Cycling, Milano-Sanremo 2024: Preview, full schedule, and how to watch live action
Milano-Sanremo, the longest one-day classic of the men's professional road cycling season, will offer almost 300km of racing again in 2024.
The 115th edition of a race often known as the 'sprinter's classic' will be staged on Saturday 16 March in northern Italy.
In recent years aggressive riding on the climbs Cipressa and Poggio have made it very difficult for the heavier riders to compete for the win.
The last time 'La Classicissma' ended in a bunch sprint was in 2016, when Arnaud Démare was victorious.
Last year, road race world champion, Mathieu van der Poel, made a powerful attack on the final part of Poggio and rode solo to the iconic finish on Via Roma in Sanremo for the win.
Find everything you need to know about the Milano-Sanremo 2024 below, including the riders to look out for and how to watch live.
Milano-Sanremo 2024 route
This year's route is 288km long and will begin in Pavia, south of Milan. As always, the race will head south west to finish along the Mediterranean coast in Sanremo.
The traditional route has a flat start, with the first hurdle coming after 144.4km, where Passo del Turchino (8.4 km at 5.1%) will be crossed.
As the riders approach the finale, the small 'Tre Capi' climbs of Capo Mele, Capo Cervo, and Capo Berta await, followed by the two most feared climbs, Cipressa (5.6 km at 4.1%) and Poggio (3.6 km at 3.7%).
The summit of Poggio is just 5.5km from the finish line, where a fast descent take the riders down to Via Roma, where the winner will be decided.
Riders to watch at Milano-Sanremo 2024
Mathieu van der Poel will begin his road season by trying to defend his Milan-Sanremo title.
The reigning road race world champion is considered the man to beat, after last year's effort to hold off names like Tadej Pogačar, Filippo Ganna, and Wout van Aert, who will not feature this year.
Nevertheless, there is a big question mark over van der Poel's current form, as he has yet to compete on the road this year following his cyclocross campaign, where he clinched the sixth world title of his career.
Pogačar showed that he will arrive to Milan in top shape, as he took a stunning victory in Saturday's Strade Bianche riding solo for more than 80km.
The Italians will hope that Ganna can be in the mix again. He was second last year, and narrowly missed out on a stage win on the opening time trial in Tirreno-Adriatico last week.
If the race ends in a brunch sprint, Mads Pedersen, Olav Kooij, and Jasper Philipsen will be among the top contenders.
The 2019 road race world champion Pedersen has six wins to his name already this season, but failed to claim a stage in last week's Paris-Nice, where Kooij beat him twice on the line.
Tour de France green jersey winner Philipsen left Tirreno-Adriatico with a stage win, and the Belgian is regarded as one of the fastest sprinters in the peloton.
Two riders who might be able to take advantage of the descent after Poggio, are 2022 Milano-Sanremo champion Matej Mohorič and last year's Strade Bianche winner Tom Pidcock. Both have exceptional descending skills.
Mohorič has already demonstrated that the race can be won with an attack on the descent, as he did exactly that two years ago.
Schedule of Milano-Sanremo 2024
All times are Central European Time (CET).
Saturday 16 March
- 09:35 - Start of Milano-Sanremo
- 17:07 - Estimated arrival at finish line
The schedule is subject to change.
Milano-Sanremo 2024: How to watch live
In Italy, Milano-Sanremo 2024 will be available on Rai TV and digital streaming channels.
In the UK and most of Europe, Eurosport and Discovery+ will broadcast the race.
It will be on Max in the United States and FloBikes in Canada. Milano-Sanremo will be broadcast on SBS in Australia.