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Stephen Farrand

Have we already seen a Milan-San Remo dress rehearsal? Here's what Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice might reveal about the first Monument of 2026

MARTINSICURO, ITALY - MARCH 12: Mathieu van der Poel of Netherlands and Team Alpecin-Premier Tech celebrates at podium as stage winner during the 61st Tirreno-Adriatico 2026, Stage 4 a 213km stage from Tagliacozzo to Martinsicuro / #UCIWT / on March 12, 2026 in Martinsicuro, Italy. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images).

Italy isn’t just great for pasta and coffee. Despite a packed early-season calendar, Tirreno-Adriatico still offers the best path to peak form for Milan-San Remo and the cobbled Classics.

The weather is generally better than Paris-Nice, which was struck by disastrous conditions again this year, conditions that Classics riders consider too great a risk. The racing at Tirreno-Adriatico is typically less intense, allowing the one-day specialists a gentler on-ramp to peak form. So when it comes to searching for hints about how Milan-San Remo might go, Tirreno is the place to look.

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