Mohorič daredevil descent secures Milan-Sanremo triumph

Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) has won the 113th edition of Milan-Sanremo, the first Monument of the season, with a late attack on the Poggio descent. At the finish line on Via Roma, he finished first ahead of Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), with Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), leading a small group of chasers in ahead of Australian Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco).

Matej Mohoric of Slovenia and Team Bahrain Victorious celebrates winning during the 113th Milano-Sanremo Source: Getty Images

The next big events of the cycling season are LIVE and FREE on SBS with Volta a Catalunya, Gent-Wevelgem and Cape Epic all featured on SBS over the next week, before the classics get started in style with all the major cobbled and hilly races featured on SBS.

Mohorič’s daredevil descent on the Poggio saw him bunny-hopping out of gutters and nearly losing control on one occasion, but he kept his focus and emerged with a race-winning lead at the base of the decline. He was then able to stay clear of a fragmented chase, with Turgis clipping clear of the group and gesturing in frustration behind Mohoric after coming close to a massive win.

“I've been thinking about this race for the whole winter,” said Mohorič. “I've worked on being in good shape for Milano-Sanremo even though I got sick in February and I crashed at Strade Bianche.

“I never stopped believing I could win. My plan was to do my best descent and risk it a little bit. I went full gas. It's amazing to win Milano-Sanremo!"

It was a different sort of Milan-Sanremo, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) in attendance and his team working hard in the lead-in to the first major ascent, the Cipressa to ensure that the group of riders in contention for the win was a select one.

Mohorič’s attack came after a series of assaults by Pogačar on the Poggio, the final climb of the 293 kilometre race, as the two-time Tour de France winner launched three separate attacks to try and distance the more fancied sprinters.

Mohorič’s win continues a trend of less-heralded riders winning the race, with Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) winning last year, and now Mohoric claiming his first Monument.

Australian Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) was a favourite for the race, but had to withdraw late with illness, while Michael Matthews continued his good form at the Italian monument with a fine fourth position, his fifth top-10 finish in the race.

“It was definitely much faster on the Cipressa than other years, as we expected, UAE wanted to make it a hard final,” said Matthews, “I think to eliminate everyone’s teammates so it didn’t come down to a bunch sprint.

“They seemed to do that, I think they got a group of 30 of us over the Cipressa and on the Poggio, Tadej just continued to attack, but I think the wind didn’t favour him too much and we could all pretty much stay there. For me it was more just about letting the big favourites fight it out and then see what I could do in the final.

“Today the accelerations were easier for me to follow, the high speed on the Cipressa was a bit harder, but the stop-start on the Poggio was actually better for me today, but when Mohorič went on the descent I was maybe four wheels behind him, and I couldn’t fit around the guys to follow him unfortunately.

“When you have all the favourites in that big bunch, I sorted of expected them to fight it out and to bring the bunch back to fight for victory, but these days in cycling you never know what each other is going to do and nobody wants to bring each other to the line. In the end it was just a bit of a mess, nobody really wanted to fully commit to bring Mohoric back.”

The next big events of the cycling season are LIVE and FREE on SBS with Volta a Catalunya, Gent-Wevelgem and Cape Epic all featured on SBS over the next week, before the classics get started in style with all the major cobbled and hilly races featured on SBS.