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Did You Know?
| Since the first edition in 1907, the only time the race has not been held was due to war in 1916, 1944 and 1945. | |
| The greatest number of wins is 7 by Eddy Merckx (1966-67,1969,1971-72,1975-76). | |
| Bianchi hold the record for most team
victories with 17 wins. Lucien Petit-Breton was first
in 1907. The last was Felice Gimondi in 1974. |
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| Italy has the most victories with 50. | |
| 1909 - first Italian victory and the first year a change of bike was allowed! | |
| 1949 - The first time the
finish was held on the Via Roma. |
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| Luigi Ganna was the
first person to be disqualified. In 1910 the Italian
arrived in second place but was found to have
covered the closing stages in a car. |
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| The youngest winner is
Ugo Agostoni who was 20 years and 252 days of age.
The oldest is Andrei Tchmil, 36 years and 57 days. |
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| Italian riders have taken the first 3 positions 34 times. The first in 1915 (Corlaita, Lucotti and Gremo) the last in 2006 (Pozzato, Petacchi, Paolini). | |
| The least number of
finishers was 4. On 3 April 1910, out of 71 to start,
only Eugene Christophe the winner, Cocchi, Machese and
Sala survived the snow and freezing conditions. Luigi
Ganna, Piero Lampaggi and Sante Goi finished but were
not classified. The most was in 1992 when 206 riders
made it to Sanremo. |
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| Italian rider Wladimiro Panizza (right) holds
the record for participation in Milano Sanremo,
completing the race 18 times. His career lasted from 1967-1985 and the only year he did not compete was in 1968 when Panizza rode for the Pepsi Cola Team. ![]() Panizza's best place was second in 1976. |
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| The climb of the Poggio
was introduced in 1960 in an attempt to stop the race
from ending each year in a sprint finish! Gastone
Nencini (Carpano) was the first man onto the Poggio in
its first year. |
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| The other important climb of the Cipressa was added still later in 1982 by former organiser the late Vincenzo Torriani. As the standard of riding became better and the Capi became less and less of a test. | |
| The race has not always been held on a Saturday. Between 1937 and 1981 the race was mainly held on the 19 March, St. Josephs day. | |
| 1927 - The year the
race was last held in April. |
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| Winner in 1996 was Gabriele Colombo. His father rode as a domestique for Gianni Motta during two Tour de France in the 1960's. His grandfather was Binda's room-mate during five Tour of Italy in the 1930's. | |
| Alfredo Binda retired from racing after breaking his right femur in the 1936 Milan-San Remo. | |
| Four men have won while
wearing the World Road Champions jersey - Alfredo
Binda (1931), Eddy Merckx (1972 and 1975), Felice
Gimondi (1974) and Giuseppe Saronni (1983). |
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| 45.806 Km/hour - The
record speed set by Gianni Bugno in 1990. |
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| No rider has ever won Milan-San Remo three times in a row. Erik Zabel has come the closest with his wins in 1997 and 1998 and second place in 1999. | |
| The winner in 2011, Matt
Goss, received Euro 20,000. He also became the first
rider to win from Australia. |
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| The 2005 Sanremo was
to be Mario Cipollini's last race in Europe. |
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| Mario Cipollini (centre
wearing white helmet) takes part in his last race in
Europe. Image © Dave Beckowich |