'A race of infinite possibilities' – But is Milan-San Remo now beyond the sprinters?

Tadej Pogacar Poggio Milan-San Remo 2023
(Image credit: Getty)

“Everything must change for everything to remain the same” is one of the most famous quotations in Italian literature. The paradoxical statement comes from a novel, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard, with 19th-century Sicilian society as its subject matter, but it is a good description of 21st-century bike racing too. 

Each edition of Milan-San Remo has a seemingly endless number of potential outcomes but the ingredients that go into producing them remain virtually identical. Professional bike racing is constantly changing but the outcome of the races is the same.

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.