Filippo Pozzato Takes Milan-San Remo 2006 - La Primavera

Milan-San Remo is one of the earliest races of the season and is the longest classic race. The 2006 edition weighed in at a whopping 294 kilometers, that's 183 miles for you non-metric folks. This years winning average speed another impressive number 45.27 km/hour...28.13 miles/hour! There are little old ladies in my neighborhood who don't drive their cars 28.13 miles per hour! Milan-San Remo was first run in 1907 and was organized by Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The organizers were not sure it was even possible to do.

I was watching the last half on OLN and the thing that blew me away was watching the guys in the last 10km hammering up the Poggio. I can't remember his name now, but this big dude from CSC was in the big ring going up the climb and was carrying so much speed in the corners he was nearly biting it all the way up. The big ring people?!? Well, all 162 finishers felt the miles deaden legs, and the searing pain of the climbs, but only Filippo Pozzato of Quick Step-Innergetic knows what the win feels like.

Some interesting facts about the race:

• Italy has the most victories with 49.
• The greatest number of wins is 7 by Eddy Merckx
• Since the first edition in 1907, the only time the race has not been held was due to war in 1916, 1944 and 1945.

For more great facts, history, and stats about the Milan-San Remo race cruise on over to http://milansanremo.co.uk, this person did a really good job with the site.