Milan-San Remo 2025 men's contenders – Pogačar and Van der Poel centre stage but spotlight could quickly swing

The first Monument of the season has almost arrived, with the 289km men’s Milan-San Remo set to play out on Saturday with World Champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) once again taking to the start line in Pavia to try and capture that illusive title but there will, of course, be a long list of the strongest riders in the peloton determined to stand in his way.

The length of the race, of course, always adds yet another layer of unpredictability to the event which has both climbers and sprinters among the list of protagonists. Mistakes are amplified by the accumulation of kilometres. A rider can pay dearly for extra energy spent during the six-plus hours on the bike when it comes down to the crucial final charge over Poggio and potentially decisive descent before the final dash to the line.

The race that sometimes ends with a solo winner and other years, including the one just gone, with a reduced bunch sprint has a reputation of being one of the hardest to conquer. The absence of a victory for Pogačar, who seems to have little trouble in bending other events to his will, thus far is a case in point as is the history of winners, with no rider taking victories in consecutive years since Erik Zabel claimed wins number four and five in 2000 and 2001.

So while defending champion Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) may be heading into the race with signs of strong form, having won at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, the odds of a repeat aren’t on his side. Though with 2023 winner Mathieu van der Poel lining up for Alpecin-Deceuninck as well, they will be a formidable duo to overcome.

Still, there are many who will be lining up at the 116th edition with the form and history to take advantage of any opportunity that comes their way to add the Monument to their palmarès so Cycling News has run the ruler over the list of expected starters – start lists are yet to be finalised – to bring you some of the riders that may have what it takes to be fighting for victory on the Via Roma.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)

There seems to be little Tadej Pogačar can’t conquer, Milan-San Remo however is a fickle beast and it is also the only road race where he has lined up more than twice that he hasn’t managed to tame. 2025, of course, could be the year that changes that, with the world champion becoming a predictable presence near the front at what is a largely unpredictable event. He has worked his way up the results table, starting with a 12th in 2020, moving on to fifth in 2022, fourth in 2023 and third in 2024.

The attack will be inevitable, the only question is: can anyone follow? Even if they can’t initially, will Pogačar be able to stretch out enough of a gap to hold off the fast finishers? For the last two years it has been Mathieu van der Poel who has had Pogačar’s measure on the final climb which peaks with around 6km to go, with the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider going on to take victory in 2023 and then in 2024 set his fast finishing teammate Jasper Philipsen up for the top spot instead. The Slovenian once again looks to be coming into the race with powerful form, with even a crash proving to be not enough to stop him from sweeping up Strade Bianche earlier this month and the consequent cuts, scratches and thorns not appearing to put too much of a dent in his preparation. 

There has not been a great deal between Pogačar and the top spot in the past two years, so it would take very little to tip the balance in 2025.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is the rider expected to be the biggest thorn in Pogačar’s side, after all it is a role he has played the last two years by sticking with the current world champion on the Poggio and then using his power to take victory for himself or, in 2024, help his teammate Jasper Philipsen do so in the final dash to the line.

Van der Poel is heading into the 2025 edition with a similar preparation to 2023, the year he took the win, having just raced Tirreno-Adriatico which is a contrast to 2024 when it was his first race of the road season.

He didn’t quite manage to win a stage at the week long race, but he lit up the race several times and the second and third places still put him well up on the lead in two years ago. What’s more the rider also said that he found the percentages he was looking for and most importantly stayed healthy through the inclement conditions. Still, while the prospect of a Van der Poel-Pogačar battle may be tantalising, it is his teammate that is defending champion. Depending on the race situation there is no guarantee that Van der Poel will not once again lay down his chance for another, although with his strong lead in this year it is perhaps even harder to go past him as a key favourite.

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Jasper Philipsen took the reigns for Alpecin-Deceuninck in 2024, when as he put it “begged Mathieu on the radio not to work with Pogačar because I had great legs”. It was a decision that paid off for the team. Before that victory, there had been two years of solo winners so while there is certainly no guarantee of a bunch finish again this year, if that circumstance plays out once again it is hard to look past the defending champion.

Philipsen has had a powerful start to the season, shifting from a third place at his first one-day event – Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – to a winning effort at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. There he overcame a rider who could well be a rival again come Saturday, Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike). The value of having a rider like Van der Poel as a teammate can’t be underestimated. While there is a possibility that it means Philipsen may have to sacrifice his chances for the 2023 winner, Van der Poel has also shown his willingness to lay it all out there for his teammate and his power to deliver a lead out or, like last year, help pull the race back together is second to none.

Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla)

It was heartbreak for Michael Matthews at the 2024 Milan-San Remo, as while the rider made it to the podium at the event for a third time, the top step remained just out of reach. There were centimetres in it as he crossed the line alongside Philipsen, in a race where the scenario of a reduced bunch sprint played almost perfectly into the Jayco-AlUla rider’s hands all except for that final few centimetres.

Still, while such a near miss for the rider who already had a pair of third places, a fourth and sixth on his palmarès has also bred hope for 2025, with Matthews so close to finding a winning formula that he largely repeated his preparation this season to try and fulfil that top step dream. Paris-Nice was his lead-in race, though fortunately there was no repeat of the DNF caused by stomach issues of last year. There he was a powerful force in the team time trial that drove the team to second place on stage 3 and built his racing rhythm, with all eyes set for a payoff on March 22 where he hopes to be the first Australian to stand on the podium since Simon Gerrans in 2012, when the Victorian followed up on the win by Matt Goss the year before.

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)

Mads Pedersen looked full of promise as he charged towards the line in last year’s Milan-San Remo, launching the sprint from teammate Jasper Stuyven’s wheel but then Philipsen and Matthews launched down the other side of the road and Pogačar also swept through. Fourth was what was left for Pedersen in 2024, a step up from the pair of sixth places in the previous two editions but one painful spot shy of the podium. 

However, another chance awaits in 2025 and he is clearly heading back with scorching form. Pedersen was a force at Tour de la Provence in February, winning a stage and the race overall, then went on to also claim stage 6 at Paris-Nice, as well as the points classification. Just as impressive was the show of climbing form which delivered a top-10 summit finish and a long break on the last hilly stage. 

On top of that 2021 winner Stuyven is also once again on board – hopefully with not felt too many ill effects from a crash on the last stage of Tirreno-Adriatico – providing a powerful duo for Lidl-Trek. But there is also more, as Jonathan Milan will be another potential trump card for the team if it comes down to a sprint, with the 24-year-old fresh from two stage victories at Tirreno-Adriatico.

Tom Pidcock (Q36.5)

A late attack may not have worked out for Tom Pidcock last year, but he still remained hopeful after walking away with 11th place: “In this scenario, it didn’t really work out what I did. But maybe in another year, then I could win,” he said at the time.

Heading into 2025, much has changed for the British rider, who has switched from Ineos Grenadiers to Q36.5, but it certainly hasn’t done his performance any harm. Pidcock started the season by taking two stages and the overall win at the AlUla Tour, then moved on to Vuelta a Andalucia where he took another stage victory and third overall. He then took second place at Strade Bianche and also two runner-up stage spots at Tirreno-Adriatico. As strong as those results were, he did express some frustration at taking another second place after the Queen stage of the Italian race, which perhaps could help deliver a little extra motivation to throw all in to make Milan-San Remo the ultimate winning finish to this early season racing block.

Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike)

With 2020 winner Wout van Aert once again not on the start line of Milan-San Remo, Visma-Lease a Bike will be looking elsewhere. Last year it was Christophe Laporte who carried the leadership role into the race, but with the experienced Laporte unwell it was a debuting Olav Kooij who was the team’s top finisher. It was 14th in the end for the young Dutch rider, in the second group which was just 35 seconds behind the victor. What’s more, with the start to the year the 23-year-old has had hopes are high that he can build on this, with a sprint victory after a hard and hilly stage at Tirreno-Adriatico last week on stage 4 adding fuel to the fire. 

“This year I think I’m feeling even better. Milan-San Remo is one of my dream races and so hopefully I can do a little bit better than last year,” Kooij told Cycling News and La Gazzetta dello Sport after the win in Trasacco. Kooij is another of the riders who will be hoping the race again comes down to a sprint and that this time he can get the better of Philipsen, who beat him to the line at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne at the start of the month. 

Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers)

Filippo Ganna was one of the few who could hold onto Pogačar when he laid down his initial attack on the Poggio last year and has been readying his legs to tackle another at Tirreno-Adriatico, fully engaging in the attacking games with Milan-San Remo rival Van der Poel on the longest stage. “I tried to go early to see how I felt after six hours of racing. It was a good test for the next long races,” Ganna explained after the 239km stage 3. 

The attack may not have delivered the desired result this time, with Ganna finishing 10th on the stage, but the leg-testing stage race that ended with a win in the opening time trial and second overall are promising signs for what’s ahead. Ganna may have slipped away to 40th last year at the Monument after Pogačar’s second Poggio attack proved a bridge too far but he knows what it takes to finish near the front, having taken second in 2023. On top of that Ganna seems determined to lead by example in his plight to lift Ineos Grenadiers to success – a top result at Milan-San Remo would go a long way to add momentum to that rebound.

Honourable mentions

• Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling)
• Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty)
• Laurence Pithie and Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
• Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana)
• Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious)
• Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)