Preview and Betting Prediction for the 2022 Milan–San Remo Cycling Race (Saturday, March 19)

It’s time for the first cycling monument race of the 2022 season. The 113^th edition of the Milan–San Remo race a.k.a. The Spring Classic is on the program on Saturday, March 19. Tadej Pogačar, Wout Van Aert, Caleb Ewan, and many other elite cyclists are expected to feature in the race, which promises an interesting event.

Apart from being fun to watch, the even should also be exciting from a bettor’s perspective. If you’re looking to try yourself at cycling betting, my 2022 Milan–San Remo preview is here to help you out. This is where I analyze the main favorites, dark horses, as well as share my prediction.

Milan–San Remo is the longest one-day race in professional cycling, Riders are required to cover a distance of 298 kilometers (roughly 185 miles) in a single day.

Those riders who are good at sprinting tend to do much better than those who are experts at mounting cycling. The reason is that the Milan-San Remo route is mostly flat with its highest point being the Passo del Turchino (591 meters).

This explains why the #1 favorite for winning the 2022 race is Wout Van Aert, whose strongest weapon is sprinting. Just behind him is another elite sprinter, Caleb Ewan. He is followed by the world no.1 pro cyclist, Tadej Pogačar, who seems to be good on any terrain.

*Odds taken from Betway Sportsbook on March 11, 2022.

In 2021, Belgian cyclist Jasper Stuyven won his first monument race at the age of 28. The race in question was Milan-San Remo. It was his first and so far, only cycling monument race, as well as only the third time he won a classic.

Even though Stuyven is known for his speed on flat courses, not many people expected him to win last year’s race. In fact, the odds on him were 500.00 at Bovada just before the race.

In 2022, his odds are much better, but he still isn’t thought of as a serious candidate for the title. If he (somehow) manages to win it once again, he’s going to become only the second cyclist to win back-to-back titles at Milano-San Remo in the 21^st century. Still, the odds of 29.00 suggest that such a scenario isn’t very likely.

When it comes to the top favorites, there are three riders that stand out in the eyes of bookies – Wout Van Aert, Caleb Ewan, and Tadej Pogačar.

Wout Van Aert is seen as the main favorite for the 2022 race. He was among the top favorites for last year’s race as well, in which he ended up third. Since then, we saw him improve his performances significantly.

In 2021, the Belgian won 13 races, four of which were sprints. In one of those sprints, he defeated Caleb Ewan, whom bookmakers see as the second favorite to win the 2022 Milan-San Remo.

The reason why bookies think so is that Ewan is widely considered one of the best sprinters in the world. The Australian cyclist won 6 races last year, but he could’ve done even better. The thing is that his season was plagued by fitness problems, most notably the collarbone injury he suffered at the 2021 Tour de France.

Ewan suffered another injury in 2022, although not as serious. It happened on Wednesday, March 10, at the Tirreno-Adriatico where he had a small crash. Despite the crash, he was still able to get a sprint win the same day, showing the world how good he is in this aspect. He decided to call it quits in order to move his focus on the next race – the 2022 Milano-San Remo.

?? #TirrenoAdriatico@CalebEwan abandoned today. He suffered a bit from yesterday's small crash and today's furious start. He and the team decided that it was best not to push it and quit the race. Caleb will now recover and focus on his final preparations for #MilanoSanremo. pic.twitter.com/91hwg2E0JN

— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) March 10, 2022

Judging by what we saw from Ewan so far, he does look like one of the top contenders. The trouble is that this year’s event is packed with elite cyclists, most notably Tadej Pogačar. The highest-ranked professional cyclist in the UCI World Rankings is the third favorite to win the race.

At the age of 23, the Slovene is already thought of as a potential cycling GOAT, the reason being that he’s been great on literally all courses. He is an all-rounder, but his expertise seems to be riding across mountains.

The proof of this is that he’s the reigning champion of Tour de France, which is where he also won the King of the Mountains award.

Apart from Aert, Ewan, and Pogačar, all other cyclists are given double-figure odds. Actually, the #4 in the list of Milano-San Remo favorites is priced at 15.00. The man in question is Julian Alaphilippe, a Belgian cyclist who won the race in 2019.

We could see him do well this year, but winning the title seems a bit much for him. However, there’s another Belgian who could upset the odds. Jasper Philipsen is the man I’m talking about, a sprinter with high ambitions for the 2022 season.

A couple of weeks ago, we saw him win the points classification at the 2022 UAE Tour, together with two individual stages. If he finishes high in Italy as well, no one should be surprised.

The 5’5 Australian is a fantastic sprinter who hasn’t had much luck in the past. He broke his collarbone at the last year’s Tour de France, had COVID at the Saudi Tour earlier this year, and crashed at Tirreno-Adriatico a few weeks ago.

All this has made him hungry for success. The best way to satisfy his desire is to win a major classic race. He hasn’t won a single monument race in his career, although he did come very close – Ewan finished second in Milan-San Remo two times already (2018 and 2021).

This time, I think he can do better. If you agree with me that it’s time for Ewan to win this race, why not back him at one of the top cycling betting sites, most of which are giving 5.00 on his victory.