Milano–Torino

Milano–Torino is a semi classic European single day cycling race, between the northern Italian cities of Milan and Turin over a distance of 199 kilometres. The event was first run in 1876[1] making it the oldest of the Italian classic races and one of the oldest in the world. The event is owned by the RCS media group which owns the Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport. RCS also organises other top Italian cycling events such as the Giro d'Italia, Milan–San Remo and Tirreno–Adriatico. The race is ranked 1.HC on the UCI continental calendar. The race was not run between the spring of 2007 and the autumn of 2012.[2]

Milano–Torino
Race details
DateMid October
RegionNorth of Italy
English nameMilan–Turin
Local name(s)Milano–Torino (in Italian)
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI Europe Tour
TypeOne-day
OrganiserRCS Sport
Web sitewww.milanotorino.it
History
First edition1876 (1876)
Editions101 (as of 2020)
First winner Paolo Magretti (ITA)
Most recent Arnaud Démare (FRA)

Race dates

The position of the race in the European calendar has changed several times. Prior to 1987 the event was always seven days before Milan–San Remo and was seen as an important preparation race for the Spring Classics, however in 1987 Milano–Torino was switched to a date in October just before the Giro di Lombardia because the race organisers were not happy with the inclement weather conditions characterised by early March in northern Italy. In October the race became part of the “Trittico di Autunno” (Autumn Treble) along with the Giro del Piemonte and the Giro di Lombardia which were all run in the same week. In 2005 Milan–Torino returned to its traditional date in early March, however the 2008 edition again returned to a date in October exchanging dates with the Monte Paschi Eroica race which is now run in March. However the race did not take place in October 2008 and it was not run for the next four years until an agreement was reached in February 2012 between the race owners (RCS) and the Associazione Ciclistica Arona to organise the race for the next three years.[2]

The 2000 edition of the race was not held because of torrential rain which caused catastrophic mud slides in the Piedmont area.

The route

The race starts in Novate Milanese, just north west of Milan, and crosses the Ticino river at Vigevano after 40 kilometres, leaving the region of Lombardy and entering Piedmont. The first 95 kilometres of the race are run in a south westerly direction on broad flat roads, the climb of Vignale Monferrato (293 metres) is encountered and then a series of small undulations take the race to Asti after 130 kilometres. The race route crosses four railway level crossings at 70, 75, 129 and 133 kilometres and these can be important in helping any breakaways if the peloton is held up by a train. At Asti the race swings north westerly towards Turin climbing steadily before tackling the tough climb of the Superga Hill (620 metres) just 16 kilometres from the finish. The Superga climb is often the springboard for a group of riders to escape before the finish. From the top of the Superga it is a fast picturesque descent into Turin down the Strada Panoramica dei Colli through the Parco Naturale della Collina di Superga to finish in the Fausto Coppi velodrome on Corso Casale in Turin.

In 2012 edition the finish was moved on the top of Superga (repeated two times).

The 2020 edition was a flat race for the sprinters.

Significant winners

Milano–Torino is one of the fastest of the classics, Walter Martin won the 1961 edition at an average speed of 45.094 kilometres per hour and this stood for a time as the fastest speed in a classic race until beaten by Marinio Vigna in the 1964 edition of the Tre Valli Varesine. Swiss rider Markus Zberg now holds the record average speed for the race when he won in 1999 at a speed of 45.75 kilometres per hour. The record for the most wins in Milano–Torino stands to the Italian Costante Girardengo who took five victories between 1914 and 1923. Pierino Favalli took a hat trick of wins between 1938 and 1940. Tour de France and Giro d’Italia winner, the late Marco Pantani almost lost his life in the 1995 edition of Milano–Torino when police allowed a four-wheel drive vehicle onto the course by mistake; Pantani and two other riders ploughed into the vehicle. Pantani sustained multiple leg breaks and missed the entire 1996 season. In 2012 the winner was Alberto Contador, who won the first single day race in his pro career.

Races

During the first race in 1876, there were only 10 competitors, however, there were an estimated 10,000 spectators.[3]

Winners

The Superga hill, historic decisive point of the race
Year Country Rider Team
1876  Italy Paolo Magretti individual
1877–
1893
No race
1894  Italy Luigi Airaldi individual
1895 No race
1896  Italy Giovanni Moro individual
1897–
1902
No race
1903  Italy Giovanni Gerbi Maino
1904 No race
1905  Italy Giovanni Rossignoli Bianchi
1906–
1910
No race
1911  France Henri Pélissier individual
1912 No race
1913  Italy Giuseppe Azzini Otav
1914  Italy Costante Girardengo Maino-Dunlop
1915  Italy Costante Girardengo Bianchi
1916 No race
1917   Switzerland Oscar Egg Bianchi
1918  Italy Gaetano Belloni Bianchi
1919  Italy Costante Girardengo Stucchi-Dunlop
1920  Italy Costante Girardengo Stucchi-Dunlop
1921  Italy Federico Gay Bianchi-Dunlop
1922  Italy Adriano Zanaga Ganna-Dunlop
1923  Italy Costante Girardengo Maino
1924  Italy Federico Gay Alcyon-Dunlop
1925  Italy Adriano Zanaga Ideor
1926–
1930
No race
1931  Italy Giuseppe Graglia individual
1932  Italy Giuseppe Olmo individual
1933  Italy Giuseppe Graglia Bestetti-D'Alessandro
1934  Italy Mario Cipriani Frejus
1935  Italy Giovanni Gotti Legnano-Wolsit
1936  Italy Cesare Del Cancia Ganna
1937  Italy Giuseppe Martano Tendil
1938  Italy Pierino Favalli Legnano
1939  Italy Pierino Favalli Legnano
1940  Italy Pierino Favalli Legnano
1941  Italy Pietro Chiappini Olympia
1942  Italy Pietro Chiappini Legnano
1943-
1944
No race
1945  Italy Vito Ortelli Benotto
1946  Italy Vito Ortelli Benotto-Superga
1947  Italy Italo De Zan Lygie-Pirelli
1948  Italy Sergio Maggini Wilier Triestina
1949  Italy Luigi Casola Benotto-Superga
1950  Italy Adolfo Grosso Wilier Triestina
1951  Italy Fiorenzo Magni Ganna-Ursus
1952  Italy Aldo Bini Bianchi-Pirelli
1953  Italy Luciano Maggini Atala-Pirelli
1954  Italy Agostino Coletto Frejus
1955  Italy Cleto Maule Torpado-Ursus
1956   Switzerland Ferdinand Kübler Carpano-Coppi
1957  Spain Miguel Poblet Ignis-Doniselli
1958  Italy Agostino Coletto Carpano
1959  Italy Nello Fabbri Bianchi-Pirelli
1960  Italy Arnaldo Pambianco Legnano
1961  Italy Walter Martin Carpano
1962  Italy Franco Balmamion Carpano
1963  Italy Franco Cribiori Gazzola
1964  Spain Valentin Uriona Kas-Kaskol
1965  Italy Vito Taccone Salvarani
1966  Italy Marino Vigna Vittadello
1967  Italy Gianni Motta Molteni
1968  Italy Franco Bitossi Filotex
1969  Italy Claudio Michelotto Max Meyer
1970  Italy Luciano Armani Scic
1971  Belgium Georges Pintens Hertekamp-Magniflex
1972  Belgium Roger De Vlaeminck Dreher
1973  Italy Marcello Bergamo Filotex
1974  Belgium Roger De Vlaeminck Brooklyn
1975  Italy Wladimiro Panizza Brooklyn
1976  Italy Enrico Paolini Scic
1977  Belgium Rik Van Linden Bianchi-Campagnolo
1978  Italy Pierino Gavazzi Zonca-Santini
1979  Italy Alfio Vandi Magniflex-Famcucine
1980  Italy Giovanni Battaglin Inoxpran
1981  Italy Giuseppe Martinelli Santini-Selle Italia
1982  Italy Giuseppe Saronni Del Tongo-Colnago
1983  Italy Francesco Moser Gis Gelati-Campagnolo
1984  Italy Paolo Rosola Bianchi-Piaggio
1985  Italy Daniele Caroli Santini-Krups
1986 No race
1987  Australia Phil Anderson Panasonic-Isostar
1988  Germany Rolf Gölz Superconfex–Yoko–Opel–Colnago
1989  Germany Rolf Gölz Superconfex–Yoko–Opel–Colnago
1990  Italy Mauro Gianetti Helvetia-La Suisse
1991  Italy Davide Cassani Ariostea
1992  Italy Gianni Bugno Gatorade-Château d'Ax
1993  Denmark Rolf Sørensen Carrera Jeans–Tassoni
1994  Italy Francesco Casagrande Mercatone Uno–Medeghini
1995  Italy Stefano Zanini Gewiss–Ballan
1996  Italy Daniele Nardello Mapei–GB
1997  France Laurent Jalabert ONCE
1998   Switzerland Niki Aebersold Post Swiss Team
1999   Switzerland Markus Zberg Rabobank
2000 No race due to flooding
2001  Italy Mirko Celestino Saeco Macchine per Caffè
2002  Italy Michele Bartoli Fassa Bortolo
2003  Italy Mirko Celestino Saeco Macchine per Caffè
2004  Spain Marcos Serrano Liberty Seguros
2005  Italy Fabio Sacchi Fassa Bortolo
2006  Spain Igor Astarloa Barloworld
2007  Italy Danilo Di Luca Liquigas
2008–
2011
No race
2012  Spain Alberto Contador Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank
2013  Italy Diego Ulissi Lampre–Merida
2014  Italy Giampaolo Caruso Team Katusha
2015  Italy Diego Rosa Astana
2016  Colombia Miguel Ángel López Astana
2017  Colombia Rigoberto Urán Cannondale–Drapac
2018  France Thibaut Pinot Groupama–FDJ
2019  Canada Michael Woods EF Education First
2020  France Arnaud Démare Groupama–FDJ

References

  1. "Milano-Torino past winners". Cycling News. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  2. Cyclingnews.com Gives details of race return in 2012.
  3. "MIlano-TOrino". Cycling. 2015. Sky.
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