Milano-Sanremo

This is the only Monument that regularly ends in a sprint, but it is never a simple one. The distance strips away freshness, the coastal road punishes bad positioning, and the final climbs come too late to ignore but too gently to guarantee a clean selection. That leaves Milano-Sanremo suspended between opposite outcomes: the lone attacker trying to survive the Poggio descent and the reduced sprint charging for Via Roma. Winners need endurance, timing, nerve, and the ability to read a race that often reveals itself only in the final six kilometers.

The first 200 kilometers are a long approach through the Po Valley and over the Passo del Turchino before the race drops to the Ligurian coast. West of Imperia, the three Capi - Capo Mele, Capo Cervo, and Capo Berta - begin to wear down the field and sharpen the fight for position. The Cipressa follows at roughly 25 kilometers to go, long enough to split the group without always shedding the best finishers. Then comes the Poggio di Sanremo, short, twisting, and perfectly placed: late enough to reward the decisive move, close enough to the finish that hesitation can still be reversed. Some years it ends in a reduced sprint on Via Roma; other years one rider times the Poggio perfectly and never comes back.