This year's Milano-Sanremo will start inside the Vigorelli Velodrome and return to the traditional route with a mid-race climb up Turchino.

The 113th Milano-Sanremo will take place on Saturday, March 20, with an official distance of 293 km, but riders will always spend more than 300 km and nearly seven hours in the saddle for the long, neutralized stretch from the center of Milan. Last year, Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) won the Via Roma with a late attack from Poggio. He kept the sprinters at bay, with Caleb Yuan and Wout van Aert filling the bottom half of the podium.

Milan-San Remo used to start in the shadow of the imposing white marble Duomo, and for the last 20 years has started outside the Sforzesco Castle. Vigorelli's starting point is a bit further from the city, but arguably just as iconic.

The 397-meter-long outdoor velodrome was built in 1935 and is now filled and protected by high-rise buildings, offices, and new apartment buildings. Bombed during World War II, it was the site of Fausto Coppi's Hour Record Challenge in 1942. Jacques Ancuaille (1956), Ercole Baldini (1956), and Roger Riviere (1957, 1958) have set hour records on this course. 1986 Francesco Moser set a sea level hour record on a disc wheel aerobike on a disc-wheel aerobike.

Legendary Italian track sprinter Antonio Maspeth trained at Vigorelli and was apparently the only rider able to stand on the course on the steep 45° grade.

Vigorelli hosted 23 Giro d'Italia stage finishes and the finish of Il Lombardia until 1985, when Sean Kelly won (opens in new tab). In Italy, Vigorelli is also famous for hosting a Beatles concert in 1965, and Led Zeppelin also gave a concert here. Milan's American football team now plays on an artificial turf central pitch, and on March 20 there will be a Milan-San Remo 25 team presentation and autograph session.

The 2022 Milan-San Remo will start early Saturday morning from Vigorelli, with the official start via Chiesa Rossa heading south to Pavia. Landslides have forced organizers to look for a longer internal route along the coast in recent years, but in 2022 the traditional route will return, with the Passo del Turchino coming up just after 130 km.

After the descent of the Tulcino, the riders will be on the Mediterranean Sea for the long ride along the coast to France and San Remo via Varazze, Savona, Albenga, Imperia, and San Lorenzo al Mare. The result was the most open and exquisitely balanced classic race of the season, with a strong crescendo finish where any scenario could have happened.