World champion Tadej Pogacar overcame a crash to win his first Milan-San Remo win by half a round over Britain’s Tom Pidcock in a thrilling two-man sprint.
Four-time Tour de France champion Pogacar launched an attack with 22 kilometers remaining in the 298-kilometre one-day Monumental race, with only Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel able to keep up.
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Two-time champion Van der Poel was eliminated on the final climb, the Poggio, leaving Pogacar and Pidcock for the final race.
Pogacar made the first sprint, and Pidcock fought hard to stay abreast, but was squeezed out as they both headed towards the finish line.
Already considered one of the greatest cyclists of all time, the Slovenian has now won four of the five ‘Monuments’, men’s cycling’s most prestigious one-day race, with only Paris-Roubaix remaining.
Saturday’s victory tied him with Roger de Vlaeminck for second on the Monument’s most wins list. Only the legendary Eddy Merckx has more wins, 19.
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The 27-year-old’s victory was all the more remarkable as he recovered from a crash to return to the main group before the crucial Cipressa climb.
“For a moment I thought it was over, but luckily I got back on the bike pretty quickly,” he said.
“Pidcock was really, really strong. I was lucky in the sprint and he’s a very fast guy.”
Pidcock (right) almost overtakes Pogakar in the final meters [Getty Images]
Like Merckx, Pogacar is a rare rider who can win three-week Grand Tours and one-day races.
Merckx has won 11 Grand Tours, 19 Monuments and 3 World Road Race Championships. Pogakar scored 5, 11 and 2 points respectively, but his dominance showed no signs of waning and he is firmly qualified to be regarded as the greatest player of all time.
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Pinarello-Q36.5’s Pidcock was the only rider to match the Emirates XRG Team Emirates rider, which was impressive, especially when Van der Poel (two winners in the past three editions) also collapsed.
The 26-year-old double Olympic mountain bike champion is in fine form after winning the Milan-Torino race on Wednesday and hopes to become the third British cyclist after Tom Simpson and Mark Cavendish to win the famous race.
Ultimately, only the all-time greats can deny him, although his performance here – full of nous and technical ability, in line with Pogacar on Poggio’s descent – suggests he will be a future monument threat.
2020 champion Wout van Aert made a late sprint past his pursuers to take third.
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Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky won the earlier women’s race and Italy’s Debora Silvestri was taken to hospital after a serious crash during the race.
Men’s Milan-Sanremo results
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Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 6 hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds
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Tom Pidcock (GB/Pinarello-Q36.5) also
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Wout Van Aert (Bel/Visma-rental bike) +4 seconds
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Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) same time
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Andrea Vendrame (Italy/Jayco-AlUla)
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Jasper Stuyven (Bell/Sudar-QuickStep)
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Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Premier Tech)
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Matteo Trentin (Italy/Tudor)
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Eduardo Zambanini (Italy/Bahrain Victory)
