Milan-San Remo: Australian Michael Matthews finishes third after incident on the Poggio

Australian sprinter Michael Matthews was left ruing a crash on the Poggio after finishing third at Milan-San Remo overnight. 

Belgian Wout van Aert won a two-man sprint in front France’s Julian Alaphilippe, with Matthews leading the bunch home two seconds later.

The victory is van Aert’s second in a week after his powerful win at Strade Bianche seven days ago.

Defending champion Alaphilippe made the decisive break on the Poggio climb with just over 6km to race, with van Aert closing the gap on the descent. 

Speaking after the race, Matthews said tried to go with the pair off the front, but was forced into a wall on the side of the road and badly scraped his hand. 

“Everything was going really well,” Matthews said afterwards. 

“Got to the Cipressa and got to the Poggio in great shape. The team delivered me really well to both climbs. 

“I had super legs like I was dreaming about on the Poggio. I went to attack, but I got put into the wall and took off most of the skin on my hand. 

Matthews crossed the line ahead of Peter Sagan, with Giacomo Nizzolo in fifth and New Zealander Dion Smith in sixth. 

The bunch finishing behind Matthews included Greg Van Avermaet, Philipe Gilbert and Michal Kwiatkowski, but he said his scrape up the Poggio cost him dearly. 

“In the end, to win the sprint with the sprinters who were here today, I have to be happy with this,” he said. 

“If someone told me you’ll definitely be on the podium, I would’ve been happy.

“But with the legs I had today, more was possible. 

“A little bit bittersweet.” 

Matthews, who won the green jersey at the 2017 Tour de France, will skip this year’s delayed version of the race, instead focusing on the Giro d’Italia, starting on October 3.