Renowned race organizer RCS Sport invited riders from the professional cycling peloton to a furiously contested battle in the legendary Milano-Sanremo classic, which is the longest one-day race on the professional cycling calendar.

Milano-Sanremo 2025 would be contested on a 289-kilometer route from Pavia to Sanremo.   The extremely popular annual cycling classic had started in Milan until 2022, but arguments between the Milano city council and the race organizer had caused RCS Sport to move the race start to first Abbiategrasso in 2023, and then Pavia in 2024 and now 2025.

Perhaps with the intention of reminding Milan city council members of what once was, the riders in Milano-Sanremo 2025 would ride slightly north towards Milan, then turn south and return to Pavia, before travelling south. Riders would contest the finale of the race on the roads along the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy, not far from Monaco, Antibes, and Cannes.

The start list for the 2025 edition of Milan-Sanremo featured World Champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), who was the favorite to take the victory in this year’s race. Alpecin-Deceuninck’s strongman Mathieu van der Poel had finished tenth in last year’s Milan-Sanremo and had showed promising signs of form at Tirreno-Adriatico.  He and Pogacar were feared for their powerful accelerations and ability to stay away if allowed to break free from the pack.

Another favorite was Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who had showed great form and improved climbing in this year’s Paris-Nice and would expectedly perform well in a sprint from a small group. Teammate Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) had showed great mass sprint form at Tirreno-Adriatico but would maybe not handle the climbing and the long distance well. The team also had the luxury of having Jasper Stuyven (2021 race winner) in the race as backup. 

Last year’s winner Jasper Philipsen was also at the start for his Alpecin-Deceuninck outfit, but the Belgian rider had crashed heavily in Danilith Nokere Koerse three days earlier and arrived bruised and battered for the race start. Michael Matthews (Jayco-Alula) was ready for a new battle on the Italian roads after he had finished second last year after dropping his cycling glasses in the sprint. Outsiders included Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) and Italian Filippo Ganna (Ineos-Grenadiers).

Non-starters were Simon Clarke (Team PremierTech) and Cedric Beullens (Team Lotto).

The weather conditions of this year’s Milan-Sanremo race were rainy and foggy at the start in Pavia, but the sky was expected to clear up later in the race as the riders reached the coastline. 

Eight breakaway optimists attacked early after the race start and fought their way to a time advantage of almost five minutes after forty kilometers. The group featured Mathis le Berre (Arkea B & B Hotels), Alessandro Verre (Arkea B & B Hotels), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Team), Martin Marcellusi (VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizane), Filippo Turconi (VF Group – Bardiani CSF - Faizane), and the three-man force of Kristian Sbaragli, Tomasso Nencini, and Mark Stewart from Team Solution Tech - Vini Fantini. 

Riders from Ineos-Grenadiers and Alpecin-Deceuninck were keeping the attack under control at the front of the main peloton in their rain jackets and vests. 

The lead of the front group had been reduced to 03:30 minutes when 200 kilometers of the race remained. Silvan Dillier was still doing all the hard chase work for Alpecin-Deceuninck.

With the breakaway group still in front after 140-kilometers of racing, Alpecin-Deceuninck were leading the main peloton as the riders tested their legs on the Passo del Turchino climb mid-race. It was important for the riders to be on high alert at this strategic point in the race. UAE Team Emirates riders were also approaching the front of the main peloton.

The fast descent that followed the Passo del Turchino resulted in the advantage of the front group dropping to 02:30 minutes. The Milan-Sanremo peloton had reached the coast, and the weather conditions were improving. Rain jackets were coming off and were being returned to team cars. Lidl-Trek riders prepared to join the front of the peloton to engage in the chase effort.

The situation was status quo after 200 kilometers of fast racing. The front group had an advantage of 03:40 minutes, while the main peloton was still spearheaded by Dillier, followed by Lidl-Trek riders.

Seventy-five kilometers remained of Milano-Sanremo 2025 and there was now approximately twenty-five kilometers to the foot of the Capo Mele climb, which was the first of the categorized climbs in the finale of the race, which is one of the monument races in professional cycling.

The Ineos-Grenadiers team moved to the front of the main peloton spearheaded by Geraint Thomas and Filippo Ganna. Lidl-Trek riders were sticking close to the front. The breakaway group still had a lead of 03:30 minutes with sixty kilometers left of the longest one-day race of the season.

As the riders approached the final fifty kilometers of racing, riders from UAE Team Emirates and Bahrain Victorious chose to also contribute to the chase effort. Capo Mele was climbed. Riders were racing along the coast. The front spots in the main peloton were heavily contested. Riders were nervous and teams were eager not to miss out in this possibly decisive phase of the race.

A crash occurred in the main peloton fifty-one kilometers from the finish. Approximately five to eight riders hit the tarmac. Riders involved included Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Connor Swift (Ineos-Grenadiers), Anders Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), and Chris Hamilton (Team Picnic-PostNL).

Defending Milan-Sanremo champion Jasper Philipsen suffered a flat tire shortly later.

Capo Cervo was done and dusted, and the Capo Berta now awaited the riders. Six riders remained in the breakaway.

Marcellusi went solo from the breakaway group on the Capo Berta. Veistroffer fought hard to keep up with the Italian, while Le Berre, Sbaragli and Stewart were further behind.

The legendary Cipressa climb now awaited the riders. Though 5.6 kilometers short (4% gradient), it was always contested at very high speeds and at a point in the race where all favorites were fighting for positions at the front of the peloton before the race finale. 

Thirty exciting kilometers awaited the riders and UAE Team Emirates were sharing the chase load with Ineos-Grenadiers before the Cipressa. Marcellusi was the sole man in front, but with a lead of just ten seconds at this point. The Italian was swallowed by the peloton in the first meters of Cipressa.

Tim Wellens was pulling for UAE Team Emirates and team captain Tadej Pogacar on the Cipressa. He was followed by Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna. Tudor Pro Cycling Team riders were there too. Jasper Philipsen got dropped, he was suffering after his crash three days ago.

Jhonatan Narvaez pulled for Pogacar. 

World Champion Tadej Pogacar attacked three kilometers from the top of the Cipressa. Filippo Ganna, and Mathieu van der Poel were staying on his wheel. Frenchman Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) could not keep up.

Pogacar accelerated again 1.5 kilometers from the top. Ganna got dropped but van der Poel stayed with Pogacar. Ganna rejoined the front duo. The trio had a lead of half a minute over the diminished peloton.

Pre-race favorites including Tom Pidcock, Jonathan Milan, and Mads Pedersen were part of the chasing peloton group, which was almost one minute behind the front trio on the fast descent. 

Thirteen kilometers remained and the front trio, which featured Pogacar, van der Poel and Ganna, was now four kilometers from the legendary Poggio climb, while the main peloton was 01:03 minutes behind. At this point 277 kilometers of the race had been contested.

Riders in the front trio were taking turns at the front while closing in on Poggio. Their advantage was forty-five seconds at the foot of the Poggio climb.

Pogacar attacked from the foot of the Poggio. Van der Poel was glued to his rear wheel, while Ganna got dropped. Italian Ganna was fighting courageously to rejoin the front fun.

Pogacar attacked again from the front and van der Poel immediately responded. Ganna was still chasing further back. 

Van der Poel attacked five hundred meters from the top of the Poggio. Pogacar did not respond sufficiently at first but later caught the Dutch rider. Pogacar and van der Poel were closely monitoring each other on the descent, while Ganna was now closer to them, just six seconds behind.

Two kilometers remained, and Pogacar and van der Poel were taking turns at the front to keep Ganna behind. The Italian sprinter was now six seconds behind, while the reduced peloton group was chasing 48 seconds behind.

Ganna caught the front duo. This would be a very exciting race finale. Van der Poel started his sprint with 300 meters left. Ganna tried to respond but was unable to overtake the Dutch rider.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has won Milano-Sanremo 2025 ahead of Filippo Ganna (Ineos-Grenadiers) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates).

“I was really focused on trying to get the win today. The beginning of the race was horrible with the rain and the cold. It’s the third year we win with our team, which is exceptional,” race winner van der Poel told Roadcycling.com. 

“The cooperation in the front trio was pretty good. I knew Pogacar would try to drop me on the Poggio. I wanted to make it a long sprint, because Pogacar and Ganna probably thought I would try to make it a short one. It is an honor to be on the podium with both of them,” van der Poel explained.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from the 2025 professional cycling season.