Course changes for Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo in Italy

Two of Italy’s well-known single-day races, Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo, could potentially be re-routed due to weather and safety concerns. Race organizers RCS Sport are working to come up with solutions for their events held in March.

UCI 1.1 events Strade Bianche held on March 8 and Roma Maxima on March 9 travel through Tuscany where recent landslides due to extremely wet weather conditions have damaged some of the course roads, as reported on the Italian website Tuttobiciweb.

WorldTour race Milan-San-Remo held on March 23 was set to debut a new 5-km climb through Pompeiana at the end of the route this year. The new climb added to the finale was expected to make the race better-suited to the climbers than the sprinters.

The city, however, noted that the descent off the climb is narrow, choppy and lacks sufficient guard rails to keep the peloton safe. Wet weather and landslides have added to the concerns about the climb’s safety.

RCS Sport is working with the city to come up with a solution. If no solution is found, the race will likely continue on its original route along the Ligurian coast and up two climbs, Cipressa and Poggio, before finishing in San Remo.