Milano–Torino
 |
|
| Date | Mid October |
|---|---|
| Region | North of Italy |
| English name | Milan–Turin |
| Local name(s) | Milano–Torino (Italian) |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI Europe Tour |
| Type | One-day |
| Organiser | RCS Sport |
| First edition | 1876 |
| Editions | 97 (as of 2016) |
| First winner |
 Paolo Magretti (ITA)
|
| Most recent |
 Miguel Ángel López (COL)
|
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 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.
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 be 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.
The 2000 edition of the race was not held because of torrential rain which caused catastrophic mud slides in the Piedmont area.
The race starts in Novate Milanese just to the north west of Milan and crosses the Ticino river at Vigevano after 40 kilometres, leaving the province 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 the Vignale Monferrato (293 metres) is encountered and then a series of small undulations take the race to the city of 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 Colle di Superga (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.
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Wikipedia