Milano-Sanremo 2024: When is it? Is Tadej Pogacar riding? Who is competing? how to watch on Eurosport and discovery+

The 2024 cycling season continues in Italy as the world’s leading male riders go for glory in the iconic Milano-Sanremo race.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) held off Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) to storm to victory 12 months ago and will attempt to defend his title.

Milano-Sanremo will take place on Saturday, March 16.

The last three winners – 2023 champion Van der Poel, 2022 winner Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) and 2021 victor Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) – will all be on the start line.

But after his stunning 81km solo attack at Strade Bianche, all eyes will be fixed on Pogacar to see if he can end his wait for victory in Sanremo.

The 25-year-old could be tempted to strike out early again, having ended up in sprint showdowns with the fast men at the last two editions, finishing fifth in 2022 and fourth in 2023.

Pogacar already has three different Monument titles on his palmarès: Tour of Flanders (2023), Liege-Bastogne-Liege (2021) and Tour of Lombardy (2021, 2022, 2023).

Pogacar said “I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the year like I had in Strade Bianche. The team is racing well and achieving good results so we want to stay on that path and keep it going. I’m excited for Milano-San Remo. The finish is not too far from where I live in Monaco so I know the last part of the race and the final climbs quite well.

“As we’ve seen before, this race is one of the most difficult to win and can end in many outcomes. For sure we will make a plan and put ourselves in the best position possible. It’s a race we’d dearly love to win .”

Former winner Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step) will also be in the field, while Olav Kooij will likely carry Visma-Lease a Bike’s hopes in the absence of Wout van Aert.

Milano-Sanremo is held in Italy, typically starting in Milan and finishing in Sanremo. However, for the second year in a row, riders will set off outside of Milan, instead being released in Pavia.

The men are competing over a 288km course which features a series of climbs and descents sure to test riders to the limit.

The route will also take competitors through the famous Ligurian hills before hitting the coastline and finishing on the Via Roma in Sanremo.