Cycling: the eight classics from RCS-Crédit Agricole

Rcs Sport and Crédit Agricole: a partnership that will sign the great classics of Italian cycling for the next three years, for a rich calendar steeped in history.

March 4: 9th Strade Bianche Women Elite

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Ninth edition for the women’s Strade Bianche: its journey began on 7 March 2015, the winner was the American Megan Guarnier. Elizabeth Armitstead won the following year, while in 2017 Elisa Longo Borghini became the only Italian victorious on her home roads and the youngest at 25 years 2 months and 22 days, a record she still holds today.

4 March: 17th Strade Bianche

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The Strade Bianche reaches its seventeenth edition: its history began on 9 October 2007, the winner was Alexander Kolobnev. The multiple winner of the Strade Bianche is Fabian Cancellara, with 3 wins: 2008, 2012, 2016. Michal Kwiatkowski at odds of 2. Defined as “The Northernmost Classic in Europe”, the Strade Bianche has only had winners born in the North of Tuscany, the region that hosts the race.

6-12 March: 58th Tirreno-Adriatico

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The Tirreno-Adriatico began its history in March 1966: from 11 to 13 three stages from Rome to breaking latest news were disputed; the final winner was Dino Zandegù. With 57 editions disputed, the Tirreno-Adriatico is the second longest running Italian stage race after the Giro d’Italia.

15 March: 103rd Milan-Turin

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The Milan-Turin is the oldest cycling race in the world: the first edition was held on May 25, 1876, won by Paolo Magretti, born in 1854, from Milan, at the time the capital of the Lombardo-Veneto Kingdom. The “Gazzetta dello Sport”, the largest Italian sports newspaper, would be born only 20 years later.

18 March: 114th Milan-San Remo

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The Milano-Sanremo, the Classicissima, saw the light in 1907: the first winner was the Frenchman Lucien Petit-Breton. The Milan-San Remo is the longest professional road race on the calendar, the only one that in this century has regularly exceeded 280 km in length. The multi-winner in Sanremo is Eddy Merckx, with 7 successes from 1966 to 1976.

11-14 April: 22nd Tour of Sicily

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The Giro di Sicilia is one of the oldest Italian stage races: the first edition took place in 1907, two years before the birth of the Giro d’Italia. From 1907 to 1977, 18 editions of the Giro di Sicilia took place in stages, all won by Italian athletes. The first winner was Carlo Galetti, who made him the 1910 and 1911 Giro d’Italia. The race returned to the calendar in 2019, the winner was Brandon McNulty. The American is the only foreign winner of the Giro di Sicilia: the other 20 editions all went to Italian athletes. The last two winners are Sicilian natives: Vincenzo Nibali (Messina) in 2021 and Damiano Caruso (Ragusa) in 2022.

5 October: 107th Gran Piemonte

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The Gran Piemonte began its history as the Giro del Piemonte in 1906. Raced both as a road race and as a stage race, it became “Gran Piemonte” in 2009, at its 95th edition. Gran Piemonte has 4 athletes on equal terms as multiple winners, all with 3 victories: Costante Girardengo (1919, 1920, 1924); Aldo Bini (1935, 1936, 1941); Gino Bartali (1937, 1939, 1951); Fiorenzo Magni (1942, 1953, 1956). Gran Piemonte has recorded 11 different winners in the last 11 editions. The last to repeat was Philippe Gilbert in 2009 and 2010.

7 October: 117th Il Lombardia

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With 116 editions, Il Lombardia is the Italian online race with the most races held. The first edition took place on 12 November 1905 with departure and arrival in Milan. The winner was Giovanni Gerbi. The multiple winner of Il Lombardia is Fausto Coppi, with 5 successes, of which 4 consecutive from 1946 to 1949, and the 1954 edition, his last success in a classic monument. At number 4, Alfredo Binda follows with a sequence of 3 from 1925 to 1927 and the 1931 edition. The aforementioned sequences are the only ones that are at least three editions long. Tadej Pogacar, with the successes of 2021 and 2022 is able to join the list.