San Remo Women route announced - Genoa start, 156km length and Cipressa-Poggio climax

The first edition of San Remo Women for 20 years is to start in Genoa, cover 156km and finish with the classic Cipressa and Poggio climax, it was announced on Wednesday.

The route for the women's equivalent of Milan-San Remo was released at an event in Genoa; it will run on the same day as the men's race, 22 March. The race previously existed as the Primavera Classic, and was held between 1999 and 2005.

Unlike the men's race, San Remo Women will begin in Genoa, not Pavia, but the routes will more or less be the same from around 140km to go. As a result, San Remo Women will not automatically be the longest WorldTour race of the year, as is traditionally the case with the men's Milan-San Remo; last year's women's Tour of Flanders was 163km, for example.

However, once the race hits the Ligurian coast, there is the classic run-in to San Remo, with the three Capos - Capo Mele, Capo Cervo and Capo Berta tackled before the Cipress (5.6km at 4.1%) and then the Poggio (3.7km at 3.7%), before the crucial descent to the finish.

It should be noted that the race is officially Sanremo Women, and not Milan-San Remo, with the race not starting near the Italian city.

The director of cycling for RCS Sport, Mauro Vegni, said: "We are proud to help bring such a prestigious classic back to the calendar, offering the world’s best female athletes a unique setting and a technical challenge worthy of its rich history."

Meanwhile, Giusy Virelli, the director of San Remo Women, said: "The return of Sanremo Women is an important milestone for women's cycling, which continues to grow and claim the recognition it deserves—both within the sport and across the broader Italian sporting movement. This race is not only a high-level sporting event but also a decisive step in acknowledging the significance and value of women's cycling on a global scale."

World champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) are all already down to ride the first edition of the rebooted race.

In her Cycling Weekly column last month, British champion Pfeiffer Georgi wrote she hoped for a race which hit 200km.

The maximum length for a one-day event on the Women's WorldTour is 160km, according to UCI regulations, although there have been exceptions to this.

"One of my first wishes is that it will be our longest race, and personally I think it would be cool to see it at least 200km," the Picnic-PostNL rider wrote. "In general, I’m not a believer that every race should be longer as I think it doesn’t make it more exciting, but for Milan-San Remo I would be happy to make an exception and think it may potentially bring some unexpected results due to the increased distance.

"On average, most of our races are between three and four hours, so to have a race over five hours could certainly benefit different riders."

The route and profile