"We only receive 11% of what the men do" - Demi Vollering hits out at 'very disappointing' prize money gap at Milano-Sanremo

Last weekend saw the first Monument of the 2025 season take place at Milano-Sanremo. Alongside Mathieu van der Poel's thrilling win over Filippo Ganna and Tadej Pogacar though, this year there was also a women's edition, eventually won by Team Sd Worx - Protime's European champion Lorena Wiebes.

In a big difference between the two races however, the women's World Tour peloton were only given a fraction of the prize money offered to their male counterparts. In the opinion of one of the leading lights in women's cycling, Demi Vollering, this gender pay gap is simply not good enough.

"We only receive, and this is very disappointing, 11 percent of what the men do. That’s a huge difference," explains the former Tour de France Femmes winner, who left Wiebes' Team SD Worx - Protime for a new challenge at FDJ - Suez over the recent off-season, in conversation with Eurosport. "Now, none of us are here for the prize money, but if people talk about equal opportunities, then we really want to see that happen. That includes the small things, like prize money. It just shows that we’re not there yet. There’s still a lot of work to be done."

It wasn't just the prize money of the women's edition that came under fire either. After the race, Puck Pieterse took aim at the significant difference in length between the men's and women's edition, calling for a similar level of equality there.

"I would definitely like it to be longer. The great thing about San Remo for men is that it is a long race. That makes the Poggio tough for them, but for us everyone arrived reasonably fresh," explained the Dutch star, comparing the women's 156km to the men's near-300km distance. "I think the distance should be at least 200 kilometres. But it could easily be longer. If we were on the bike for five, five and a half hours, that would be great."