A minute’s silence was observed by the peloton at the start of today’s Milano-Sanremo, in tribute to the victims of Wednesday’s coach crash in Switzerland. The coach, which was carrying a party of Belgian schoolchildren home after a skiing holiday collided with a concrete wall in a motorway tunnel near Sierre, in the south of Switzerland. 28 people died in the crash, including 22 children.
A similar tribute was paid at Wednesday's Nokere Koerse in Belgium, while a day of mourning was declared in the country on Friday, with a minute’s silence held and church bells rung.
Belgian riders, and those on Belgian teams - led by Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert - were stood at the front of the 200-strong peloton as it prepared to set out from Milan’s Piazza Castello at 10am central European time.
This is the second straight year that the race has paid tribute to the victims of a foreign tragedy; the 2011 edition was dedicated to the victims of the Japanese tsunami, with a large Japanese flag painted on the road at the finish, and one raised alongside the Australian flag of race winner Matt Goss.