The 88th running of the

Milan–San Remo Milan–San Remo (in Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance of 298 km (~185.2 miles) it is t ...

cycling classic The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most ...

was held on 22 March 1997 and won by German Erik Zabel.

Summary

Michele Bartoli Michele Bartoli (born 27 May 1970, in Pisa) is a retired Italian road racing cyclist. Bartoli was a professional from 1992 until 2004 and was one of the most successful single-day classics specialists of his generation, especially in the Italia ...

had a small lead on the top of the Poggio, before being joined by a small group with

Johan Museeuw Johan Museeuw (born 13 October 1965) is a retired Belgian professional road racing cyclist who was a professional from 1988 until 2004. Nicknamed ''The Lion of Flanders'', he was particularly successful in the cobbled classics of Flanders and No ...

Andrea Ferrigato Andrea Ferrigato (born 1 September 1969 in Schio) is an Italian former road bicycle racer. Career In 1991 he turned professional with , which he rode for until 1993. In 1994 he won the 12th stage at the Giro d'Italia, while his best year wa ...

and

Marco Pantani Marco Pantani (; 13 January 1970 – 14 February 2004) was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely regarded as the greatest climbing specialist in the history of the sport by measures of his legacy, credits from other riders, and records. He rec ...

Rolf Sørensen Rolf Sørensen (born 20 April 1965) is a former Danish professional road bicycle racer. He is currently working as a cycling commentator and agent. Born in Helsinge in Denmark, Sørensen moved to Italy at the age of 17, where he has lived since ...

led the pursuers, who rejoined the grupetto on the descent. A group of 40 decided the race in a sprint, for the first time in 17 years.

Alberto Elli Alberto Elli (born 9 March 1964) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who wore the yellow jersey for 4 days in the 2000 Tour de France. Elli was called up late for the 2000 Tour de France, and after a group of 12 cyclists stayed away from th ...

led the sprint from afar, but was overtaken by German sprint star

Erik Zabel Erik Zabel (; born 7 July 1970) is a German former professional road bicycle racer who raced most of his career with Telekom. With 152 professional wins and 211 wins in his career, he is considered by some to be one of the greatest German cycl ...

. Several riders were involved in a spectacular final-sprint crash, including

Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 1968) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as ''"Jaja"'' (slang for a glass of wine; when he continued drinking wine as a professional, the nickname stuck ...

and

Maximilian Sciandri Maximilian Sciandri (born 15 February 1967) is a retired British road racing cyclist of Italian descent. He competed as an Italian national up to February 1995, then took British citizenship. He won the bronze medal in the men's individual road ...

. Zabel was the second German winner of the ''Primavera'' after

Rudi Altig Rudi Altig (; 18 March 1937 – 11 June 2016) was a German professional track and road racing cyclist who won the 1962 Vuelta a España and the world championship in 1966. After his retirement from sports he worked as a television commentator. ...

in 1968.

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milan-San Remo, 1997

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

March 1997 sports events in Europe 1997 in road cycling 1997 in Italian sport 1997 UCI Road World Cup