The Passo del Turchino is a mountain pass

Mountain pass

A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...

 located between the cities of Masone

Masone

Masone is a comune in the Province of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about 32 km northwest of Genoa. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,020 and an area of 29.8 km²....

 and Mele

Mele

Mele is a comune in the Province of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about 21 km west of Genoa.Mele borders the following municipalities: Bosio, Genoa, Masone.-External links:*...

 in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Liguria

Liguria

Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...

. It is known for its annual appearance in the classic

Classic cycle races

The classic cycle races are one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same...

 one-day cycling race Milan – San Remo, and occasionally in other races.

While in the early days of Milan – San Remo the Turchino contributed to deciding the winner of the race, it is now not considered selective enough to break up a racing peloton

Peloton

The peloton , field, bunch or pack is the large main group of riders in a road bicycle race. Riders in a group save energy by riding close near other riders...

.

Details of the climb

The climb can be accessed by three roads, with the approach from Mele

Mele

Mele is a comune in the Province of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about 21 km west of Genoa.Mele borders the following municipalities: Bosio, Genoa, Masone.-External links:*...

 the most common. Though the climb from this road features some gradients topping 10%, these stretches are very brief and the average gradient is only 4%. The total distance of the climb from this road is 546 meters.

Starting from Voltri, the climb's average gradient is slightly higher at 4.5%, but there are no sections higher than 7%. The 526 meters in this climb are thus realized with a more steady gradient.

The easiest road up the Turchino starts in Ovada

Ovada

Ovada is a comune in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 90 km southeast of Turin and about 30 km south of Alessandria....

, and only has sections of higher than 4% at the very end of the climb. The average gradient starting from Ovada is only 1.5%, and the climb takes just 373 meters.

Usage in Milan – San Remo

The Passo del Turchino has been used in Milan – San Remo every year it has been held except 2001 and 2002. Originally, the climb was quite selective, as for 14 out of the first 39 editions of the race, the man to the top of the Turchino first was the winner of the race. In 1910, there was so much snow on the Turchino that only four of the 63 riders who began the race finished it, and those who finished had to dismount and push their bikes through heavy snowdrifts at the top of the pass in order to get beyond it.

In recent years, the climb has not proven selective. The race almost inevitably ends with a mass sprint or a breakaway, formed after crossing the Turchino, comprising riders that would have otherwise been in the sprint.

Milan – San Remo winners who also were the first over the Passo del Turchino

Year	Rider	Won race by
1908		3'30"
1909		3'00"
1912		Won sprint
1917		11'48"
1918		13'00"
1919		2'15"
1920		Won sprint
1921		Won sprint
1925		Won sprint
1926		6'40"
1927		9'00"
1929		8'30"
1931		Won sprint
1946		14'00"

The Passo del Turchino has also been used in the Giro d'Italia

Giro d'Italia

The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

, most recently in 2009, when Stefano Garzelli

Stefano Garzelli

Stefano Garzelli is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The high point of his career to date was his overall win in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, after a close three-way competition with Gilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande.-Career:He started out as being a domestique for Marco Pantani but...

led the peloton over its summit.