All roads lead to Via Roma: Milano – Sanremo is here

The 2025 edition of Milano- Sanremo promises to be a historic one, as La Primavera welcomes back the women’s race for the first time in two decades. With both the men’s and women’s events set to deliver thrilling battles on the Cipressa, Poggio and Via Roma, anticipation is at an all-time high.

For Lidl-Trek, the race represents a major opportunity to claim the first Monument of the season, with a strong squad ready to take on the challenge in both events. Mads Pedersen, Jonathan Milan, and Jasper Stuyven shared their thoughts on the men’s race, while former world champion Elisa Balsamo and Shirin van Anrooij, who is making her season debut, commented on the women’s event.

Mads Pedersen showed that he is in top shape at Paris-Nice, with a stage win and green jersey to his name, as well as mind-boggling climbing performances by the Dane.

“I feel good, I feel good in the climbs. I think we need to take into account that at Paris-Nice the weather was bad when we were climbing which of course helps me a lot when it’s cold and rain like this. In the end, the climbing legs are definitely there and I’m happy with the shape I have right now. I’m not at all worried that my climbing improvement has come at the expense of my sprint. We also have to take into account that I was never a pure sprinter, so comparing me to Tim Merlier or Jasper Philipsen – when was the last time I was beating them in a flat sprint? So we just have to keep that in mind, I’m not a pure sprinter like Jonny is. I’m not concerned at all.

“The more numbers you have in a final, the better it is, so of course it would be super ideal for us if we have the numbers both at the top of Cipressa, and definitely after the Poggio. It’s nice to go into Sanremo with such a good team. It’s not a secret that Jonny is the fastest of us in a sprint, so if it is coming down to that then of course we sprint for Jonny. But, even if there is a group going over the Poggio together, we’ve seen before that people are sometimes not going for a sprint in the end, how we handle that is something we need to discuss in our pre-race meeting. For sure, if someone sees Jonny in the group at the bottom of the Poggio then they for sure don’t want to bring him to the finish line. Then hopefully me and Jasper will be there as well, and we will have to cover the guys who want to go before the finish. If it’s a sprint, it’s for Jonny.

“If Pogačar goes early it will make it a longer final. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on Cipressa and wants to go long from there. It means for sure we will try to follow him and after Cipressa there would be a smaller group going into the Poggio. For me, I think it would be fine, the only bad part of it is that it’s Pogi, and if he goes already on the Cipressa, well normally when he goes you never see him again, but it could be different in this race because of the downhill and hopefully a good group who wants to work together from the Cipressa, all the way to the Poggio. In this case, I hope it’s just favorites working together. For sure some teams would be more than just one guy, so they will also work, but I hope it would be just a group who agrees on helping each other.

“I will do my absolute best in every race I’m starting at, no matter what it is. Winning a classic is special, no matter which one it is. The Monument is the dream scenario, but you can’t sit up if you win one. I  didn’t work all through winter to just sit up if I win one of them. It’s full gas until Roubaix is done.”

After her impressive victory at Trofeo Alfredo Binda last weekend, former World Champion Elisa Balsamo is one of the favourites in the return of the women’s event.

“I think [having a women’s Sanremo] is a big achievement. Honestly, in the last five years, we were really fighting for a full calendar and now I think we miss only a few races and this one, is a really important one and I’m really happy that now we also have it again. It’s just really nice to race here and I think that everyone wants to win on Saturday because you can be in the history winning Sanremo, especially after 20 years without the race so, I think it’s going to be a big fight.

“It’s more or less like Binda. You don’t know if there will be a bunch sprint, a small bunch or a breakaway or a solo winner. And I think it’s going to be the same in Sanremo, even if the profile of the race is really different, so I just think that I need to fight and I need to believe in that and then we will see. I think there will be also attacks on the Cipressa. There are a lot of strong teams and strong climbers and classics riders so, I think Cipressa will be really hard from the bottom to the top and they will try to attack. But, I also think that it’s still long in between Cipressa and Poggio and maybe we can come back, maybe not all together, but in a small group. Then on Poggio, for sure, they will attack. I think we really need to ride as a team because it’s possible to come back in between Cipressa and Poggio.

“My perfect scenario, I think, is a small bunch sprint but, I know that before I need to survive on the climbs and also, I think the downhill is quite technical. I think that the climbs are hard, but not crazy hard so, I think they are good climbs also for a classics rider or a sprinter that is able to survive on the climbs. And yes, I think that maybe Capo Berta is a little bit underestimated, it’s still 2km long and quite steep. It’s too far from the finish to be decisive but it can make also a little difference in the peloton.

“I think I know the climbs and the roads quite well. I already came here in December with Yaya [Ilaria Sanguineti]. She lives really close to Sanremo, so she knows everything about these roads and she told me all the secrets. She trains here practically every day, and above all, she gave me advice also for the descents, she practically knows every single hole of the descent of the Poggio, and therefore, she gave me suggestions where to pay attention, especially in case of rain, where she knows it is particularly slippery, for example these things. And then, yes, we have some days here now before the race to keep preparing. We arrived here the day after Binda so we could see again the climbs. I think we will be ready also on this side from the race.

“Also, it’s already been a long time that our team is working with Oscar Saiz for technical training, he is with us at training camps in December and January, but we also asked to have him here with us, in the days before the race, so he can help us to improve in the downhills. I think it’s really important because we have seen that the men’s race has also been won in the downhill of the Poggio before and so, it’s not only about being fast on the climbs, but also being good in the downhill. I’ve seen the finish and I have to say it’s a bit chaotic. I can’t imagine it empty without anyone, but, we’ve seen that too. In the end, for a sprinter, it’s too important to not go and see the race to the last meter.”

Jonathan Milan heads to La Classicissima on the back of two stunning victories at Tirreno-Adriatico

“For me and for all the team, it was important to finish Tirreno-Adriatico in the best way possible and we were able to do that. Last week, we wanted to achieve more wins during the week but after the crash on Stage 3, I didn’t feel great over the climbs on the next couple of days. After the crash, I was scared especially about the elbow and ankle. I couldn’t give enough power to the left leg, especially in the minutes following the crash but, as I found out, nothing was broken, I decided to carry on and fortunately, by the end of the week I was feeling better, and I was happy with how the week ended, I feel confident again in my shape.

“I will try to do my best, try to stay in the group on the Poggio but I know they will ride very fast on all the climbs of the day. It will be very important to be there in the front. This week, I will make sure to do some good training, nothing crazy. I will go to climb Cipressa and Poggio and see the run in again to these last two climbs during the week and will try to get as ready as I can. I don’t know if it’s too soon to talk about the race and my chance to win it, but I do know that we will have a very strong team with myself, Mads Pedersen – who was racing really strong at Paris-Nice especially on the climbs – and I hope Jasper Stuyven is at 100% for the race after his crash on the last day of Tirreno. I was really sorry to see that happen; he is a crucial man for us on Saturday too.

“There are going to be many top riders at the start on Saturday but, I think Milano-Sanremo is like every other race, no one is there racing for only second place even if Tadej [Pogačar] is on the start line. You have already lost if you have that attitude, and we won’t be going in thinking that’s the only result possible especially with the group we have here.”

Shirin van Anrooij’s presence at Sanremo comes as a surprise to many, including her. The 23-year-old will make her season debut after a long, but complete, recovery from Iliac Artery Endofibrosis corrective surgery.

“I am sure everyone will be as surprised as I was to find out that I will be racing Sanremo Women on Saturday but, I don’t think anyone will be (or can be) as excited about as I am about it. It’s earlier than we expected but my recovery has been going super well so this doesn’t feel rushed, it feels like a natural next step that was taken together with my coach and the performance staff of Lidl-Trek. When I got the call-up, at first, I really didn’t know what to think. Nervous? Happy? Excited? Scared? There were so many thoughts and feelings going through my brain but, honestly, I have had a big smile on my face ever since. I just cannot wait to be back racing, to pin a number on a jersey and line up alongside my teammates and there is something even more special about it being here, at Sanremo Women. It’s incredible to be part of this special moment for the modern women’s peloton and, honestly, last year I could not have imagined being here.

“It was a really hard time after my diagnosis and the surgery but, I have really been reminded of how much I love cycling and I know, even though it’s going to be hard, I will enjoy every moment of the race on Saturday. We’ve done a recon of both Cipressa and Poggio and it was great to finally ride up these iconic climbs. I know there is no pressure from Lidl-Trek for results this weekend, I just want to play my part and help the Team as best I can.”

Winner of Milano-Sanremo in 2021, Jasper Stuyven is a key player for Lidl-Trek who has shown he has what it takes to win big.

“I definitely always like to be back on the start line of Milano-Sanremo, I think that’s normal. I think even for me, I mean, even if it’s not a Monument race, I always like to go back to races where I did well. So of course, Sanremo is on the top of that list to go back to. Even if it’s not the most exciting race, I still like to look at it as, you know, a big day and just be focused from the start.

“I think at this moment my preparation has been very similar to last year’s, from winter training on until first races, till Opening Weekend. Even here, at Tirreno, I think it is the same for me like last year, at Paris-Nice, I ended strong and I have the feeling I’m doing the same here. So having that preparation from the winter on already and going in the same way also gives confidence that I know that that was a good way to do it and that I am in a very very good shape.

“I think if you look to the past two years, three years, I don’t know, I think we can agree that Sanremo is a race where the big favourites didn’t necessarily win, where in Flanders and Roubaix they did. So yeah, if you just look at the facts, I think Sanremo has more chances of, I wouldn’t say surprise winners because I think it’s, I’ve never seen someone in the final that hasn’t shown his strength the week before or isn’t a good rider, I mean isn’t a rider that is doing finals in Monuments. But, of course, the winner itself is more unpredictable and I think also Sanremo is one of those races where in every race everyone always talks about so many different scenarios but at the end of the day, there’s maybe only you know two or three with a little bit of twitching. But in Sanremo there are a lot of scenarios that can happen in the very final so that also makes it a bit more unpredictable, I guess.

“I think it’s clear we have we have a solid team and I think we showed last year in the classics that we managed to ride as a team and be present in the final. Of course Sanremo is all in a split second and it’s a long day and positioning is key in the final so yeah it would be, I think we all want to be there in the front group after Poggio and then hopefully we are not in the situation where you have to chase someone of the likes of Tadej or Mathieu and then, I think a lot can happen but, of course, it’s not a guarantee if you have the numbers that you win but, it’s of course, good to know that you have very strong cards to play with.”