When Sean Kelly attacked on the Poggio descent to win the 1992 Milan-San Remo

There will be no 111th Milan-San Remo this Saturday; it is one of fifteen 2020 WorldTour races cancelled so far because of the coronovirus pandemic. In this storied Monument, the drama often plays out on the Poggio climb that peaks a few kilometres before the finish line in San Remo. But occasionally the action erupts on the twisting descent of the Poggio among the greenhouses.

One of the greatest Il Primavera victories of all time is Irishman Sean Kelly’s, the last big win of a storied career. In 1992, he made up eight-seconds on Italy’s Moreno Argentin, who escaped on the 3.7-km Poggio, by plummeting down the other side, carving the switchbacks to pull back the incredulous Argentin at the red kite. Kelly was the better sprinter and claimed his second crown.

Afterwards Argentin claimed, “I didn’t see him until the last (moments), when we were almost 600 metres from the finish. With all the motorbikes behind, I couldn’t see him. I guess he was also aided by them.”

In this Eurosport footage, the breathless narration of Kelly’s daring descent is from Brit David Duffield, who was fond of phrases like “turn your granny to the wall” and “as useful as a chocolate chain ring”. Kelly is the man in blue dropping like a stone.

Twenty-first Century Boys

Oscar Friere’s name might not ring out as loudly as it should. The Spaniard won as many world championships this century as Peter Sagan, and Milan-San Remo three times as well. His first victory in Milan-San Remo came in 2004‘s reduced bunch sprint. Four-time champion Eric Zabel prematurely raised his arms in victory, but Friere threw his bike to steal the flowers.

In 2016 there was controversy at Milan-San Remo. The day’s surprise bunch sprint winner was Arnaud Démare, who crashed on the Cipressa, another key climb situated before the Poggio. Démare managed to get back onto the pack, survive the Poggio selection and avoid a Fernando Gaviria crash in the push to the line that slowed Peter Sagan and 2014 titlist Alexander Kristoff. After the race Matteo Tosatto and Eros Capecchi accused Démare of having accepted a tow from his FDJ team car to rejoin the pack after his crash. The first French Milan-San Remo champion since 1995 denied the charges, an investigation turned up no evidence and Démare vowed to win the race again.

Either the sprinters make it up to Poggio intact and battle it out for the win, like all seven of Friere and Zabel’s wins, or a small group escapes and skirmishes at the line on the Via Roma. In 2017 one of the greatest Monument finish images of all time was created by Sagan, Michal Kwiatkowski and Julian Alaphilippe. The trio attacked over the top of the Poggio and pried open the gap on the descent. Kwiatkowski played Sagan perfectly and carried the day, with a desperate Sagan bouncing off the Pole after the line. Alaphilippe is the current champion and Sagan has yet to win the race.

Any look at Milan-San Remo in the 21st century without mentioning Vincenzo Nibali’s solo win in 2018–the first for an Italian in a dozen years–would be remiss. Nibali had finished off 2017 with his second Il Lombardia title at the age of 33, and started 2018 with decent stage race results but without finishing Strade Bianche. Nibali exploded on the Poggio after his Bahrain-Merida team pulled back BMC’s Jean-Pierre Drucker. The Shark went over the top with a six-second lead, whipping the tifosi at the finish into a froth. Nibali led the white-knuckle descent off the Poggio with Matteo Trentin and Sagan heading up the pursuit. Celebrating as he crossed the line on via Roma, Nibali had the same time as second place Caleb Ewan and that man Démare in third.