The Capi

The Capi are the series of hills that have to be negotiated on the run in to San Remo. Once through Alassio, with around 50 km to go the race comes to the first, the Capo Mele, they then come in quick succession.

	Capo Mele (65m)	51.9 km to the finish.
	Capo Cervo-Mimosa (77m)	46.6 km remaining.
	Capo Berta (130m)	39.1 km to go. Capo Berta was the final climb of the race until the introduction of the Poggio in 1960. Expect the usual long suicidal break to be caught around about here.
	Cipressa (240m)	Only 21.6 km to the finish. The Cipressa is where the race really begins to liven up. "You usually start racing 20 km before the Cipressa. You're fighting all the time and there are crashes everywhere. You're going through towns taking all the risks with the parked cars and guys are crashing at the front, so you have to be in the first 15 or 20. Going over the Cipressa you have to be in the first 20 or 25, then on the decent from the Cipressa you have to be in the first 15." Sean Kelly
	Poggio (162m)	5.7 km to the via Roma. The winning move has been made many times on the 3.74 km climb of the Poggio. The 3.25 km hairpin descent of the via Val d'Olivi has also played a role. Sean Kelly caught Moreno Argentin here to win in 1992. Recently however the Poggio has had no significance and the race more often than not ends in a sprint finish.

"At the end it's everybody for himself. It goes so quickly that there are not many tactics. You just need to be good at the end. It's the longest classic. If you are the strongest, you can even make the difference on the descent into San Remo. It's a question of physical condition. You have to save it all for the end."

Eddy Merckx

"The two times I won I spent 250 km at the back of the bunch, apart from the Turchino Pass. I began moving up at Alassio. You have to keep it all for the Poggio, the last 40 kilometres."

Laurent Fignon