Professional athletes will miss Saturday's Milan-San Remo race due to the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic and severe social distancing measures being implemented in Italy, but thanks to race organizers RCS Sport, Garmin and Tacx of Italy, a publicly A "virtual" version of La Primavera will be contested on Saturday.

More than 1,200 people have signed up for the online event, including 2018 Milan-San Remo winner Vincenzo Nibali, 2006 winner Filippo Pozzato, and 1993 winner Maurizio Fondriesto. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, EF Pro Cycling's Tour of Flanders winner Alberto Bettiol, Ivan Basso, and Italian national coach Davide Cassani will also participate.

The virtual ride will take place between 11:00 am and 6:00 pm Central European Time and is open to anyone with a Garmin Edge cycling computer and smart home trainer. Registration is currently in Italian and is not expected to be available in English or any other language due to time constraints. However, the Garmin Connect app will simplify the process.

If you do not have a Garmin device but have a Tacx home trainer, you can also participate using the Tacx app, which will allow you to watch the last 88 km of the Milan-San Remo in movie mode so you can see the road along the Ligurian coast. The official GPX file can also be downloaded here.

The Garmin virtual route covers 57 km of the official race route from Alassio to San Remo. This includes three short melas, the Cervo, the Berta Capi climb, the Cipressa, and of course the final Poggio climb, which descends to San Remo and finishes in the central Via Roma.

The virtual ride will be offered by RCS Sport and Garmin to thousands of Italian riders who are forced to ride indoors in accordance with strict legislation enacted to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus and reduce its medical and social consequences. A similar event will likely take place during the Giro d'Italia stage as part of the agreement between RCS Sport and Garmin/Tax.

During the Covid-19 crisis, a special #iopedalodacasa - #irideathome-hastag was created to promote cycling at home, and RCS Sport will offer all participants with official Garmin registration and device use given a €20 discount on the Il Lombardia Gran Fondo ride.