As the women’s peloton gathers in Genoa for the second edition of Milan-San Remo Women, Cyclingnews can confirm that Italian race organiser RCS Sport is working to create a women’s version of the Il Lombardia but faces a battle against local bureaucracy and traffic constraints to make it happen.
Het Laatste Nieuwsreported earlier this week than plans were in the works for a race in 2027. This is not the first time that rumours have emerged about a women’s Il Lombardia, but the progress appears more concrete this time.
Ideally the Il Lombardia Women would be added to the WorldTour calendar for 2027 but a source at RCS Sport admitted to Cyclingnews that it is more likely to happen in 2028.
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RCS has gradually increased its involvement in women’s cycling over the last few seasons, taking over the Giro d’Italia Women in 2024 and running the first Milan-San Remo Women in 2025. It has run women’s races like Strade Bianche and the UAE Tour for several years.
After recently training on the roads of Lombardia near Lake Como, Demi Vollering said the creation of a women’s Il Lombardia will be the first thing she asks for when she submits ideas to the UCI on how to reform and improve the sport.
“It would be amazing. I’m very happy to hear that,” Vollering said when Cyclingnews told her that a women’s Il Lombardia is in the works.
The men’s Il Lombardia has been held on the roads north of Milan for over a hundred years and is traditionally the last Monument of the season. The idea is to create a similar women’s version on the same day and same roads between Como and Bergamo as the men’s race but RCS Sport faces a number of hurdles.
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The UCI requires race organisers to confirm their plans for the subsequent season in the early summer but RCS Sport has to resolve several key issues before it is ready to commit to creating a women’s Il Lombardia, hence the delay until 2028.
“We want to create a women’s edition of Il Lombardia but it’s not easy,” an RCS Sport source told Cyclingnews recently.
“We know that there should be a women’s Il Lombardia, it’s the only Monument without a women’s race. However it’s important that the race is sustainable for the long-term, sponsors and budgets are needed and we need to strengthen our organisational team too.
“The roads of Lombardia are busy with traffic on Saturdays and we already face a battle to get the men’s race approved. We would need to secure extra road closures from the local authorities and police and that is never easy.”
RCS Sport is convinced it can add a women’s Il Lombardia eventually.
The Italian organiser is also undergoing internal changes after the long-standing Head of Cycling Mauro Vegni retired. Other key staff members have left the company. Giusy Virelli is the director of the women’s Giro d’Italia Women and Milan-San Remo Women but also works across other races.