Milan-San Remo 2022: Route, start list and all you need to know
A hub of television coverage, previews and all you need to about the 2022 Milan-San Remo
Milan-San Remo is the first Monument of the year on the pro cycling calendar. Falling in March, it has the alternative names of La Primavera – The Spring Classic – and La Classicissima – essentially meaning the greatest of all the Classics. This year’s edition will be held on Saturday 19th March 2022.
It's one of the oldest races on the calendar, having been first held in 1907, and with a total route distance (including neutral zone) of over 300km, it’s also the longest.
But the real selling point of Milan-San Remo is its sheer unpredictability. The race’s length, combined with some spitefully placed climbs right at the end of the route and the constant risk of inclement weather, opens up the possibilities for a lot of riders.
Big breakaways, small breakaways, bunch sprints and brave solo attacks can all win on the day, with everyone from the burliest of sprinters to the slightest of climbers in with a chance of riding to glory on the Ligurian coastline.
Milan-San Remo 2022: Key information
- Date: Saturday 19th March 2022
- Start: Milan, Italy
- Finish: San Remo, Italy
- Distance: 293km
- UK live television coverage: 08:30-16:30 GCN+, Eurosport 2, Eurosport Player
- Last winner: Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo)
Milan-San Remo 2022: Route and profile
Although this year’s route has been shortened by 6km, it has all the same important sectionns and is still a mammoth 293km, with the magic 300km hit thanks to a 9.8km neutral zone.
That does mean, unfortunately, we’re all but guaranteed the traditional snooze-fest until the last 60km.
Even with the riders good and softened by the preceding 240km, the Tre Capi (Capo Mele, Capo Cervo and Capo Berta) are still barely noticeable bumps in the road. Their arrival signifies that it’s time for the teams to start pressing on in earnest.
Already wound up to near warp-speed by this point, the end game really kicks off with the 5.6km long Cipressa. With an average gradient of 4.1%, it comes after 263km and with gradients touching 9%, its a bona fide climbing test that has often foiled the plans of sprinters hoping to cling on for a bunch finish.
Most of the time it serves mainly as an opportunity to potentially get rid of some of your rivals rather than win the race outright, but it’s not impossible to launch a successful attack here either. Vincenzo Nibali made good ground on the bunch by attacking on the Cipressa in 2014, as did Pantani in 1999.
Still, to make anything stick has proven notoriously difficult, and the reason for that is the flat section that lies between it and the approaching Poggio.
Usually, the Poggio di San Remo is the day’s decisive climb. If a rider or group is going to make a break from the pack, it’s more than likely to come on the upper slopes of this iconic climb.
Coming a mere 9km from the finish, positioning here 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 280km the riders have ridden by this point, is truly phenomenal and means that groups coming over the top are often in a bedraggled state.
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 750m 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.
How to watch Milan-San Remo 2022
Live coverage of this year’s Milan-San Remo will be provided by Eurosport and GCN+ with full coverage of the entire race expected on the latter if you want to watch nothing happen for most of the day.
For a full guide on how to catch live coverage and highlights of Milan-San Remo 2022, visit our full TV guide.
Milan-San Remo live coverage
All times are subject to change by the broadcasters
Saturday, 19th March: Eurosport 2, 08:30-16:30
Saturday, 19th March: Eurosport Player, 08:30-16:30
Saturday, 19th March: GCN+, 08:30-16:30
Who are the favourites for Milan-San Remo 2022?
While we wait for the start list to be confirmed, expect the big guns to be out in force for the first huge race of the year.
Big favourite is 2020 winner Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), who is perfectly suited to the parcours given that he can sprint and climb with the very best. He also has a stacked squad including Primož Roglič and Christophe Laporte.
However everyone will be looking over their shoulders for Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). The back-to-back Tour de France champion won two Monuments last year and is without doubt looking to add to his set. He also utterly dominated Strade Bianche so his Classics legs are flying.
Don’t write off in-form former World Champion Mads Pedersen either, who has stepped in last minute to replace defending champ Jasper Stuyven in the squad, he climbs better than sprinters and sprints better than climbers.
Oh and there are also increasingly loud whispers that a certain Mathieu van der Poel will make his return to racing at La Classicissima.
- Read more: Why Tadej Pogačar winning Milan-San Remo is bad for cycling
- Read more: Milan-San Remo 2022: who are the favourites?
Milan-San Remo 2022: start list
WorldTour teams
AG2R-Citroën
Mikaël Cherel
Benoît Cosnefroy
Bob Jungels
Greg Van Avermaet
Gijs Van Hoecke
Andrea Vendrame
Larry Warbasse
Astana Qazaqstan
Leonardo Basso
Manuele Boara
Fabio Felline
Yevgeniy Gidich
Davide Martinelli
Gianni Moscon
Artyom Zakharov
Bahrain Victorious
Yukiya Arashiro
Phil Bauhaus
Damiano Caruso
Jonathan Milan
Matej Mohorič
Jan Tratnik
Jasha Sütterlin
Bora-Hansgrohe
Giovanni Aleotti
Cesare Benedetti
Marco Haller
Ryan Mullen
Ide Schelling
Danny van Poppel
Cofidis
Bryan Coquard
Davide Cimolai
Simone Consonni
Simon Geschke
Pierre-Luc Périchon
Szymon Sajnok
Davide Villella
EF Education-EasyPost
Alberto Bettiol
Owain Doull
Jonas Rutsch
Tom Scully
James Shaw
Michael Valgren
Julius van den Berg
Groupama-FDJ
Clément Davy
Arnaud Démare
Kevin Geniets
Ignatas Konovalovas
Quentin Pacher
Anthony Roux
Miles Scotson
Ineos Grenadiers
Filippo Ganna
Ethan Hayter
Michał Kwiatkowski
Tom Pidcock
Luke Rowe
Ben Swift
Elia Viviani
Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
Biniam Girmay
Alexander Kristoff
Andrea Pasqualon
Simone Petilli
Lorenzo Rota
Rein Taaramäe
Loic Vliegen
Israel-Premier Tech
Matthias Brändle
Alex Cataford
Alex Dowsett
Omer Goldstein
Krists Neilands
Giacomo Nizzolo
Rick Zabel
Jumbo-Visma
Edoara Affini
Christophe Laporte
Primož Roglič
Wout van Aert
Jos van Emden
Tosh Van der Sande
Nathan Van Hooydonck
Lotto Soudal
Filippo Conca
Frederik Frison
Philippe Gilbert
Roger Kluge
Maxim Van Gils
Florian Vermeersch
Movistar Team
Alex Aranburu
Will Barta
Iván García Cortina
Abner González
Iñigo Elosegui
Max Kanter
Gonzalo Serrano
QuickStep Alpha Vinyl Team
Andrea Bagioli
Davide Ballerini
Mattia Cattaneo
Mikkel Honoré
Fabio Jakobsen
Florian Sénéchal
Zdeněk Štybar
Team BikeExchange-Jayco
Lawson Craddock
Luke Durbridge
Alex Edmondson
Alexander Konychev
Michael Matthews
Cameron Meyer
Luka Mezgec
Team DSM
Søren Kragh Andersen
John Degenkolb
Nico Denz
Nils Eekhoff
Andreas Leknessund
Joris Nieuwenhuis
Kevin Vermaerke
Trek-Segafredo
Gianluca Brambilla
Tony Gallopin
Alex Kirsch
Jacopo Mosca
Mads Pedersen
Simon Pellaud
Toms Skujiņš
UAE Team Emirates
Alessandro Covi
Davide Formolo
Ryan Gibbons
Tadej Pogačar
Jan Polanc
Oliviero Troia
Diego Ulissi
ProTeam Wildcards
Alpecin-Fenix
Silvan Dillier
Michael Gogl
Stefano Oldani
Jasper Philipsen
Kristian Sbaragli
Robert Stannard
Mathieu van der Poel
Bardiani-CSF-Faizane
Luca Covili
Filippo Fiorelli
Davide Gabburo
Sacha Modolo
Luca Rastelli
Alessandro Tonelli
Filippo Zana
Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
Eduard-Michael Grosu
Umberto Marengo
Didier Merchan
Jhonathan Restrepo
Filippo Tagliani
Edoardo Zardini
Ricardo Alejandro Zurita
Eolo-Kometa
Vincenzo Albanese
Davide Bais
Francesco Gavazzi
Mirco Maestri
Samuele Rivi
Diego Rosa
Diego Pablo Sevilla
Team Arkéa-Samsic
Maxime Bouet
Nacer Bouhanni
Romain Hardy
Kévin Ledanois
Laurent Pichon
Clément Russo
Connor Swift
Total Energies
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Maciej Bodnar
Niccolò Bonifazio
Daniel Oss
Peter Sagan
Julien Simon
Milan-San Remo previous winners
2021 - Jasper Stuyven (BEL) Trek-Segafredo
2020 - Wout van Aert (BEL) Team Jumbo–Visma
2019 - Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep
2018 - Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) Bahrain-Merida
2017 - Michał Kwiatkowski (POL) Team Sky
2016 - Arnaud Demare (FRA) FDJ
2015 - John Degenkolb (GER) Giant-Alpecin
2014 - Alexander Kristoff (NOR) Katusha
2013 - Gerard Ciolek (GER) MTN-Qhubeka
2012 - Simon Gerrans (AUS) Orica-GreenEdge
2011 - Matthew Goss (AUS) HTC High Road
2010 - Oscar Freire (ESP) Rabobank
2009 - Mark Cavendish (GBR) Colombia-HTC
2008 - Fabian Cancellara (SUI) CSC
