing locations of Milan and San Remo has remained true over the years, there have been various incarnations of the percoso. The iconic Via Rome returned after an absence of seven years in 2015 and has been retained by race organiser Mauro Vegni and RCS Sport in 2016.
In 2008, the Le Manie climb was added to the course to tip the balance away from the sprinters and in 2013 it was announced there would be another climb inserted into the race with the Pompeiana set to debut in 2014. Landslides made the Pompeiana impassable though and in 2015 both climbs were off the menu as RCS sought to respect the history of the race.
In 2016, the race will follow its traditional inland jaunt from Milan's Piazza del Duomo, through Lombardy and Piedmont to Liguria where the first climb of the day awaits, the Passo del Turchino. From the half-way point, the peloton follows the Aurelia highway along the Ligurian Coast before the Capo Mele, Capo Cervo and Capo Berta start to liven up the racing. It is the Cipressa and Poggio though where riders will chance their arm for victory and the sprinters try to hold on before the fast descent onto the Via Roma where the 2016 Milan-San Remo winner will be crowded.
Defending champion John Degenkolb will miss the race as he continues to recover from injuries sustained from training ride accident in which a car drove into him and his Giant-Alpecin teammates. 2014 champion Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), world champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge all firm as favourites for the win in his absence with the likes of Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Nacer Bouhanni expressing their desire for victory.
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