Route of Cavendish's San Remo warm-up, Tirenno-Adriatico, unveiled
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) will have a well-balanced lead-up to his Milan-San Remo defence based on the Tirreno-Adriatico route revealed in Montecatini, Italy, today.
The Corsa dei Due Mari ('race of the two seas') is the traditional warm-up to Milan-San Remo, both organised by RCS Sport. The race starts in Livorno March 10 and ends in San Benedetto del Tronto March 16, four days before Cavendish will try to repeat his San Remo win.
Cavendish will face five former San Remo winners - Tom Boonen (Quick Step), Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini), Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) and Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) - and sprinters Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) and Daniele Bennati (Liquigas-Doimo).
There will be plenty of stages for Cavendish's HTC team to practice its lead-out prior to San Remo, particularly in the first three stages in Tuscany and the tradition race finale in San Benedetto del Tronto. Stages four, 243 kilometres to Chieti, and five, 234 kilometres to Colmurano, will be difficult for the sprinters and are likely to shape the overall classification, won last year by Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli).
Unlike previous years, RCS Sport left out the individual time trial and the mountain stage to Montelupone.
RCS Sport dedicated this year's route and an azzurra (blue) leader's jersey to former team Italy sports director, Franco Ballerini. Ballerini died nine days ago, February 7, in a rally car race in Larciano, Italy - only a few kilometres away from his home and the British base in Quarrata.
British Team Sky, RCS Sport announced last week, will form part of the 22 teams: Cervélo TestTeam (with Roger Hammond), BMC Racing (World Champion Cadel Evans), Team Sky (Edvald Boasson Hagen), Saxo Bank (Andy Schleck), Acqua & Sapone, AG2R La Mondiale, Androni-Diquigiovanni, Astana, Caisse d'Epargne, Colnago-CSF Inox, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Française des Jeux, Garmin-Transitions, HTC-Columbia, ISD-Neri, Katusha, Lampre-Farnese Vini, Liquigas-Doimo, Milram, Omega Pharma-Lotto, Quick Step, Rabobank.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Stages:
10/3 Livorno-Rosignano Solvay, 148km
11/3 Montecatini Terme-Montecatini Terme, 165km
12/3 San Miniato-Monsummano Terme, 159km
13/3 San Gemini-Chieti, 243km
14/3 Chieti-Colmurano, 234km
15/3 Montecosaro-Macerata, 134km
16/3 Civitanova Marche-San Benedetto del Tronto, 164.km
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
-
Is Pogačar the greatest? The truth is it’s still a bit too soon to tell
The Triple Crown winner is yet to prove himself, according to Cycling Weekly's columnist
By Michael Hutchinson Published
-
'An ode to AliExpress' - the hill climb bike optimised by 'unscientific testing'
4th place finisher at the 2024National Hill Climb, Andy Nichols shares some insights into his truly wild hill climb bike build
By Joe Baker Published