The 2013 Milan–San Remo was the 104th running of the Milan–San Remo single-day cycling race. It was held on 17 March over a shortened distance of 246 kilometres (152.9 miles),[1] and was the fourth race of the 2013 UCI World Tour season. For the first time in 31 years,[2] Milan–San Remo was held on a Sunday, after race organisers requested to change and move into line with several of the other Classic races.[3]
Heavy snowfall and bad weather forced organisers to shorten the race from 298 kilometres (185.2 miles) to 246 kilometres (152.9 miles) eliminating two key climbs – the Passo del Turchino and Le Manie – and arranging a bus transfer, for the race to begin a second time.[4] A few riders elected not to take the restart, including Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Tom Boonen, who protested against the decision to let all riders rejoin the main group, despite several riders having lost contact before the race was neutralised.
As Milan–San Remo was a UCI World Tour event, all UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. Originally, eighteen ProTeams were invited to the race, with seven other squads given wildcard places,[7] and as such, would have formed the event's 25-team peloton. Originally admitted to the event as a wildcard, Team Katusha subsequently regained their ProTour status after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.[8][9] Each of the 25 teams entered eight riders to the race, making up a starting peloton of 200 riders. Among the peloton was the first black South African rider in the race's history, MTN–Qhubeka's Songezo Jim.[10]
