Tadej Pogacar overcomes a crash to win his first Milan-San Remo

World champion Tadej Pogacar overcame a crash to win his first Milan-San Remo by half a wheel from Britain’s Tom Pidcock in a thrilling two-man sprint finish.

Four-time Tour de France winner Pogacar attacked with 22km of the 298km one-day Monument remaining, with only Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel able to follow.

Two-time winner Van der Poel was dropped on the final climb, the Poggio, leaving Pogacar and Pidcock to contest the finale.

Pogacar launched his sprint first and Pidcock fought to get alongside, but was just edged out as both threw themselves towards the line.

The Slovenian, already regarded as one of the greatest cyclists ever, has now won four of the five ‘Monuments’ – the most prestigious one-day races in men’s cycling – with only Paris-Roubaix left.

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

The 27-year-old’s victory was even more remarkable given he recovered from a crash just before the key climb of the Cipressa to make it back to the main group.

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

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

Like Merckx, Pogacar is a rare rider capable of winning both three-week Grand Tours and one-day races.

Merckx won 11 Grand Tours, 19 Monuments and three world road titles. Pogacar has five, 11 and two respectively, but, with no signs of his dominance fading, he is firmly in contention to be regarded as the greatest of all time.

That Pinarello-Q36.5’s Pidcock was the only man able to match the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider was highly impressive, especially when even Van der Poel – winner of two of the past three editions – cracked.

The 26-year-old double Olympic mountain bike champion came into the race in form, having won Milano-Torino on Wednesday, and was seeking to become only the third British cyclist to win this famous race after Tom Simpson and Mark Cavendish.

In the end, only an all-time great could deny him, though his performance here – full of nous and technical skill to stay with Pogacar on the descent of the Poggio – suggests he will be a threat in Monuments to come.

Wout van Aert, the 2020 winner, sprinted clear of the chasing pack late on to finish third.

Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky won the earlier women’s race, during which Italian Debora Silvestri was taken to hospital after a serious crash.