MILANO - SANREMO - THE EXCITEMENT BUILDS Official Start list now available.

Milan, 22 March 2014 - The official start list for tomorrow’s 105th Milano – Sanremo, organised by RCS Sport/La Gazzetta dello Sport, was finalised this evening and is attached to this communication via the link at the foot of the page. Confirmed among the starters are the winners of 5 previous editions of Milano – Sanremo: Germany’s Gerald Ciolek (2013), Mark Cavendish (2009) from the Isle of Man, Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara (2008), and the Italians Filippo Pozzato (2006) and Alessandro Petacchi (2005). Also confirmed are the Slovak Peter Sagan, the Germans André Greipel and John Degenkolb, Belgium's Phillippe Gilbert, the Norwegians Edvald Boasson Hagen and Thor Hushovd, the French rider Arnaud Demare, Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski and the Italians Vincenzo Nibali and Diego Ulissi. WEATHER Milan (race start, 10.00 hours CET): rain, 10.6°C. Wind: weak - W 9 kph. Passo del Turchino (km 143,5, 13.30 CET): rain, 9.2°C. Wind: weak - SE 8 - 10 kph. Cipressa (16.00 hours CET): rain, 13.7°C. Wind: Weak - NNE 8 - 13 kph. Sanremo (race finish: 17.00 hours CET): scattered showers, 14.8°C. Wind: moderate - WNW 15 kph. SCHEDULE Meeting point: Arco della Pace, Milan, 08.25 CET Signing in: 08.25 - 09.45 CET Ceremonial roll out: 09.50 CET km 0: Via della Chiesa Rossa, 10.10 CET AROUND THE RACE Milano-Sanremo has been part of Italian popular culture since 1907. It is indelibly linked to some of the great moments in 20th century Italian history. By way of example, the 1946 Milano-Sanremo took place the day after King Victor Emmanuel III, too compromised by his earlier support of Mussolini to play any part in post-war Italian politics, announced his intention to abdicate. 24 hours later, Fausto Coppi, that giant of Italian sporting history, launched a 150 km solo attack that led to victory in the 37th Milano-Sanremo by no less than 14 minutes. Given the huge period of time before the arrival of the second-placed rider, the radio commentator Niccolò Carosio fell back on a time-honoured broadcaster’s ruse, introduced by this immortal piece of sports commentary: ‘First across the line, Fausto Coppi.

And now, while we wait for the other riders to finish, here is some light music!’ In the collective memory, the birth of the modern Italian Republic is intimately associated with Fausto Coppi’s extraordinary performance that day. Record wins: The record-holder for Milano-Sanremo wins is Eddy Merckx, who won a remarkable 7 editions of the race (1966, 1967,1969, 1971,1972, 1975, 1976). SANREMO History: Once the Roman settlement of Matutia, or Villa Matutiana, Sanremo expanded in the early middle ages when the town moved to higher ground, and built a castle and the walled village of La Pigna, to protect the town from Saracen raids. Other sports: Sanremo hosts major annual tournaments in a wide range of sports, including golf, sailing, triathlon, clay pigeon shooting. In particular, Sanremo is historically associated with motorsport, poker, and, of course, cycling. Motorsport: Juan Manuel Fangio won his first European Grand Prix in Sanremo-Ospedaletti in 1949. The Sanremo Rally, first held in 1928, is part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the Italian national rally championship. A historic Rally is held in Sanremo each April, for the Coppa dei Fiori. Poker: Sanremo hosts an annual poker tournament as part of the European Poker Tour, and is widely accepted as the origin of a variant form of five-card stud called Telesina or Teresina. Festivals and flowers: Founded in Roman times, the city is a well-known tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. As well as the Milano-Sanremo, the town hosts the extremely popular Sanremo Music Festival (strictly speaking, the Sanremo Festival of Italian Song, held each spring since 1951, on which the Eurovision Song Contest - first held in 1956 - was modelled). Sanremo is known as “La Cittá dei Fiori” - the City of Flowers - due to important aspect of the economy of the city. Flowers from Sanremo adorn the annual Nobel Prize Award Ceremony and Banquet in Stockholm in memory of Alfred Nobel, who spent his last years in Sanremo, and died there in 1896. TV AND INTERNET The 2014 Milano-Sanremo will be broadcast in 154 countries around the world. In Italy, the 2014 Milano-Sanremo is live on RaiSport 2 from 13.40 CET, and simultaneously on Rai3 from 15.05 CET, with live streaming at www.raisport.it. It is also live on Eurosport International from 14.00 CET. There are real-time updates and analysis at www.gazzetta.it. Live TV coverage starts at 14.30 Central European Time. Across Europe, in addition to live coverage on RaiTre, RaiSport 2 and Eurosport International, the 2014 Milano-Sanremo will be shown in Belgium by the Flemish channel VRT and by the French-speaking channel RTBF. The 2014 Milano-Sanremo will be shown

live In Spain by the FORTA group of channels belonging to the autonomous communities: TV3 in Catalonia, TVG in Galicia, TPA in Asturias and EITB in the Basque Country. In the Netherlands, NOS will provide live coverage of the 2014 Milano-Sanremo, while in Switzerland the race will be shown on SRG SSR. In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports will broadcast extended, 90-minute evening highlights of the 2014 Milano-Sanremo at 20.30 on Sky Sports 2. The channel beIN Sports will provide the 2014 Milano-Sanremo exclusively in France and the USA. Al Jazeera will televise the 2014 Milano-Sanremo in the Middle East, while in Sub-Saharan Africa, SuperSport will show race highlights. English-speaking Canada will be able to see the 2014 Milano-Sanremo on the Rogers Communications’ channel Sportsnet, while Francophone Canada can watch the race live on RDS (Réseau des Sports). TDN (Televisa Deportes Network) will provide race coverage in Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and El Salvador. the 2014 Milano-Sanremo will be broadcast live in Asia by Eurosport Asia-Pacific. In addition, Sony SIX will offer highlights of the 2014 Milano-Sanremo in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan, and TrueVisions will do the same in Thailand. In Japan, the race will be shown live by J Sport and in Australia by SBS. Finally, highlights packages on FOX Sports in Australia and Sky Sport (New Zealand) confirm the great worldwide interest in Milano-Sanremo. Info: SHIFT Active Media Matteo Cavazzuti RCS Sport cycling press office Ph. (+44) 01225 448333 Ph.: (+39) 348 5838779 E-mail: matteo.cavazzuti@shiftactivemedia.com Tw.: @Shiftactive - @MatCavazzuti

RCS Sport Stefano Diciatteo RCS Sport press office coordinator Ph.: (+39) 02 25848758 Mob.: (+39) 335 5468466 E-mail: Stefano.diciatteo@rcs.it Tw.: @rcssport - @stedicia