On Wednesday, Etixx-Quick Step star Mark Cavendish previewed the Milan-Sanremo route with Rigoberto Uran, Mark Renshaw and Fabio Sabatini. DS Davide Bramati was in the car.

 

“It’s the classic course, without Mànie and no Pompeiana, and the classic Via Roma finish line,” said Bramati in an interview with Cycling Weekly. “For sure, it’s extra motivation for sprinters like Mark who have a chance.”

 

Much has been made of the change from Italo Calvino to the Via Roma, the traditional Sanremo finish line. Cavendish has never raced on Via Roma, winning his first participation in 2009, on Italo Calvino.

 

“There was a lot of traffic in San Remo yesterday, that’s normal, but we did get a good look,” Bramati said.

 

“Instead of making that left to the seaside, it’s straight for 500 metres the new finish line. The Via Roma is wider than the other finish and a little shorter to the line form the descent of the Poggio.”

 

Bramati and Cavendish have already marked out the points where the Brit will need to be at the front to be kept safe from danger, a task which Bramati says is much easier in Sanremo than it is in races like Flanders.

 

“They need to be ahead at certain points: At the base of the Berta climb, entering Imperia where the road narrows and you have a left at the roundabout, for the start of the Cipressa.”

 

“You don’t want to spend too much energy to make up lost positions if someone creates a gap, and you don’t want to descend the Cipressa behind, because at the base, there’s always a huge acceleration on the main seaside road.”