Paolo Bellino, CEO of RCS Sports & Events: “Beyond its globally recognised sporting value, Milano–Sanremo once again represents an extraordinary opportunity to promote the territories it crosses. The live television broadcast, distributed worldwide, offers a unique showcase with spectacular images that blend history, landscapes and great cycling, from the Lombardy plains to the Riviera di Ponente. The extensive media coverage generates significant returns in terms of image and tourism appeal, while the champions who line up each year provide the spectacle, delivering unique emotions to fans following the race both at home and along the roads”.
Michele Lissia, Mayor of Pavia: “Milano–Sanremo will start from Pavia again in 2026. We have chosen to ensure continuity along this path through an agreement that will guarantee the start from our city for the next two editions as well. For Pavia, it is a source of great pride to welcome the strongest riders in the world, and we wish them all the very best of luck. Among the protagonists will also be Tadej Pogačar: it will be interesting to see whether he can also conquer this Monument Classic, which is still missing from his extraordinary palmarès. For our city, this is both a major sporting event and an international showcase. We are strongly investing in sport as an opportunity for community building and social cohesion, placing Pavia firmly in the global sporting spotlight”.
Giovanni Palli, President of the Province of Pavia: “2026 marks a historic milestone for the Province of Pavia. With the start of the Milano–Sanremo in Pavia, the Voghera–Milan stage of the Giro d’Italia, and the prestigious finish of the Giro d’Italia Women in Salice Terme, our territory becomes, for the first time, a unified protagonist of top-level international cycling. These are not isolated events, but the result of a coordinated and well-defined vision: three world-class appointments that cross cities, hills and communities, telling the world the story of a province capable of blending history, landscape, hospitality and quality of life. From monumental Pavia to the central role of Voghera, and on to the spa and hill-country identity of Oltrepò Pavese, cycling becomes a universal language that makes our identity immediately recognisable. This is sport, of course, but it is also economy, tourism and territorial promotion. It proves that the Province of Pavia can be a credible stage for major international events and, at the same time, a destination to be experienced. 2026 will be remembered as the year our territory spoke to the world with a single, strong and unmistakable voice”.
Alessandro Mager, Mayor of Sanremo, and Alessandro Sindoni, Councillor for Tourism and Sport of the City of Sanremo: “As the 76th Festival della Canzone Italiana is taking place in these days, Sanremo is already looking ahead to the upcoming events that will once again see the city in the spotlight. There is great anticipation for Milano–Sanremo, scheduled for Saturday 21 March, which will bring our territory to the forefront of world cycling. Sanremo and cycling share a historic and unbreakable bond, where sport and tourism come together in an ideal partnership. Our roads — first and foremost the Poggio, where the outcome of the race has so often been decided — have provided the stage for the battles of the greatest champions across different eras. The name of Sanremo has therefore long been a benchmark in cycling thanks to the Classicissima, universally regarded as the Spring World Championship”.
