Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen won the fastest-ever Milan-San Remo race in a photo finish on Saturday.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider, 26, edged out Jayco-AlUla’s Michael Matthews to claim the first Monument of the season.
Britain’s Tom Pidcock was in contention before Philipsen came through to win the prestigious one-day Spring Classic.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” he said. “It makes me really proud and happy, especially after the lead out I got from Mathieu van der Poel.”
Philipsen’s team-mate Van der Poel was last year’s winner, and the Dutch rider was expected to battle it out this time with five-time Monuments winner Tadej Pogacar.
But Philipsen surged ahead in the sprint on the final kilometre to clinch victory after six hours 14 minutes 44 seconds, with Pogacar third for UAE Team Emirates.
The average speed for the race, which is the longest of the Classics at 288km (179 miles), was 46.11km/h, breaking the record of 45.8km/h set by Gianni Bugno in 1990.
“It was a fast race all day but I was feeling very good all the time,” added Philipsen, whose previous best finish at a Monument was second at Paris-Roubaix last year.
“I believed in myself but everything had to go to perfection. I managed to come back.”
