Ride into spring, la Primavera, is the name of the race that kicks off the big spring classics every season. The course is not normally known for major route changes - and this year is no exception. The start will not be in Milan but, as in 2024, in Pavia, around 40 kilometres to the south.
The city with its 70,000 inhabitants is located on the River Ticino, just before it flows into the Po. Pavia can look back on a certain cycling tradition, as stages of the Giro d'Italia have ended here several times, most recently in 2003. The Milan-San Remo race also regularly passes through this town on its way from Milan to the Po Valley.
The route leads via Casteggio, Tortona and Ovada to the Passo del Turchino, which, apart from the corona-related exception in 2020, has always been part of the race, at least as planned - in 2013, however, snowfall prevented the riders from crossing the mountain, so they were transported over it by bus and then continued the race. This year, the highest point of the race will be reached after 139.3 kilometres.
The route then remains unchanged. West of Genoa, the riders reach the Ligurian coast, which they follow all the way to San Remo. The route is mostly flat, but not continuous. In addition to the Passo del Turchino, the three Capi Mele, Cervo and Berta provide an interruption to the flat profile in quick succession from kilometre 237.
After 267.3 kilometres, the riders reach the Cipressa, followed about 16 kilometres later by the Poggio. From there, it is less than six kilometres to Via Roma in San Remo, where the race traditionally ends. The riders will have covered a total of 289 kilometres - one kilometre more than the first edition in 1907.
Hardly any major classic is as unpredictable as Milan-San Remo. The group of favourites is correspondingly large. Of course, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) is the rider all eyes will be on on Saturday. How the Slovenian can win the race, we have already examined in detail here. His biggest opponent could once again be Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin - Deceuninck), whom he has repeatedly tried to distance in vain in recent years. With last year's winner Jasper Philipsen, Alpecin has another trump card in the team - although the Belgian sprinter will start the race with an ailment after his crash at Nokere Koerse during the week.
These three riders are joined by another trio that is currently in top form: Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers), Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team). Whilst Ganna and Pidcock shone with strong performances at Tirreno-Adriatico, Pedersen demonstrated unimagined climbing qualities at Paris-Nice and should be difficult to catch on Saturday. Lidl-Trek also has another option for a sprint in Jonathan Milan. Other favourites include last year's runner-up Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla), former winners Matej Mohorič (Bahrain - Victorious), Jasper Stuyven (Lidl - Trek) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) as well as Olav Kooij (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) for a sprint, just like Biniam Girmay (Intermarché - Wanty) and Red Bull newcomer Maxim Van Gils.
In Germany, Milan-San Remo 2025 will be held at Eurosport 2 on television. First from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm, then the final of the Milan-San Remo women's race will be shown there for two hours, before the final from 14:30-17:30 then the men's race of the Classicissima can be seen again on Eurosport 2. A continuous live stream of the men's race is available from 9:50-17:30 at Discovery Plus (for a fee), where the women's race can also be streamed.