Milan-San Remo 2025: Date, route, history & more

With Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico complete, the cycling season now feels like it is up and running but while those two follow a multi-day stage race format, spring is just as famous for one-day races.

The most prestigious of these are known as 'The Classics' and Milan-San Remo is always the first on the calendar and sees the peloton trace a familiar route from Italy's industrial heartland and out towards the coast.

Known as a sprinters' race due to its flat finish, organisers have looked to make subtle changes over the years in a bid to add excitement, but despite the inclusion of some late climbs, the opening Monument of the year almost always ends in a late dash along San Remo's main shopping street, Via Roma.

The 2025 edition takes place on Saturday 22nd March, and here is all you need to know about La Classicissima.

Milan-San Remo Dates

Milan-San Remo is always the first Monument of the year and it is traditionally held on the third Saturday in March.

The 2025 edition follows that formula, with the race taking place on Saturday 22nd March.

Milan-San Remo History

Originally held as a two-day race in 1906, the first official staging took place the following year and was won by Frenchman Lucien Petit-Breton.

Its distance, terrain and weather soon saw it gain fame, earning it the nickname La Classicissima, which roughly translates as 'the greatest of all classics'.

From 1935 to 1953, Milan-San Remo was held on 19th March to mark the feast of Saint Joseph and, in 1949, finished on Via Roma, San Remo's main shopping street, for the first time.

Although known as a sprinters' Classic due to its straight, flat finish, the Poggio climb on the outskirts of San Remo was included for the first time in 1960 and remains part of the route today to potentially provide opportunities for breakaway rivals. 

Milan-San Remo Route

Cycling is a sport entrenched in tradition and Milan-San Remo's organisers have always tried their best to stay faithful to the original route.

As a race starting inland and heading for the coast, it has always naturally favoured sprinters, but the inclusions of the Poggio and Cipressa climbs have added jeopardy.

It originally started in central Milan, leaving Italy's industrial centre and heading for the relief of the coast.

The route was changed ahead of the 2024 race with a new start in Pavia before heading north towards Milan for the opening kilometres, only for the peloton to then do an about-turn down to the Ligurian Sea.

Much of the race is then spent straddling the coast and taking in several towns and villages along the way, but the real racing begins on the Poggio, 5.4 km from the finish, before the bunch heads downhill to the final at Via Roma.

Known for its length, at 298 kilometres (185 mi), Milan-San Remo remains the longest race in professional cycling,

Milan-San Remo Most Wins

Belgian great Eddy Merckx holds the record for the most wins in Milan-San Remo.

'Le Cannibale' is statistically the finest Grand Tour rider of all time with his five wins in both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia and his single Vuelta tallying for an unequalled 11 three-week-long race titles.

Merckx was also a brilliant one-day competitor, winning all five Monuments, including a record seven Milan-San Remo (1966.1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975 and 1976).

Another Belgian, Jasper Philipsen, is the defending champion and his 2024 success was their country's 23rd in total.

However, Italy is the leading nation in Milan-San Remo history, with home riders taking the title on 51 occasions.

Costante Girardengo earned six of those victories (1918, 1921, 1923, 1925, 1926 and 1928), while Gino Bartali won La Classicissima on four occasions (1939, 1940, 1947 and 1950).

Sean Kelly won it twice for Ireland (1986 and 1992) and there have been two previous British winners, with Tom Simpson's 1964 triumph followed by Mark Cavendish's successful dash for glory in 2009.