Tom Pidcock goes down fighting in Milan-San Remo as mechanical wrecks Filippo Ganna's hopes

Tom Pidcock’s (Ineos Grenadiers) all-or-nothing attack in the finale of Milan-San Remo almost netted the British rider his first Monument win but the British rider was caught 50m meters from the line and forced to settle for 11th as Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sprinted to the win.

Pidcock came into the race as one of the key favourites having finished fourth in Strade Bianche a fortnight ago, and alongside teammate Filippo Ganna, the British team had options for the frantic finale over the Cipressa and Poggio.

Read more: Jasper Philipsen takes victory in photo-finish sprint

In fact, Ineos Grenadiers had four riders in the lead group at the foot of the Poggio with Jhonatan Narváez and former Milan-San Remo winner Michał Kwiatkowski also in contention.

On the lower slopes of the final climb, Ineos Grenadiers moved to the front, and when Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) put in two killer attacks, it was Pidcock and Ganna who were the closest Ineos riders still in the frame.

Pogačar’s second dig at the top of the Poggio created distance between himself and his rivals, and after Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Deceuninck) made the connection on the descent it was Pidcock’s turn to make it across as part of a dangerous trio.

Ganna was onto Pogačar’s first attack in a flash and led the chase once the Slovenian attacked again just before the summit of the Poggio.

Read more: Tadej Pogačar: Milan-San Remo wasn't hard enough

However, with 4.9km to go Ganna appeared to have a mechanical and could be seen glancing down at his gears as he descended towards the finish. At that moment, the Italian rider’s race was effectively over, and last year’s runner-up finished the race in 40th place. 

With just over 2km to go Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) attacked from the group of favourites but that move was also closed down by Van der Poel. On the final run-in, and just as the front group of 12 began to hesitate, Matteo Sobrero (Bora-Hansgrohe) jumped clear with 1.1km to go.

Pidcock used the Italian’s acceleration as a launchpad of his own and almost immediately chased down the Bora rider. Once he made contact with the Italian the British rider kicked again, this time with 500m to go and with the finish line in sight.

Pidcock was able to hold a slender gap but with Van der Poel leading the charge, and the Lild-Trek opening the sprint for Mads Pedersen, the Ineos Grenadiers rider was swept up with less than 100m to go.

“Down the Poggio, it's difficult to be in the perfect position. And then it's also difficult to kind of be too far forward or too far back,” Pidcock told Cyclingnews at the finish.

"This is the only second one I finished. It's a beautiful race and certainly one I want to try and win."

Pidcock will take a short break from racing before returning to action at the Itzulia Basque Country at the start of April. His next major objective comes later that month with the Ardennes Classics. He will race the Tour de France and the Olympic Games in Paris later this summer.