Cycling-Philipsen wins Milan-Sanremo in photo finish

However, the final kilometre saw Bora-Hansgrohe's Matteo Sobrero and Ineos Grenadiers' Thomas Pidcock attempt to lead before Belgian Philipsen took the win just ahead of Jayco-AlUla's Michael Matthews while Pogacar was third for UAE Team Emirates. Milan-Sanremo is the longest Monument race.

Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck won the Milan-Sanremo in a photo finish on Saturday to claim the first Monument of the season, a 288-km ride from Pavia to Sanremo. In what had been billed as a battle between last year's winner Mathieu van der Poel and five-times Monuments winner Tadej Pogacar, it was Philipsen who surged ahead in the sprint on the final kilometre to clinch victory after nearly six hours and 15 minutes.

Pogacar had launched an attack with 5.8km to go, with Van der Poel chasing him on the final descent from the summit of the Poggio before Bahrain Victorious's Matej Mohoric attempted an attack of his own. However, the final kilometre saw Bora-Hansgrohe's Matteo Sobrero and Ineos Grenadiers' Thomas Pidcock attempt to lead before Belgian Philipsen took the win just ahead of Jayco-AlUla's Michael Matthews while Pogacar was third for UAE Team Emirates.

Milan-Sanremo is the longest Monument race. The other Monument races are the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Giro di Lombardia.

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