Milan-San Remo Women: Liane Lippert is looking forward to the premiere and excitement in the final

Liane Lippert is now an experienced racer in the women's peloton. The 27-year-old from Friedrichshafen has already seen and experienced a lot - crashes and successes, victories and narrowly missed major successes. Now she has ridden the Cipressa and Poggio - the key sections of the Milan-San Remo cycling race - for the first time as a professional cyclist. Two days before the women's race, which was included in the programme again by organiser RCS on 22 March 2025 for the first time after a 20-year break. And the Team Movistar rider is taking part in the premiere or comeback of the race - depending on your point of view - as captain of her Movistar racing team. With much anticipation.

Similar race course to the men?

"It's really something special. You know the race from the men. It's just wonderful to watch, very exciting with this final," she told TOUR the day before the race. Unlike the men's race, the official first edition of the women's race (according to the organiser RCS, which already held a women's competition under the name Primavera Rosa from 1999 to 2005) is not the longest race on the calendar. At 156 kilometres, it is just over half as long as the men's race. The women start almost at the same time as the men - but not in Pavia in the Po Valley south of Milan, but in the harbour city of Genoa. They are spared the journey over the Apennines via the Turchino Pass. After 22 kilometres, they join the men's route - from then on, the route is identical. Identical final route, but also a comparable race? "I'm very curious to see how this will be realised for the women: whether the course of the race will be different from that of the men - or similar," she says.

>> This is the route of the Milan-San Remo women's race

>> The route of the Milan-San Remo men's race

>> Trixi Worrack: "It was an accident that I won"

Decisive attacks on the Poggio, sprint of a small field on the Via Roma? Lippert knows the TV pictures, she has often watched the men's final, also to prepare herself for her debut. Unlike the men's race, the significantly shorter distance could offer better opportunities for an early breakaway group. But Lippert believes that all the teams in the peloton are currently very vigilant in this respect. It is a lesson learnt from the Belgian one-day race "Het Nieuwsblad" a few weeks ago, when the little-known Belgian Lotte Claes surprisingly came out on top from a group that had formed soon after the start.

Tactics for women's savvy

The front of the women's cycling peloton is now very strong, but there is still potential in the width of the peloton. Which is why the peloton could be torn apart at Capo Berta, one of the three Capi, the relatively short climbs on the Via Aurelia coastal road - in other words, even before the Cipressa. There, the longest climb in the finale, something decisive could happen: "If the world's best really go for it on the climb, a small group could break away," surmises Lippert. After all, the last two winners of the Tour de France, Dutch rider Demi Vollering (Team FDJ-SUEZ) and Polish rider Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) will be at the start - and the Belgian top favourite and world champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) doesn't have to fear long mountains either. "It's just a question of whether the race will continue or whether the sprinters will come back. In women's cycling, there is often disagreement at the front," explains the experienced women's cycling expert Lippert.

Lippert is regarded as the best classics specialist in Germany. She has already finished second at the Flèche Wallonne. What are her own chances of a good result on the Via Roma in San Remo? "Actually, my form is really good. In itself, it's a good race for me," she estimates and adds: "The mountains are a bit longer. Let's see if I can ride with the best or if I have to invest a bit in the downhill to catch up again." Her racing team has a second trump card up its sleeve: 18-year-old junior world champion Cat Ferguson. "She has already shown that she is one of the world's best sprinters," emphasises Lippert.

Focus on the Ardennes classics

If the premiere of the new Italian women's race is not a success, Lippert still has plenty of opportunities to make amends this year. 53 race days are planned for 2025. The Friedrichshafen native has only competed in this many races once before in her career, in 2023. She wants to compete in many races, but not all of them with the same ambition. "The focus is definitely on being in shape for the Ardennes Classics," she explains. These take place within a week at the end of April: Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and then Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Vuelta in Spain will follow in May as a sort of re-entry. This will be followed by starts at the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France Femmes. She has already celebrated stage victories in both stage races - she wants to go stage hunting there again this year.

Rwanda or Switzerland? The main thing is the World Cup

And at the end of September, the Road World Championships await as the final highlight. She would love to be in the mix for the medals there. After all, she is one of the world's best professional cyclists - but she has yet to achieve a major success. "I can't say why I haven't become world champion yet," she says, "I've actually come close twice." In 2022 in Australia and last year in Zurich, she already had a medal in sight, finishing fourth both times. The planned course at the planned World Championships in Rwanda is super-difficult, and the venue is at a low altitude. The first World Road Championships to be held in Africa is currently controversial because a civil war is raging across the nearby border in neighbouring Congo and critical voices are calling for the event to be cancelled or postponed. "If everything is safe, then it's not a problem for me," says Lippert, who emphasises, however, that she is unable to assess the political situation. There has already been talk of an alternative date in Switzerland. She would have no problem with that either - on the contrary. "That would be even better for me, of course. I could have a great look at the route. The journey would be easier and we wouldn't have to get vaccinated," she emphasises.