The 88th running of the

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

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

Summary

Michele Bartoli 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 bicycle racer, road racing cyclist who was a professional from 1988 until 2004. Nicknamed ''The Lion of Flanders'', he was particularly successful in the cobbled classic ...

, Andrea Ferrigato and

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

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 sin ...

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 t ...

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 for most of his career with Team Telekom. With 152 professional wins and 211 wins in his career, he is considered by some to be one of the greatest Germ ...

. 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. Zabel was the second German winner of the ''Primavera'' after Rudi Altig in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and the first winner in a mass sprint since Pierino Gavazzi in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milan-San Remo, 1997

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

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