CYCLING – Team Bahrain Victorious are set to take part in the 117th edition of the Spring Classic, the first Monument of the season, taking place today in Italy.
From Pavia to the iconic finish line on Via Roma in Sanremo, the 2026 Milano-Sanremo covers nearly 300 kilometres towards the coast, starting calmly before building into the expected intense finale.
From the Cipressa onwards, fierce battles are anticipated, with the strongest riders in the world set to animate the race.
The Monuments in international cycling are five classic races generally considered to be the oldest, hardest, longest, and most prestigious one-day events in men’s road cycling.
Today’s race will start in Pavia for the third consecutive year.
The route initially heads towards Milano before reaching Certosa, where it joins the traditional course.
After a second passage through Pavia, the event reconnects with the 2025 route in Voghera and continues to Tortona.
From there, it heads west along the Aurelia state road through Varazze, Savona, and Albenga, before reaching Imperia.
In San Lorenzo al Mare, following the classic sequence of the Capi, the race tackles the decisive climbs introduced in the final decades of the last century: the Cipressa (1982) and the Poggio di Sanremo (1961). The Poggio begins 9km from the finish and crests at 5.3km to go.
The technical descent that follows features a succession of hairpins, curves, and counter-curves before rejoining the Aurelia.
The final kilometres unfold on the streets of Sanremo, with a left-hand bend at 850m to go and the final corner at 750m, leading onto the finishing straight on Via Roma.
Matej Mohoric headlines the Team Bahrain Victorious line-up for a race he knows all too well, having taken a spectacular victory in 2022 with the iconic dropper seatpost.
Attacking on the descent of the Poggio di Sanremo, Mohoric created a decisive gap and held on all the way to the finish.
Supporting the team leader will be Damiano Caruso, Fran Miholjevic, Roman Ermakov, Alessandro Borgo, Pau Miquel, and Edoardo Zambanini.
“Milano-Sanremo always brings out the special memories and emotions,” said Mohoric.
“I worked really hard over the winter, and I feel pretty good. I’m very calm and focused, I know exactly what it takes to get a result on Via Roma, and I’ll enjoy every moment of the race on Saturday, making sure I leave everything out on the road and have no regrets at the finish line.”
Bahrain Victorious sports director Enrico Gasparotto added: “La classicissima di Primavera, the first Monument race of the season, means a lot to us as a team.
“(Vincenzo) Nibali first and Matej second both won it, so obviously we are excited to be here and fully motivated to give our maximum.
“We are not favourites, we can see that some riders are stronger than us, but Matej is the man of thousands of surprises.
“The whole team is fully committed to supporting him throughout the longest race of the season, and we believe he can bring home a strong result.”