Giro d’Italia Organizers Are Putting Together Plans for a Women’s Milano-Sanremo
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In what could be another major boon to women’s cycling, Italian race organizer RCS is putting together plans for a women’s Milano-Sanremo.
According to a report by Belgian site HLN, RCS—the organization behind Milano-Sanremo and the Giro d’Italia—has “concrete plans” to organize a La Primavera Donne.
The existence of such a race would mean that the women’s peloton would now be able to race all four of the spring Monuments, as a women’s iteration of Tour of Flanders was rolled out in 2004, Liège-Bastonge-Liège in 2017, and Paris-Roubaix in 2021. That would also leave the il Lombardia, the autumn monument, as the only one without a women’s race.
According to the report, the biggest obstacle thus far has been timing. RCS is hoping to hold the women’s race on the same day as the men’s, which is always the third Saturday in March. However, one of the most important races on the women’s calendar, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, is scheduled for the following day.
The report also states that both the UCI and the Italian cycling federation don’t want to step on the toes of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, as it is not only one of the most prestigious of the women’s races, but also one of the longest-running, having started in 1974 and missing only three years (1997, 1998, and 2020) over that span.
One option HLN posits is to move Trofeo Alfredo Binda up a week, sandwiching it between Strade Bianche and Milano-Sanremo. However, many riders have typically taken that middle week off from racing, often heading to altitude camps in preparation for the Flemish classics.
“We really want our own version of Milano-Sanremo,” said current world champion and SD Worx superstar Lotte Kopecky. “But I and the majority of my colleagues do not want it to be at the expense of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, a race that has almost the status of a monument among the ladies.”
The other big question RCS would have to answer is how long would a women’s Milano-Sanremo be?
At nearly 300 kilometers, the men’s race is the longest one-day race on the calendar, which is a major feature of La Primavera. Ideally, the women’s race would follow suit, making a Milano-Sanremo Donne as brutal a test of endurance as the race is for the men. Currently, the UCI recommends Women’s WorldTour races not exceed 160 kilometers, which was increased from 140 kilometers in 2016.
While a race of such magnitude might be great for the women, most of whom are more than capable of racing longer distances, it begs the question of whether or not it would make for a compelling television product, which, like it or not, is essential to the health and continued growth of women’s racing.
“I’m not a big fan of long stages,” said Kasia Niewiadoma in advance of last year’s mammoth 170.3-kilometer stage during the Giro Donne. “Not because of the fatigue that you feel afterward, but because of the dynamic of the race. From my experience, all of those long stages that I have done were pretty boring, and not much action was going on as everybody waits for the final and tries to save as much energy as possible. Shorter stages provide more excitement because the women are on fire from kilometer zero, and personally, I’m a fan of this type of racing. Fans are more inclined to watch the shorter Tour de France stages from start to finish because of the action.”
Whether it’s the longest race on the calendar or not, the potential addition of a women’s Milano-Sanremo is thrilling news indeed.
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