Milan-San Remo: Tadej Pogacar beats Tom Pidcock to claim the first title

World champion Tadej Pogacar overcame a crash to win his maiden race in Milan-San Remo by half a wheel from Briton Tom Pidcock in a thrilling two-man race finish.

Pogacar, a four-time Tour de France winner, attacked at 22km of the 298km One-Day Monument, with only Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel able to follow.

Two-time winner Van der Poel was dropped on the final climb, Poggio, leaving Pogacar and Pidcock to battle it out at the finish.

Pogacar launched his sprint first and Pidcock struggled to match him, but was just overtaken as they both threw themselves towards the line.

The Slovenian, already considered one of the greatest cyclists of all time, has now won four of the five Monuments – the most prestigious one-day races in men’s cycling – leaving only Paris-Roubaix behind.

Saturday’s victory moves him level with Roger de Vlaeminck in equal second place on the list of most Monument wins, with 11. Only the legendary Eddy Merckx has more, with 19.

The 27-year-old’s victory was even more remarkable given that he recovered from a crash before the main climb of Cipressa to return to the main group.

“For a second I thought it was all over but fortunately I quickly got back on the bike,” he said.

“Pidcock was really strong. I was lucky in the sprint, he’s a really fast guy.”