... to what makes this great race so great, was my original title for this story, written on the eve of my first trip to San Remo to view La Primavera live. It was a spiritual journey, and this report was my humble attempt to put that into pictures and words.

Riding pro cycling’s roads of glory is something special, and can only be truly appreciated upon reflection of having turned your own pedals over the same tracks as our sports’ greatest heros. And as Nick O’Brien recounts a day on the slopes of the Poggio, it’s even sweeter when battling your own worthy adversary…

In 1946, in his first major race after spending most of World War 2 in a British prison camp, Fausto Coppi set out to win Milano-Sanremo. To do so, he took – for the time – three unconventional steps.