"Another sign of how much women's cycling is growing" - Elisa Longo Borghini flying the flag for Italy in first-ever Milano-Sanremo Women

For the first time ever, 2025 sees a women's version of one of the sports most iconic one day races, Milano-Sanremo. One of the riders hoping to take a history making win on March 22nd, will be the Italian national champion, UAE Team ADQ leader Elisa Longo Borghini.

The 33-year-old is yet to taste victory since swapping Lidl-Trek for UAE Team ADQ at the start of the 2025 season, but make no mistake, with the Italian tricolour on her back and a chance to make history at one of Italian cycling's most historic races, Longo Borghini is out for victory at Milano-Sanremo Women. "I'm very happy that this year there will also be a Milano-San Remo for us women. It was a Monument Classic that was missing, and it's very important for the entire movement - another sign of how much women's cycling is growing," she says in quotes collected by Cycling News. 

"As an Italian and the Italian champion, it will be an honour for me to take part in this race, which has a unique charm," continues the 2024 Giro d'Italia Women winner. "San Remo is something special, part of cycling history, and I think racing it, tackling those legendary roads, will be an incredible experience for all of us."

As mentioned, Longo Borghini is yet to truly sparkle yet in 2025. In one of her most recent outings, any hopes of victory at Strade Bianche were ended by a ill-timed bout of illness. Now fully recovered though, the Italian is raring to go once more.

"I believe it suits my characteristics quite well. But I also think we have other riders in the team who could perform very well on this kind of course," she previews hopefully, although an all-star cast of challengers including Lotte Kopecky, Demi Vollering, Marianne Vos and Puck Pieterse are likely to make things difficult. "The competition will be strong, and just like in the men's race, the finale could play out in many different ways. I believe it will be the same for us. We will certainly be honoured to be at the start of this Classic, and together with my teammates, we will give our best to try to win - or at the very least, to be protagonists in the race."