2nd Milano - Sanremo Donne, March 21st, 2026

[Samu Cuenca]

Spoiler: Route and climb details

It's been 12 months since the current crop of top female road riders finally got the chance to experience the iconic Italian one-day classic which brings the riders to Sanremo on the Ligurian coast, one of the signs that we have survived the Winter and that Spring has arrived in Europe. 20 years following the last edition of the Primavera Rosa, which was held 7 times, its successor has found its new home on a 156 km route between Genova and Sanremo, climbing all the well-known climbs, as well as descents, from the men's race except for Passo del Turchino. The maiden edition saw Elisa Longo Borghini make a well timed attack in the final which would most likely have succeeded if it wasn't because SD Worx had an OP duo of Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes to deny her a popular home victory.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wndC_MBcJyg



As we have sadly learned today, neither Longo Borghini nor last year's runner-up Marianne Vos will take the start tomorrow, and FDJ are there without their top guns Vollering (Bodine will be defending the family's flowers instead), Chabbey and Koch. However, we still have a strong selection of riders that will try to keep SDW from winning once more.


Start list: https://firstcycling.com/race.php?r=12235&y=2026&k=8

Start at 10:35 CET, finish at 14:30-ish, which should be well before the men reach the most interesting part of their race, although you can't really be sure when things will kick off anymore. It looks like the TV broadcast will begin at 12:15 at the earliest, so perhaps we'll be able to watch around two hours of the race.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

If Persico rides with this on her bike tomorrow, I hope she wins and then kisses the sticker Vingegaard style as she crosses the line.

 

[Berniece]

Such a shame Vos can't ride it, with how she was riding Strade she would've been really close

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't care if it has Cipressa and Poggio in it, at just 155k it's missing the most crucial component of what makes Sanremo Sanremo. The women's monuments are due for a higher distance limit in general (it's not like they never go beyond 160k in other races), but this is the one that suffers the most from that outdated rule.

 

[Red Rick]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't care if it has Cipressa and Poggio in it, at just 155k it's missing the most crucial component of what makes Sanremo Sanremo. The women's monuments are due for a higher distance limit in general (it's not like they never go beyond 160k in other races), but this is the one that suffers the most from that outdated rule.

How hard is it to just make this 200km. Nice round number, very thematic, etc etc.

Aside from that, I can't help but think the distance of Sanremo itself is overrated as hell and the real special sauce of it is the fact that differences have to be made on 4% climbs.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Aside from that, I can't help but think the distance of Sanremo itself is overrated as hell and the real special sauce of it is the fact that differences have to be made on 4% climbs.

Counterpoint: Omloop since 2018 versus Ronde until 2011 on the same extended finale but 70 kilometres apart in total distance.

 

[Red Rick]

Counterpoint: Omloop since 2018 versus Ronde until 2011 on the same extended finale but 70 kilometres apart in total distance.

I will admit I'm not that aware of how similar the finales are, but I think they're also in pretty different era's to begin with. And especially recently the biggest RVV contenders haven't raced omloop all that often.

Distance is also race specific, and especially in Milano Sanremo, the distance is nearly all flat, wide roads. I struggle to believe riding the extra 90 minutes at under 200 W makes a huge difference to a World Tour professional

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't care if it has Cipressa and Poggio in it, at just 155k it's missing the most crucial component of what makes Sanremo Sanremo. The women's monuments are due for a higher distance limit in general (it's not like they never go beyond 160k in other races), but this is the one that suffers the most from that outdated rule.

We'll soon know what RCS plan to do with Lombardia if it becomes a reality next year or later.

If their solution for this race would be to copy the ASO format from Roubaix and simply add some laps around Genova to jack up the distance, then I'm fine with leaving it as is. However, I don't know how long the contract with Genova runs for and whether there's a possibility the start could be moved to Ovada in the coming years to make it around 175 km with Turchino included, which would be my preference at the moment.