After having tried to tamper with the course in recent seasons by adding in the Pompeiana climbs, RCS director Mauro Vegni says that he wants to now keep Milan-Sanremo as a race for late attacks and the sprinters. This came after the race finished in a large group sprint for consecutive years, with John Degenkolb beating defending champion Alexander Kristoff.

“We’re definitely going to keep the route as it is,” Vegni told Cyclingnews.

“The idea of adding the Pompeiana climb was a possibility until about three months ago, then the chance of finish in the Via Roma and so taking Milan-San Remo back to the classic finish, made me reflect on things and realise it is probably better to leave the route as it is now. There’s no intention to add the La Manie or the Pompeiana climbs, we’ll stick with the classic route and the finish on the Via Roma.”

He said that keeping the route this way gives the race a special identity among the other bike races on the professional calendar.

“I think that each monument Classic is unique. Look at the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix. We think that Milan-San Remo is unique because of the way it is so finally balanced. The fact that it’s virtually impossible to guess what will happen and who will win, makes Milan-San Remo unique,” he said.

One change he is looking to possible make is to return the race to a Saturday, with the event being currently run on a Sunday.

“If you have Milan-San Remo on Sunday, you clash with a lot of other events,” he said.

“Sunday is the big day for football, especially in Italy. The Formula One GP is also held on Sundays, as is the MotoGP motorbike races. In Italy there’s also a lot of important family entertainment programmes on television. We’ve still got to decide on which is the best day for the race but we want to make Milan-San Remo the Classicissima it once was, with the classic route, the finish on the Via Roma and perhaps even holding it a Saturday. We’ll reflect on it and study things before making a decision.”