Michael Matthews narrowly missed out on a stunning victory after a heroic ride to second place at the first Monument of the season, Milano-Sanremo.
The result makes it the Australian’s third time on the podium and the sixth top-10 finish of his career at the historic Italian classic.
The 288km race from Pavia to Sanremo played out in typical fashion as the peloton slowly picked up the pace before the action really began after the Tre Capi. Team Jayco AlUla were well-positioned for the thrilling finale with Australian champion Luke Plapp and Davide De Pretto both there to guide their team leader.
Despite a disrupted build-up to the race affected by sickness, Matthews went toe-to-toe with the big hitters and pre-race favourites as he kept pace over the Cipressa and followed the series of moves over the Poggio.
The 33-year-old then kept his cool in the tense run onto Via Roma as more riders made their bid for glory with late attacks. As the finish line finally came into view, Matthews kicked for the line, streaking away from his rivals with only an intense bike throw with Jasper Philipsen able to decide the victor.
Michael Matthews:
“Obviously, I’m happy with the podium, but being so close, it’s bittersweet. I think tomorrow morning I’ll be happy with my performance, bit in this moment right now, being this close to a Monument after so many podiums, it’s hard.
I think the way I bounced back [from illness], I’m really proud of myself, Paris-Nice obviously didn’t go to plan, but this is my favourite race of the year. It’s always a race that I love to perform at and it always puts a smile on my face when I’m on the start line, so to be here in Sanremo on the podium, it’s really special.
Obviously they were difficult [the attacks on the Poggio], but I think they probably weren’t as strong as we all thought, but that suited me better and I could get through the climbs with better legs for the finish. We rode our race and we came away with a podium, so we can be happy.”
2024 Milano-Sanremo – Results:
- Jasper Philipsen 6:14:44
- Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla) ST
- Tadej Pogačar ST
