Sanremo Race Report: After nearly six and ahalf hours of racing, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) out-sprinted Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates XRG) after an exciting finale. Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) won the bunch sprint for fourth place 43 seconds later.
*** Stay PEZ for the full Milano-Sanremo ‘Race Report’ very soon. ***
A nail-biting finish
Mathieu van der Poel won Milano-Sanremo for the second time in his career. After a memorable edition, he beat Filippo Ganna and Tadej Pogačar in a sprint, after the big attack came on the Cipressa.
A second Primavera for Mathieu van der Poel
Percorso
The 116th edition of Milan-Sanremo is much the same as last year. The distance this year is 289 kilometres. After the start in Pavia, the race heads southwest on mainly flat roads to the first climb of the day: The Passo del Turchino. In the early days of Milan-Sanremo, the Turchino was the only climb on the route, about halfway through the race, but it was often decisive. These days, the Passo del Turchino is now just leg-warmer on the route of the race, but as the first obstacle it can cause some nervousness in the peloton. The race then descends to Genoa Voltri and then goes west along the coast. Via Varazze, Savona and Albenga and the Tre Capi: the Capo Mele, the Capo Cervo and the Capo Berta. From the top of that last climb, about 40 kilometres from the finish, the will now be at ‘full gas’ to the last two climbs of the day: The Cipressa, which has been part of the route since 1982, and the Poggio.
2025 Milan-Sanremo map
The Cipressa is 5.6 kilometres with a gradient of 4.1%. There are opportunities for a long attack, as the summit is more than 20 kilometres from the finish. It is also often a place where the non-climbing sprinters say goodbye to the race. The technical descent of the Cipressa leads back to the SS 1 Aurelia national road. The climb of the Poggio di Sanremo starts 9 kilometres from the finish. The climb is 3.7 kilometres and has an average gradient of 3.7%. Just before the top, the gradient increases to 8%. The road is quite narrow, with four hairpin bends in the first 2 kilometres. The descent is tricky and has many bends that are quite narrow.
2025 Milan-Sanremo profile
After the descent, it is not that far to the finish line in Sanremo. The last 2 flat kilometres are on long and straight roads. At 850 metres from the finish, there is a sharp bend to the left, followed by a bend to the right at 750 metres from the finish on the Via Roma.
The Sanremo finale
Milano-Sanremo 2025 – The Climbs:
149.7km to go: Passo del Turchino (26km at 1.5%) starting in Ovada
51.6km to go: Capo Mele (1.7km at 4.2%)
46.7km to go: Capo Cervo (1.9km at 2.6%)
38.9km to go: Capo Berta (1.8km at 7.1%)
21.7km to go: Cipressa (5.6km at 4.1%)
5.6km to go: Poggio di Sanremo (3.7km at 3.7%).
Will one of these top favourites win, or…
La Classicissima Primavera started in horrible weather conditions, with the rain falling soon after the start. But there were still many who wanted to attack. Taco van der Hoorn tried, but he was not allowed to get away. Eight riders did manage to make the breach: Alessandro Verre & Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Kristian Sbaragli, Tommaso Nencini & Mark Stewart (Toscana Factory Vini Fantini), Martin Marcellusi & Filippo Turconi (VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè) and Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto).
Last year’s winner Jasper Philipsen, he crashed during the week
The peloton was led for a long time by Silvan Dillier of Alpecin-Deceuninck. Mathieu van der Poel’s man single-handedly kept the gap to the leaders under 4 minutes. Once over the Passo del Turchino, Dillier asked for help, but never got it. The Swiss rider continued to push hard along the coast as the rain stopped. The lead of the eight escapees now went to over the 4 minute mark.
A good outside bet – Filippo Ganna
With 60 kilometres to go, Dillier’s work was done for the day. On the way to the first Capo, the Capo Mele, other teams had to come to the front. UAE Emirates XRG for Tadej Pogačar and Geraint Thomas for Filippo Ganna. The pace increased and the gap to the leaders dropped. There was also a crash involving Laurence Pithie and Jasper Philipsen had to change a wheel after a puncture. Last year’s winner quickly returned.
Cold and wet start from Pavia
At the Capo Berta, the last of the three Capi, the escapees had less than 2 minutes and split. Marcellusi came over the top alone. The VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè rider held on for a while, but at the foot of the Cipressa his solo was over and the race proper could begin.
The break with a long way to go
On the first sections, Tim Wellens took the lead. The Belgian put the hammer down, with Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna on his wheel. Wellens’ leader Tadej Pogačar was a bit further, but he moved up on the wheel of Jonathan Narváez. The Ecuadorian took over the lead work from Wellens. A number of cracks had appeared in the peloton. Jasper Philipsen, last year’s winner, was one of the riders in trouble.
Spring hasn’t hit the north of Italy yet
Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Silvan Dillier Silvan took on some chase work in the peloton
Still a long way to go
Not long before the action
Who else but…. Tadej Pogačar
The winning move?
Ganna in trouble
Was the race now between Pogačar and Van der Poel?
Ganna made it back before the sprint, but MvdP was the fastest
Van der Poel’s second Sanremo win
Milano-Sanremo winner, Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck): “I was very focused on trying to get the win but it wasn’t easy against these two guys. I felt horrible with the rain and the cold at the beginning of the race but very good at the end, after we reached the coast. It’s the third year in a row that we win Milano-Sanremo as a team. I knew Tadej was the strongest on the climbs. The way he rode the Cipressa was impressive. Once we were three at the front, the cooperation was very good. It meant the podium spots. Tadej was trying to drop me. But I felt pretty strong. I countered him on the Poggio but he was strong enough to come across. Then I knew the other two wanted to make it a long sprint. They probably thought I wanted to make it as short as possible. I think I surprised them a little bit. I launched my sprint when I saw the 300 meters sign. I felt strong enough to keep it till the line. I think it was the right tactic. Just winning Milano-Sanremo is special but beating these two incredible riders, I’m super happy and proud to be on the podium with them.”
The men’s Sanremo podium
# Catch up with all the news from Sanremo in EUROTRASH Monday. #
Milano-Sanremo Result:
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck in 6:22:53
2. Filippo Ganna (Ita) INEOS Grenadiers
3. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Emirates XRG
4. Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco AlUla at 0:43
5. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck
6. Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Uno-X Mobility
7. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek
8. Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike
9. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Tudor
10. Alfred Wright (GB) Bahrain Victorious.
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