The 117th edition of the Spring Classic, the first Monument of the season, takes place on Saturday, March 21st. From Pavia to the iconic finish line on Via Roma in Sanremo, the race covers nearly 300 kilometres towards the coast, starting calmly before building into the expected intense finale. From the Cipressa onwards, fierce battles are anticipated, with the strongest riders in the world set to animate the race.
The 2026 Milano-Sanremo will start in Pavia for the third consecutive year. The route initially heads towards Milano before reaching Certosa, where it joins the traditional course. After a second passage through Pavia, the race reconnects with the 2025 route in Voghera and continues to Tortona. From there, it heads west along the Aurelia state road through Varazze, Savona, and Albenga, before reaching Imperia.
In San Lorenzo al Mare, following the classic sequence of the Capi, the race tackles the decisive climbs introduced in the final decades of the last century: the Cipressa (1982) and the Poggio di Sanremo (1961). The Poggio begins 9 km from the finish and crests at 5.3 km to go. The technical descent that follows features a succession of hairpins, curves, and counter-curves before rejoining the Aurelia. The final kilometres unfold on the streets of Sanremo, with a left-hand bend at 850 metres to go and the final corner at 750 metres, leading onto the finishing straight on Via Roma.
Matej Mohorič headlines the Team Bahrain Victorious line-up for a race he knows all too well, having taken a spectacular victory in 2022 with the iconic dropper seatpost. Attacking on the descent of the Poggio di Sanremo, he created a decisive gap and held on all the way to the finish. Supporting team leader Matej Mohorič will be Damiano Caruso, Fran Miholjević, Roman Ermakov, Alessandro Borgo, Pau Miquel, and Edoardo Zambanini.
Matej Mohorič said, “Milano Sanremo always brings out the special memories and emotions. I worked really hard over the winter, and I feel pretty good. I’m very calm and focused, I know exactly what it takes to get a result on Via Roma, and I’ll enjoy every moment of the race on Saturday, making sure I leave everything out on the road and have no regrets at the finish line.”
Sports Director Enrico Gasparotto said, “La classicissima di Primavera, the first monument race of the season, means a lot to us as a team. Nibali first and Matej second both won it, so obviously we are excited to be here and fully motivated to give our maximum. We are not favourites, we can see that some riders are stronger than us, but Matej is the man of thousands of surprises. The whole team is fully committed to supporting him throughout the longest race of the season, and we believe he can bring home a strong result.”
