Milano–Torino

Milano–Torino

Race Logo courtesy of the race organisers (www.gazzetta.it).
Race details
Date	Mid October
Region	North of Italy
English name	Milan–Turin
Local name(s)	Milano–Torino (Italian)
Discipline	Road
Competition	UCI Europe Tour
Type	Single-day
History
First edition	1876 (1876)
Editions	92 (as of 2007)
First winner	Paolo Magretti (ITA)
Most recent	Danilo Di Luca (ITA)

Milano–Torino route.

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 organised 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.

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 has again returned to a date in October exchanging dates with the Monte Paschi Eroica race which will now be run in March. 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 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.

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.

Winners

		Rider	Team
1876	ITA !	Magretti, PaoloPaolo Magretti (ITA)
1877– 1893	~ !No race
1894	ITA !	Airaldi, LuigiLuigi Airaldi (ITA)
1895	~ !No race
1896	ITA !	Moro, GiovanniGiovanni Moro (ITA)
1897– 1902	~ !No race
1903	ITA !	Gerbi, GiovanniGiovanni Gerbi (ITA)
1904	~ !No race
1905	ITA !	Rossignoli, GiovanniGiovanni Rossignoli (ITA)
1906– 1910	~ !No race
1911	FRA !	Pelissier, HenriHenri Pélissier (FRA)
1912	~ !No race
1913	ITA !	Azzini, GiuseppeGiuseppe Azzini (ITA)
1914	ITA !	Girardengo, CostanteCostante Girardengo (ITA)
1915	ITA !	Girardengo, CostanteCostante Girardengo (ITA)
1916	~ !No race
1917	SUI !	Egg, OscarOscar Egg (SUI)
1918	ITA !	Belloni, GaetamoGaetamo Belloni (ITA)
1919	ITA !	Girardengo, CostanteCostante Girardengo (ITA)
1920	ITA !	Girardengo, CostanteCostante Girardengo (ITA)
1921	ITA !	Gay, FedericoFederico Gay (ITA)
1922	ITA !	Zanaga, AdrianoAdriano Zanaga (ITA)
1923	ITA !	Girardengo, CostanteCostante Girardengo (ITA)
1924	ITA !	Gay, FedericoFederico Gay (ITA)
1925	ITA !	Zanaga, AdrianoAdriano Zanaga (ITA)
1926– 1930	~ !No race
1931	ITA !	Graglia, GiuseppeGiuseppe Graglia (ITA)
1932	ITA !	Olmo, GiuseppeGiuseppe Olmo (ITA)
1933	ITA !	Graglia, GiuseppeGiuseppe Graglia (ITA)
1934	ITA !	Cipriani, MarianoMariano Cipriani (ITA)
1935	ITA !	Gotti, GiovanniGiovanni Gotti (ITA)
1936	ITA !	Del Cancia, CesareCesare Del Cancia (ITA)
1937	ITA !	Martano, GiuseppeGiuseppe Martano (ITA)
1938	ITA !	Favalli, PierinoPierino Favalli (ITA)
1939	ITA !	Favalli, PierinoPierino Favalli (ITA)
1940	ITA !	Favalli, PierinoPierino Favalli (ITA)
1941	ITA !	Chiappini, PietroPietro Chiappini (ITA)
1942	ITA !	Chiappini, PietroPietro Chiappini (ITA)
1943	~ !No race
1944	~ !No race
1945	ITA !	Ortelli, VitoVito Ortelli (ITA)
1946	ITA !	Ortelli, VitoVito Ortelli (ITA)
1947	ITA !	De Zan, ItaloItalo De Zan (ITA)
1948	ITA !	Maggini, SergioSergio Maggini (ITA)
1949	ITA !	Casola, LuigiLuigi Casola (ITA)
1950	ITA !	Grosso, AdolfoAdolfo Grosso (ITA)
1951	ITA !	Magni, FiorenzoFiorenzo Magni (ITA)
1952	ITA !	Bini, AldoAldo Bini (ITA)
1953	ITA !	Maggini, LucianoLuciano Maggini (ITA)
1954	ITA !	Coletto, AgostiniAgostini Coletto (ITA)
1955	ITA !	Maule, CletoCleto Maule (ITA)
1956	SUI !	Kubler, FerdiFerdi Kübler (SUI)
1957	ESP !	Poblet, MiguelMiguel Poblet (ESP)
1958	ITA !	Coletto, AgostiniAgostini Coletto (ITA)
1959	ITA !	Fabri, NelloNello Fabri (ITA)
1960	ITA !	Pambianco, ArnaldoArnaldo Pambianco (ITA)
1961	ITA !	Martin, WalterWalter Martin (ITA)
1962	ITA !	Balmamion, FrancoFranco Balmamion (ITA)
1963	ITA !	Cribori, FrancoFranco Cribori (ITA)
1964	ESP !	Uriona, ValentinValentin Uriona (ESP)
1965	ITA !	Taccone, VitoVito Taccone (ITA)
1966	ITA !	Vigna, MarinoMarino Vigna (ITA)
1967	ITA !	Motta, GianniGianni Motta (ITA)
1968	ITA !	Bitossi, FrancoFranco Bitossi (ITA)
1969	ITA !	Michelotto, ClaudioClaudio Michelotto (ITA)
1970	ITA !	Armani, LucianoLuciano Armani (ITA)
1971	BEL !	Pintens, GeorgesGeorges Pintens (BEL)
1972	BEL !	De Vlaeminck, RogerRoger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
1973	ITA !	Bergamo, MarcelloMarcello Bergamo (ITA)
1974	BEL !	De Vlaeminck, RogerRoger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
1975	ITA !	Panizza, WladimiroWladimiro Panizza (ITA)
1976	ITA !	Paolini, EnricoEnrico Paolini (ITA)
1977	BEL !	Linden, Rik VanRik Van Linden (BEL)
1978	ITA !	Gavazzi, PierinoPierino Gavazzi (ITA)
1979	ITA !	Zandi, AlfioAlfio Zandi (ITA)
1980	ITA !	Battaglin, GiovanniGiovanni Battaglin (ITA)
1981	ITA !	Martinelli, GiuseppeGiuseppe Martinelli (ITA)
1982	ITA !	Saronni, GiuseppeGiuseppe Saronni (ITA)
1983	ITA !	Moser, FrancescoFrancesco Moser (ITA)
1984	ITA !	Rosola, PaoloPaolo Rosola (ITA)
1985	ITA !	Carola, DanieleDaniele Carola (ITA)
1986	~ !No race
1987	AUS !	Anderson, PhilPhil Anderson (AUS)
1988	GER !	Golz, RolfRolf Gölz (GER)
1989	GER !	Golz, RolfRolf Gölz (GER)
1990	ITA !	Gianetti, MauroMauro Gianetti (ITA)
1991	ITA !	Cassani, DavideDavide Cassani (ITA)
1992	ITA !	Bugno, GianniGianni Bugno (ITA)
1993	DEN !	Sorensen, RolfRolf Sørensen (DEN)	Carrera Jeans-Tassoni
1994	ITA !	Casagrande, FrancescoFrancesco Casagrande (ITA)	Mercatone Uno-Medeghini
1995	ITA !	Zanini, StefanoStefano Zanini (ITA)	Gewiss-Ballan
1996	ITA !	Nardello, DanieleDaniele Nardello (ITA)	Mapei-GB
1997	FRA !	Jalabert, LaurentLaurent Jalabert (FRA)	ONCE
1998	SUI !	Aebersold, NikiNiki Aebersold (SUI)	Post Swiss
1999	SUI !	Zberg, MarkusMarkus Zberg (SUI)	Rabobank
2000	~ !No race due to flooding
2001	ITA !	Celestino, MirkoMirko Celestino (ITA)	Saeco Macchine per Caffè
2002	ITA !	Bartoli, MicheleMichele Bartoli (ITA)	Fassa Bortolo
2003	ITA !	Celestino, MirkoMirko Celestino (ITA)	Saeco Macchine per Caffè
2004	ESP !	Serrano, MarcosMarcos Serrano (ESP)	Liberty Seguros
2005	ITA !	Sacchi, FabioFabio Sacchi (ITA)	Fassa Bortolo
2006	ESP !	Astarloa, IgorIgor Astarloa (ESP)	Barloworld
2007	ITA !	Di Luca, DaniloDanilo Di Luca (ITA)	Liquigas