Milan Sanremo women’s 2026 preview: Can the attackers stay away from the sprinters?

Rouleur looks at the favourites for the women’s La Classicissima, where sprinters like the defending champion, Lorena Wiebes come up against the puncheurs like Elisa Longo Borghini

Cover Image: Eloise Mavian / Tornanti.cc Words: Tristan Rees

The run of Italian Classics continues for the women’s WorldTour as Milan-Sanremo takes centre stage on Saturday. After Strade Bianche and Trofeo Alfredo Binda, all focus is on La Classicissima. 2025 was the first revamped women’s race in 20 years, which previously ran between 1999 and 2005 under the name Primavera Rosa.

Last year the sprint queen, Lorena Wiebes, took the spoils on the Via Roma, but only after withstanding attacks from the likes of Elisa Longo Borghini. It was a perfect example of how Milan-Sanremo can be notoriously unpredictable. It is one of the most intriguing races due to it being finely balanced between the sprinters, puncheurs and climbers.

We have taken a look at a few of the contenders who we expect to be in the thick of the action on Saturday on the Italian Riviera.

Contenders

Lorena Wiebes

The enticingly hilly yet relatively tameable parcours leading to the Via Roma means that Milan-Sanremo is often a battle between those who want to wait for the sprint and those who want to attack early. The defending champion, Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime) is part the former group. The Dutchwoman has enjoyed a storming start to 2026 with five wins, starting with the Al Salam Championship, three stages at the UAE Tour and most recently a victory at Leeuw-Oetingen. However Saturday, will be a step up and offer a challenge more like that of Omloop Nieuwsblad, where Wiebes was third. Can she retain her title?

Wiebes has over 100 career wins (Image Eloise Mavian / Tornanti.cc)

Marianne Vos

Visma-Lease a Bike leader, Marianne Vos, has won most of the races on the WorldTour calendar. However, due to its relative infancy, Milan-Sanremo is one of the exceptions. The race suits Vos’ versatility perfectly. Although she won’t be able to match the sprint of Wiebes or Balsamo, the Dutch rider has a handy sprint that has come in handy in a large number of her career wins that now stretch beyond the 250 figure.

Vos has won stages and worn the yellow jersey at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (Image: Zac Williams / SWpix.com

Lotte Kopecky

Team SD Worx-Protime have two viable winning options on Saturday. The first being Wiebes and the second being two-time world road race champion, Lotte Kopecky. The Belgian rider had a relatively quiet start to 2026, but a powerful sprint at Nokere Koerse on Wednesday, gave her her first win, where she finished ahead of established fast women, Lara Gillespie (Team UAE ADQ) and Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech). Whether it’s domestique work for Wiebes or to set herself up, all eyes will be on Kopecky as the race approaches the Poggio on the weekend.

Kopecky is well-suited to the Milan-Sanremo parcours (Image: Getty)

Kim Le Court Pienaar

Kim Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) enjoyed a stellar 2025 when she made history as the first rider from Mauritius to win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and then followed this up with a stage and a spell in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. She made her season debut at Strade Bianche, but was caught up in the group that took a wrong turn down a Tuscan farm track. She will want to get her season back on track starting at Milan-Sanremo, a race she could win from a late attack or in a sprint from a reduced group.

Le Court Pienaar won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2025 (Image: Getty Images)

Elisa Longo Borghini

After last year’s Milan-Sanremo, Elisa Longo Borghini (Team UAE ADQ) was frustrated – she had attacked after the descent of the Poggio, and initially there was no reaction from the other favourites around her. However, Kopecky, working for Wiebes, started reeling in the Italian champion, making the heartbreaking catch with 100m to go. Longo Borghini vowed that “next time they're not gonna catch me”. She has made a strong start to 2026, including wins at the UAE Tour and Trofeo Oro, so don’t be surprised if she comes good on the promise she made to herself on Saturday.

Longo Borghini will try to spoil the sprinters' party at Milan-Sanremo (Image: Thomas Maheux / SWpix.com)

Other contenders

It is exceedingly tough to win Milan-Sanremo if you don’t have the ability to win a sprint from a reduced bunch. Some riders are more confident in their chances when it comes to the final few kilometres than others. A sprinter who will be eyeing victory is home rider, Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), but unlike Wiebes, Balsamo has not won a race yet this year. However, the Italian could surprise the Dutch favourite and those at SD Worx. However, she will need to withstand the attacks that will fly in on the Poggio, which won’t be orchestrated by the likes of Wiebes, but rather from the likes of Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto). The Polish rider has been her ever-attacking self so far in 2026, and has been rewarded with two second places at Omloop and Strade. Can she go one better at Milan-Sanremo? She’ll need to sneak away from the sprinters, but she is certainly one to watch.

Balsamo is a home favourite for Milan-Sanremo (Image: Eloise Mavian / Tornanti.cc)

Other riders who will need to try and get away before the final few hundred metres on the Via Roma include Juliette Berthet (née Labous) (FDJ United-Suez), Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) and Movistar Team duo Liane Lippert and Cat Ferguson.

Last year's third place finisher Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) is back at Milan-Sanremo this year. She has had a great start to 2026 with an overall winner at the Santos Tour Down Under and 11th at Strade.