Andre Tchmil wins the 1999 edition of Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Erik Zabel soaks Zbigniew Spruch on the podium of the 1999 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The podium in 2005 Milan-San Remo: Danilo Hondo, Alessandro Petacchi and Thor Hushovd(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mario Cipollini wins the 2002 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mario Cipollini took the lead in the World Cup in 2002's Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Cipollini speeds to the front in the 2002 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mario Cipollini wins the 2002 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The 2004 Milan-San Remo podium: Stuart O'Grady, Oscar Freire and Erik Zabel(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Oscar Freire celebrates his win in the 2004 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The 2001 podium in Milan-San Remo: Mario Cipollini, Erik Zabel and Romāns Vainšteins(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Oscar Freire (Rabobank) won the last Via Roma edition of Milan-Sanremo in 2007(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Oscar Freire jumps from the left side of the road in 2007(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Filippo Pozzato, (Quick-Step) wins Milan-San Remo in front of Alessandro Petacchi (Team Milram) in 2006.
Paolo Bettini (Quick-Step) wins Milan-San Remo in 2003.
World Cup leader Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) on his way to beating Romans Vainsteins (Domo Farm Frites) and Mario Cippolini (Saeco) at Milan-San Remo in 2001.
World Cup leader Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) on his way to beating Romans Vainsteins (Domo Farm Frites) and Mario Cippolini (Saeco) at Milan-San Remo in 2001.
Mario Cippolini ( Acqua & Sapone) wins Milan-San Remo in 2002.
Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) thinks he is winning the 2004 Milan-San Remo, but Oscar Freire (Rabobank) wins instead.
Allan Davis, Oscar Freire and Tom Boonen on the podium in 2007(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Oscar Freire (Rabobank) won the last Via Roma edition of Milan-Sanremo in 2007(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Erik Zabel wins the 2001 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Zabel gets the better of Cipollini in the 2001 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Paolo Bettini beats Mirko Celestino to win the 2003 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The 2006 Milan-San Remo podium: Luca Paolini, Filippo Pozzato and Alessandro Petacchi(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Filippo Pozzato can't believe he's won the 2006 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Paolo Bettini and Filippo Pozzato celebrate(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen celebrates along with teammate Filippo Pozzato in the 2006 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alessandro Petacchi wins the 2005 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alessandro Petacchi wins the 2005 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Erik Zabel celebrates too soon and loses the 2004 Milan-San Remo to Oscar Freire(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Luca Paolini slayed himself for teammate Bettini in the 2003 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The peloton sprints in on the Via Roma for fourth in the 2003 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
In 2000, Erik Zabel had a large margin of victory over Fabio Baldato(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The 2000 Milan-San Remo podium: Fabio Baldato, Erik Zabel and Oscar Freire(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Andre Tchmil wins the 1999 edition of Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Erik Zabel won his first of two back-to-back Milan-San Remo editions in 1998(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Erik Zabel after winning the 1998 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mario Cipollini as world champion sees the leaders ride off into the distance on the Via Roma in the 2003 Milan-San Remo (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Paolo Bettini beside himself with joy after winning the 2003 Milan-San Remo(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alessandro Pettachi (Fassa Bortolo) wins Milan-San Remo in 2005.
For the first time since 2007, Milan-San Remo will return to its traditional finish in the centre of San Remo on Via Roma, the slightly rising shopping street that first rose to fame in the 1960s and ‘70s when Eddy Merckx won the race seven times in 10 years.
As Cyclingnews' Stephen Farrand noted in his race preview, the Via Roma’s return has pleased the purists and the sprinters, many of whom grew up watching the race finish there.
Eddie Merckx is mobbed while holding the Milan-San Remo trophy aloft after winning the race in 1972. Merckx won Milan-San Remo on Via Roma seven times in 10 years in the 1960s and '70s. (Getty Images Sport)
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