The Bookies Favorites for this Saturday's Milan - San Remo
The first of five Monuments gets underway this weekend with Milan-San Remo, with most of the favorites expected to line up this Saturday March 19th
Famous for its views across the coastline, Milan-San Remo is one of the sport's most prestigious races and largely considered a race for sprinters.
For the first time in its history, the Milano-Sanremo will start from the Maspes-Vigorelli Velodrome, which has previously hosted the Giro d’Italia, the Giro di Lombardia and a number of Six Day events.
Organised by RCS Sport, Milano-Sanremo 2022 runs along the classic route that for more than 110 years has connected Milan with Italy’s Western Riviera through Pavia, Ovada, and the Passo del Turchino that leads into Genua Voltri.
From there the route rolls westwards through Varazze, Savona, Albenga to Imperia and San Lorenzo al Mare where, after the classic sequence of the Capi (Mele, Cervo and Berta), the riders will deal with two climbs added in recent decades: the Cipressa (1982) and the Poggio di Sanremo (1961).
Coming a mere 9km from the finish, positioning is vital, something that guarantees the peloton will hit it at almost sprint pace.
This ascent is only 3.7km and its ramps are not particularly severe, but the speed at which it is taken, added to the fatigue induced from the Cipressa not to mention the 280 km the riders have ridden by this point, is truly phenomenal on the edge of bonking.
They're then instantly thrown into a highly technical descent, which has also proven a launchpad for decisive attacks in the past. Yet when it levels out again in the middle of San Remo, the roads are wide enough that any escaped rider will find themselves well within sight of the bunch.
The final bend comes with 750 metres to go. Swinging right onto the Via Roma finishing straight, it's rare even for breakaway riders to get time to take their hands off the bars.
2022 Milan - San Remo Bookies Favorites
Defending champion Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) out of Milan-Sanremo due to illness after riding Paris-Nice, teammate Mads Pedersen will lead Trek-Segafredo’s ambitions for back-to-back wins.
Favorite Julian Alaphilippe is also out with a chest infection.
Aussie sprinter Caleb Ewan is out with a stomach bug. Ewan recently won a stage at Paris-Nice.
After a great start to his 2022 season, Wout van Aert is the favourite to win Milan-San Remo. The Belgian won the Paris-Nice points classification, aided by his stage four time trial victory, and he also produced a stunning ride at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to win his first classic in 2022.
Fresh from his Tirreno-Adriatico win, Tadej Pogacar is a definate favorite who coud launch a devestating attack on the final climbs of the Cipressa and Poggio.
Sprinter Sonny Colbrelli is a favorite and will be relying on his Bahrain-Victorious team to look after him all the way to the final climbs.
Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma @ 4/1
Tadej Pogacar (Svn) UAE Team Emirates @ 6/1
Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo @ 20/1
Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious @ 22/1
Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix @ 25/1
Tom Pidcock (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers @ 25/1
Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix @ 33/1
Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers @ 33/1