Milan – Sanremo 1946

Milan – Sanremo 1946
Host country	Italy
Competition period	March 19, 1946
overall length	293 kilometers
Starting field	115 (of which 63 arrived at the destination)
winner
Overall rating	1. Fausto Coppi 8:09:00 h 2. Lucien Teisseire + 14'00 " 3. Mario Ricci + 18'30"
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The 37th edition of the Milan – Sanremo cycling classic took place on March 19, 1946. It was not only the first important race of the season, but also the first real bike race in Italy after a two-year break in the war. Milan – Sanremo 1946 is now considered part of the rivalry between Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali , as well as a classic in cycling history due to the large time gap between the winner and the runners-up.

Course and participants

The route took the peloton almost 300 kilometers south of Milan through the Po plain and over the Turchino Pass to the Mediterranean . From there along the coast to Sanremo . Most of the roads were unpaved and the general infrastructure was badly damaged by war damage.

The two Italian cycling stars Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi were the big favorites to win . The rivalry between the conservative, deeply religious Bartali from rural Tuscany and the atheist Coppi from Piedmont , who uses the most modern training methods, cast a spell over the Italians. Due to the war, the strength ratio between the two was unclear. The last race was over two years ago.

Race course

Shortly after the start of the race, it became clear that Coppi had prepared excellently over the winter. Already 50 kilometers after the start, he joined a breakaway group. Coppi set such a horrific pace that his fellow escapees had difficulty following him. The last of them, the Frenchman Lucien Teisseire , finally gave up on the slopes of the Turchino Pass and from now on, 150 kilometers from the finish, Coppi was on his own. At the top of the pass, he was almost 30 seconds ahead. But Coppi did not give in and extended his lead to 14 minutes until Sanremo. The legend that underlines his superiority has it that he even stopped on the way to have an espresso at a bar.

Final score

Result

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Fausto Coppi		Bianchi	8 h 09 min
2.	Lucien Teisseire		Ray-Dunlop	+14 min
3.	Mario Ricci		Legnano	+18 min 30 sec
4th	Gino Bartali		Legnano	same time
5.	Severino Cavanesi		Bianchi	same time
6th	Vito Ortelli		Benotto Superga	same time
7th	Adolfo Leoni		Bianchi	same time
8th.	Osvaldo Bailo		Girardengo	+ 0:03
9.	Salvatore Crippa		Enal-Campari	+ 0:10
10.	Emilio Croci-Torti		Tebag	+ 0:12

Web links

Commons : Milan-Sanremo  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Report on Cycling revealed
• Report on INRNG (English)
• Report on Italymagazine
• Report on Bikeraceinfo

Individual evidence