RCS Sport has indicated that it could relaunch a women's Milan-San Remo as soon as 2025 with a route that will likely include the Cipressa and Poggio climbs. According to a report in HLN, organisers could move ahead with implementing their plans for the race next week.
A women's version of Milan-San Remo, the Primavera Rosa was held from 1999 to 2005, and Trixi Worrack won the last edition. It followed the final 118km of the men's race and also included the Cipressa and Poggio.
This isn't the first time that speculation has surfaced surrounding the possible relaunch of the women's race, as organisers suggested it could happen in 2023. Last year, Paolo Bellino, General Manager and CEO of RCS Sport, also told the Italian press that an event could happen in 2024.
RCS Sport recently took over the long-standing Giro d'Italia Women on a four-year contract that begins this year and ends in 2027.
Around the time of that announcement speculation grew about the organisation also relaunching a women's Milan-San Remo in 2024 and possibly a women's Il Lombardia in the future. They are the only two Monuments that do not currently include a women's race.
The women's peloton competes at the other three Monuments; Flanders Classics' Tour of Flanders and ASO's Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Only one rider has won all three, with Lizzie Deignan winning the Tour of Flanders in 2016, Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2020 and Paris-Roubaix in 2021.
It is speculated that the Milan-San Remo women's race route could begin in Genoa and end in San Remo. However, last year, Bellino suggested that the route could start further west along the coast from Arenzano to San Remo.
The Trofeo Alfredo Binda, a long-standing top-tier one-day women's race, is held in Cittiglio along Lake Maggiore, more than 300km north of San Remo. It is currently held the day after the men's Milan-San Remo, so the addition of a women's Milan-San Remo held on the same weekend could require a reshuffling of the spring Women's WorldTour calendar.
Although HLN reported that RCS Sport could request the women's and men's Milan-San Remo events be held on the same day, it could be a logistical challenge to host two Women's WorldTour one-day events on the same weekend, similar to Strade Bianche.
HLN also reports that a meeting of the Professional Cycling Council (PPC) is scheduled with the UCI to discuss the Women's WorldTour calendar and the potential of adding a women's Milan-San Remo.
