Onto the Capo Mele! 1.8km long with an average gradient of 3.5% but it does kick up a bit.

Break down to seven with Peron also dropped.

Soudal-QuickStep move up for the first time in a while. They have Paul Magnier with a big opportunity to become the first French winner since Julian Alaphilippe riding for the same team in 2019. Alaphilippe riding today but for Tudor.

Just 3km to the Capo Mele!

Ben Turner went down for Ineos Grenadiers, not Josh Tarling.

60km to go

The pace in the peloton is high with several teams leading the way. The break now has four minutes and 48 seconds as Decathlon-CMA CGM come up for the first time with their leaders Tobias Lund Andresen and Paul Lapeira.

Lozano has been caught by the peloton.

Marcel Camprubi (Pinarello-Q36.5) also went down with a tangle of wheels. Pidcock and Ganna narrowly missing the crash that happened right by them.

Crash!

Three riders down from Ineos Grenadiers! Connor Swift, Josh Tarling and Michal Kwiatkowski.

Spread across the road with Pinarello-Q36.5, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Lotto-Intermarche, Bahrain Victorious and Tudor all in colour order.

Multiple teams starting to move up. Tudor, Lotto-Intermarche, Bahrain Victorious and more all challenging to control and keep their men well placed.

70km to go

Novak has taken a lot of time off the break with it now sat at five minutes and 40 seconds.

Gap down to six minutes with 20km to go to the first of the Tre Capi, the Capo Mele.

Lozano dropped from the breakaway.

80km to go

Novak hit the front and the gap was six minutes and 48 seconds. Now, 20 seconds have already been trimmed off.

Domen Novak comes up to the front. Dillier is done, he rode for 199km on his own. The pace changes dramatically.

Almost seven minutes between the break and the peloton!

Pinarello-Q36.5 crowding Dillier on a feed zone. The Swiss rider is really suffering with the gap still growing with over six and a half minutes to the breakaway.

Break gets its gap to six minutes!

Dillier continues to lead, PInarello-Q36.5 are the team behind him followed by Unibet-Rose-Rockets. None of the big name favourite teams are near the front. In fact, Del Toro is right at the back of the bunch. No stress at all.

100km to go

The riders are heading to four and a half hours of racing. The average speed is an incredible 45kph with the breakaway still extending their gap to five minutes and 26 seconds with Dillier still leading the chase.

Dillier looks in a lot of pain as he grits his teeth.

The breakaway now have five minutes on the peloton! Dillier really needs some help. That said, there is still over 100km to go so there is now stress yet.

120km to go

Four minutes and 20 seconds for the break. Dillier is clearly hurting and he is not able to control the gap any more. The break are extending their advantage well.

Pinarello-Q36.5 return to the front and sit behind Dillier in the peloton with Pidcock placed among them.

The peloton have really come off the gas now. Dillier is riding again and riding hard but the break are really pushing on as well with over four minutes between them now.

130km to go

Three and a half minutes is the gap between the breakaway and the peloton.

The peloton is currently absolutely tiny due to the amount of riders stopping for a wee.

The peloton taking another opportunity for a mass nature break with 133km to go. Back on the front of the peloton, it is Dillier. The gap heading back out to almost three minutes to the break as well.

The descending is down and Alpecin-Premier Tech immediately return to the front of the bunch.

The peloton sometimes sees splits and crashes on this descent, but today looks a lot calmer, thankfully for the riders.

140km to go

Two minutes and seven seconds split the nine man break and the Van Poppel led peloton.

Dillier is now right at the back of the peloton and the time gap has dropped by a minute to two minutes up to the break. Dillier will likely reappear on the front once on the coastal road but, for now, it is Dutch national champion, Danny van Poppel (Red BUll-Bora-Hansgrohe), who leads the way.

Peloton now also over the top of the Turchino. It is a plunge down to the Med now before they tackle the beautiful coast road. A road that has already been ridden by the women’s race who started earlier today in Genoa. They are now 30km from the finish and nearing the Cipressa climb. Follow the action in our other live page…

>>> Milan-San Remo Women LIVE – Tension rises on the approach to the Cipressa and Poggio

The break go over the top, through the tunnel and down what is a very steep and rather twisty descent to the Mediterranean sea.

150km to go

The gap to the break extends back to three minutes on the Passo del Turchino. The break are just 300 metres from the top.

Teams getting into colour order again. Ineos Grenadiers, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Alpecin-Premier Tech and Bahrain Victorious all on the front. Michal Kwiatskowski (Ineos Grenadiers) just went a little bit agricultural having to go on the grass verge briefly.

Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana) having to unclip and get going again after the back of the peloton was squeezed through a tight bridge road.

Alpecin-Premier Tech move up to finally join Dillier on the front again. This sees Bahrain Victorious and co move back a little bit as the team that has won the last three additions of this race.

160km to go

Into the final 100 miles with the break still holding two minutes and 38 seconds but will a big rush come from behind?

Bahrain Victorious move to the front alongside Lotto-Intermarche and the Dillier led part of the bunch. Things are changing.

They’re on the Passo del Turchino, officially it is 5.6km but really it is far less than that.

Biniam Girmay (NSN) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) at the back of the bunch having a chat.

Multiple teams jostling for position in the peloton behind the little train led by Dillier with multiple UAE Team Emirates-XRG riders behind him.

170km to go

The peloton are now two minutes and 37 seconds behind the peloton.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG have moved up en masse with Pogačar surrounded by his teammated including Tirreno-Adriatico winner, Isaac Del Toro. Van der Poel also moves up along with Van Aert. Will Pogačar do the unthickable and copy the great Fausto Coppi and attack on the Passo del Turchino?

Dillier still doing his thing on the front of the peloton.

Two minutes and 40 seconds split the peloton and the break.

180km to go

Now 30km to go until the Passo del Turchino.

Van der Poel riding back into the peloton with teammate, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) as well as Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet-Rose-Rockets). The latter in the full white shorts and Slovakian champs jersey.

Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) just coming back into the peloton. He was a last minute replacement for Matthew Brennan who was ruled out due to illness. Campenaerts was called up yesterday and he got on a plane and flew over to Milan.

Meanwhile, his bikes were being taken to Milan by car. The bikes got to Switzerland at a petrol station where the TVL staff member accidentally put the wrong fuel in the car! The car, now wrecked and undriveable, was stuck. A soigneur of the team in Milan took off to Switzerland last night and collected the bikes. He arrived back at the team hotel at around 3:30am and Campenaerts has his bikes.

The race goes through three regions in Italy today. They are Liguria, Lombardy and Piedmont.

200km to go

Into the final 200km of racing with a gap of two minutes and 37 seconds between the break and the peloton.

The first change at the front of the peloton in some time sees Dilier and his Alpecin-Premier Tech team joined by a rider from Pinarello-Q36.5 riding for Tom Pidcock. The Yorkshireman comes into today off the back of a very impressive victory at Milan-Turin (Milano-Torino) where he soloed away from the likes of Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) on the Superga climb to the finish. How will he do today with the rapid descent off the Poggio suiting him perfectly?

Pogačar just returning to the bunch after a nature break and a stop at the car, he is now being escorted back towards the front of the peloton.

The riders now have 60km to go until the top of the Passo del Turchino.

210km to go

Two minutes and 42 seconds between the break and the peloton. The bunch still really strung out.

Peron using his EpiPen in the breakaway. He rides for Novo Nordisk. The whole point of the team is that they change the perception of people living with diabetes. Every rider on the team lives with type one diabetes. The team was founded by Phil Sutherland and Joe Eldridge in 2005, they both have diabetes as well.

The break are riding hard but, so are the peloton.

220km to go

The peloton are still just under three minutes behind the break.

Interesting that Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) is in fourth wheel in the peloton as they ride back across to Dillier.

Dillier has been let go off the front yet again, this time being let go with a Lidl-Trek rider. He is getting very annoyed with the rest of the bunch. It causes another split in the bunch and is being stitched back together again.

Almost an hour and a half of racing done with the average speed at 46.4kph. They are still really hammering along.

230km to go

The break has a gap of under three minutes now as Dillier is slowly dragging them back again. There is still about 80km to the top of the Passo de Turchino.

Orluis Aular (Movistar) and Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) both crashed hard on a bridge not so long ago, completely missed by the cameras with both of them having to abandon the race.

The breakaway had split up as well with some riders taking a chance to have a nature break with Marcellusi and Maestri being the two riders continuing as a duo.

They come back together again but it is very strung out with riders really in the gutter. The pace is high and the wind seems to be there as well.

There’s a few splits in the peloton here with a group of about 20 riders having about 50 metres gap on the rest of the peloton.

The rest of the peloton spoiling Dillier’s pacing again as he is riding off the front of the peloton once more with Novak. Those two are wanting to keep the pace high but Soudal-QuickStep, Ineos Grenadiers and EF Education-EasyPost aren’t as keen.

The gap is coming down some more with it now at three minutes and 18 seconds.

250km to go

Another 10km done and the gap is holding around three and a half minutes. Dillier seems happy with this gap.

There are some big name riders who were meant to be racing today but have been caught out by illness and family issues in both the men’s and women’s races. In the men’s side, two standout names are Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike). However, there is someone who has come in for Milan for his first race appearance in over 40 days, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), how will he be performing today?

>>> ‘I have nothing to lose right now’ – Mads Pedersen retains high ambitions at comeback race Milan-San Remo

260km to go

The gap is coming down with the break holding three and a half minutes on the peloton.

Marcellusi is having a chat with the medical car for a moment. He has gone back to the break now. But, something to keep an eye on.

This is what the peloton looks like at the moment. Dillier doing what he normally does.

40 minutes raced and they have covered over 30km already.

Polti-Visit Malta are wearing the retro 1990s style Polti kit today…

270km to go

Yes, we still have a very long way to go. But, we have done almost 30km already. It is flying by! We’ll be on La Cipressa in a blink of an eye. Dillier still leading the way in the peloton with four minutes and six seconds up to the nine man break.

The average speed so far is 51.4kph! Absolutely incredible speeds early on.

The pace in the peloton is actually pretty high as the gap went out to about four minutes and 20 seconds with Dillier bringing it down to just around four minutes again and it is coming down.

Almost the entire lineup of Alpecin-Premier Tech hit the front of the peloton including Van der Poel, who is in fourth wheel, very interesting to see the defending champion so close to the front.

Dillier and co are caught with the former Swiss national champion goes to the front with Novak with Ineos Grenadiers, Lidl-Trek and Soudal-QuickStep all up towards the front.

Annoyingly for Dillier, the peloton were not ready to follow his pacing early on and he has gone clear with two other riders, Johan Jacobs (Groupama-FDJ United) and Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers). All braking and looking around wondering where everyone else is.

The peloton take control with the gap at over two minutes, of course, it is Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Premier Tech) who comes to the front of the bunch. He settles in for his yearly monster ride on the front of the peloton.

And that is the peloton well and truly set as multiple riders take their natural breaks.

The break of the day:

Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani CSF-7 Saber)
Manuele Tarozzi (Bardiani CSF-7 Saber)
Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar)
Manlio Moro (Movistar)
Andrea Peron (Novo Nordisk)
David Lozano (Novo Nordisk)
Alexy Faure-Prost (Picnic-PostNL)
Dario Igor Belletta (Polti-Visit Malta)
Mirco Maestri (Polti-Visit Malta)

And the peloton is almost a minute behind.

The breakaway seems to have formed with the peloton letting it go. A few more riders tried to ride away but got a strong telling off by Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and returned to the peloton.

The break go the wrong way on the roundabout! The first bit of road interest and it goes wrong. The lead cars and police bikes led the way with the riders following. A new breakaway is forming after that bizarre moment.

About 10 riders away with about three Bardiani CSF-7 Saber, several from Novo Nordisk and Polti-VisitMalta as well as Matthew Dinham (Picnic-PostNL).

298km to go

Racing begins for the first Monument of the year and the attacks immediately begins with Novi Nordisk launching first.

Neutral start

Just 3.6km of neutralised zone this morning.

The teams have all signed on for the race and are set for the neutral start. But, how about this bonkers special kit from Polti-Visit Malta.

Its interesting that Ineos Grenadiers think that Josh Tarling could be involved for the win today, but they do have Filippo Ganna…

>>> ‘It is fantastic to have one more card to play’ – Ineos Grenadiers look to Josh Tarling as a wildcard for Milan-San Remo alongside Filippo Ganna

The rival team DSs have theories on what the new tactics will be for UAE Team Emirates-XRG…

>>> ‘I think UAE have a new plan’ – Here’s what rival team sports directors expect from Tadej Pogačar in Milan-San Remo

Pogačar teased a possible attack on the Passo del Turchino, but is he actually joking?

>>> ‘The Turchino is a nice climb, no?’ – Tadej Pogačar teases about a 150-kilometre Milan-San Remo attack, but is he really joking?

Van der Poel agrees with Eddy Merckx with saying Pogačar should just go on the Poggio, but is this just mind games?

>>>‘I don’t think Tadej needs to attack on the Cipressa’ – Mathieu van der Poel plays tactical mind games with Milan-San Remo rival Pogačar

Where does UAE Team Emirates-XRG use their power this year for Pogačar?

>>> Chasing perfection on Cipressa and Poggio – Where have Tadej Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG fallen short at Milan-San Remo and how do they finally win it in 2026?

It is the usual route for the riders with the Passo del Turchino coming at roughly the halfway point. The riders then have a long ride to the Tre Capi, the Capo Mele, Capo Cervo and the Capo Berta. After that, it isn’t far from La Cipressa, where Pogačar launched his attack last year, and finally, the often decidinig Poggio di Sanremo with a terrifying plunge down into San Remo and a finish on the Via Roma.

But let’s get focused on today… Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) once again comes to try and take this missing piece in his palmares. However, he still has the defending champion, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) to content with over this 298km route.

Of course, Milan-San Remo has the historic Monument tag, shared with just four other races. Two in Belgium, two in Italy and one in France. They are, of course, Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia.

Today is a day that is steeped in history and legend. The longest one-day race in professional cycling at almost 300km, it is the slowest of slow burns. The riders have to manage their nutrition, drinking, positioning, tactics and much more besides in this incredible chess game of a bike race.

Buongiorno and welcome to Cyclingnews‘ live updates of the men’s 117th Milan-San Remo.