On Saturday, pros will ride the first Monument of the year, Milan-San Remo. The race is known for its considerable length. The distance varies from year to year, but it’s always near the 300 km mark. This year it’s 298km.
The women are taking on the (sort of) second edition of the race, and doing a more civilized 156km. (Although there is an argument it should be longer for them.)
Pidcock says everyone knows where Pogačar will attack at Milan-San Remo
That’s a long day in the saddle, anywhere between 6.5 and 7 hours. In 2025, it was an amazing race, with Tadej Pogačar trying to hard to drop eventual winner Mathieu van der Poel on the Poggio. This time, however, sounds like the world champ may go for it on the Poggio. The startlists are still not final, but we do know that two Canadians are listed for the women’s event: Sarah Van Dam (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Movistar’s Olivia Baril. There should be more added to the list by Friday. Victoria’s Van Dam has shown some pretty great results with her sprint, so she may have a big day on the Via Roma.
Mathieu van der Poel won Milan San-Remo, but it’s not on Strava
Although there will be breakaways and breakaway attempts, it usually comes down to the Poggio–either the ascent or the descent. Unless this year, Pogi does something nutty on the Cipressa. Either way, stuff will happen with 20 and 30 km to go. But you call yourself a cycling fan, right? So you gotta watch it all.
Or, as is often the case, a sprint in a reduced pack. Since that’s a whole lotta bike racing to watch, why not make the most of it while you have it playing in the background? Here’s a selection of things you can do. Mix and match a few of them and the time will fly.
1. Change your winter tires
Spring is around the corner–I mean, the race is called La Primavera, so why not use part of the race to change into your summer tires? (This depends on where you live in Canada, obviously.) Depending on your skill level, jack and surface, (and wherever you store your tires) it’s probably going to take you an hour or two. So if you get going when the race starts, you’ll only be 80 km in when you’re finished.
2. Do your taxes
Depending on how complicated your situation is, this could take you an hour…or the whole day. But still, good to get it done. Besides, knowing the way the race traditionally goes, it might just come down to the last ten minutes anyway.
3. Watch 77 per cent of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Why not hang out with Frodo Baggins again? “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” is 178 minutes long, or 2 hours and 58 minutes. “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” is 179 minutes long, or 2 hours and 59 minutes. Finally, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is a hefty 200 minutes long, or 3 hours 20 minutes. That’s 557 minutes of hobbitses. Put the race on your Ipad and flip on your TV for some quality Tolkien time.
4. Clean out your fridge
Cleanliness is next to Godliness, amirite? It usually takes around 45 minutes to clean the entire fridge.Now, if you’ve got some sticky stains or pickle spills, you might need more. Either way, you’ll be happy to get the sparkle back in your icebox.
5. Wax your chain
If you’re all set and ready to go, you might just get it done before the arrival in San Remo.
Chain waxing 101: extend the life of your components by dipping links into a hot melt
6. Read the Symmetrics comic 42 times
Depending on how fast you read, reading a 24 page comic book can be anywhere from five to ten minutes. Why not check out this fabulous bit of Canadian cycling history written and created by an extremely handsome devil who just happens to work at Canadian Cycling Magazine? Svein Tuft is even on the cover!
Collector’s item: The Symmetrics Pro Cycling Team comic book
7. Go for a really, really long Zwift ride
You can decide for yourself what long is. Two hours? Five?
How can I make long indoor trainer rides better?
8. Learn how to speak basic Italian
I mean, why not be a proper tifoso or tifosa and speak the language?
9. Make a proper Ragu’ alla bolognese
Now that you’re speaking some Italian, why not make an authentic dish for dinner? If you do it right, you’ll need three to four hours. Check one of ten million recipes here.
1o. Read this article 247 times
This little gem of content is around 500 words, so that’s just under two minutes. Give it a read. And then another. And then another. YW.
Coverage of the men’s race is on FloBikes.com at (cough) 4: 50 a.m. EDT. The women’s race feed begins at 7:30 a.m. EDT.
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