- Taiwan battens down for Super Typhoon Kong-rey
- MotoGP world title in sight as Martin, Bagnaia set for Sepang duel
- 'New wave' as start-up sweeps up Thai ocean plastic
- Botswana votes with ruling party aiming to extend six decades of power
- How harmful are microplastics to human health?
- Are bioplastics really the wonder alternative to petro plastics?
- EU's extra tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese EVs angers Beijing
- Rumble in the Jungle remembered after 50 years
- Trump risks backlash with anti-trans ads targeting Harris
- Alzheimer's patient 'relieved' at Quebec's assisted suicide policy shift
- Who should get paid for nature's sequenced genes?
- Bodies found as torrential rains slam Spain
- Harris urges US to turn page on Trump 'chaos' in mass White House rally
- Climate change driving 'record threats to health': report
- Harris warns of 'obsessed' Trump power grab at mass Washington rally
- Harris warns against Trump's power grab bid in final election warning
- Southampton, Brentford scrape into League Cup quarter-finals
- PGA players council seeks smaller fields, fewer full tour spots
- Napoli extend lead at top of Serie A with win at AC Milan
- Harris to slam 'unstable' Trump at Washington rally
- Jennifer Lopez to boost Harris at glitzy Las Vegas event
- Global stocks mixed as markets await Big Tech results
- Seven missing as torrential rains slam Spain
- Three-person crew blasts off for China's Tiangong space station
- Google reports strong growth driven by AI, Cloud
- Kyiv announces new mobilisation drive as Russia advances
- Release of new single featuring late One Direction star postponed
- Alcaraz breezes through opener at Paris Masters
- Bolivia 'going from bad to worse': At the barricades with Morales supporters
- Biden unveils $3 bn US ports boost, takes aim at Trump
- EU slaps extra tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese EVs
- England boss Borthwick has no qualms over starting Slade against All Blacks
- 'Tootsie' star Teri Garr dies aged 79
- Schick at the double for holders Leverkusen, Leipzig win in German Cup
- Four missing as torrential rains slam Spain
- Maresca says English fans don't realise full 'beauty' of Premier League
- Nature destruction an 'existential crisis' for humans, says UN chief
- Manchester United target Amorim: Portugal's next superstar coach?
- Rowntree stands down as Munster rugby coach
- Nature destruction an 'existential crisis' says UN chief
- Berlin, EU vow response after Tehran executes German-Iranian
- Son Heung-min to miss Spurs' League Cup tie against Manchester City
- Runaway tram crashes into Oslo store, injures four
- Sporting Lisbon confirm Man Utd interest in coach Ruben Amorim
- Russia claims Ukraine mining hub as concern rises over N.Korean troops
- Three-person crew to blast off for China's Tiangong space station
- One dead, a dozen missing in Argentina hotel collapse: authorities
- England's Slade to start against All Blacks
- Libya and Italy sign slew of cooperation deals
- EU adopts extra tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese EVs
RBGPF | 100% | 62.35 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.55% | 7.25 | $ | |
RELX | -0.52% | 47.91 | $ | |
NGG | -1.35% | 65.12 | $ | |
AZN | -1.05% | 75.22 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.65% | 24.57 | $ | |
RIO | 0.6% | 66.58 | $ | |
BP | -5.76% | 29.36 | $ | |
BTI | -1.31% | 34.46 | $ | |
SCS | -3.11% | 12.21 | $ | |
GSK | 0.76% | 38.17 | $ | |
VOD | -2.8% | 9.28 | $ | |
BCE | -0.71% | 32.46 | $ | |
BCC | -5.3% | 131.64 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.16% | 24.84 | $ | |
JRI | -0.69% | 12.98 | $ |
Philipsen edges razor-thin Milan-San Remo sprint
Jasper Philipsen won the Milan-San Remo with a bike throw on Saturday in a photo-finish triumph ahead of Aussie Michael Matthews and Tadej Pogacar in the opening Monument race of the season.
Belgian Philipsen used the bike throw manoeuvre right on the line to pip Matthews with two-time Tour de France winner Pogacar promising to come back and win next year.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter Philipsen was always the man to beat if the race came to a bunch finish, and he charged to the line with twelve other riders crossing within a second of each-other after six hours 14min 44sec of racing.
The Belgian was swift to praise his team-mate Mathieu van der Poel, who made the early sprint running for him and who will be a favourite at the upcoming Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix Monuments.
"What Mathieu did in the final was incredible. I'm really proud and happy that we managed to play it out as a team," he said.
Philipsen has won six stages of the Tour de France and claimed the points jersey in last year's edition of cycling's most important Grand Tour with constant service from the prodigious Van der Poel.
"It's one of the dreams of any cyclist," said Philipsen. "Milan-San Remo may be one of the only Monuments I can win.
"I had really good legs from the start... but everything needs to fall in place. Mathieu was there and did a really big team job."
He is the first sprinter to win Milan San-Remo since Arnaud Demare's victory in 2016, while Mark Cavendish also won in 2009.
Fringe contender Britain's Tom Pidcock was in the final shake-up as were three world champions in Dane Mads Pedersen, Van der Poel and Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe.
Alaphilippe was in a position to escape but had a mechanical problem at the wrong moment as a run of bad luck continues.
"I just need to keep pushing and my luck will change," he said.
Pre-race favourites Pogacar and Van der Poel tried and failed to pull away in the final kilometres of the longest of the one-day races at over 280km.
Pogacar was again disappointed after starting the season with a crushing win at Strade Bianche earlier this month.
"I really want to win this race, I'll be back next year and I hope to do better, and I'm not talking about second," said the Slovene.
"I had incredible legs but this year was not hard enough to be a climber's race so I think I did everything I could to get third place. In this situation I couldn't do much better.
"Everything needs to be perfect (to win) and today everything wasn't perfect."
Filippo Ganna and Van der Poel were among the big hitters at the front of the peloton, with Van der Poel in his first road race of the season.
Pogacar pushed and with 6km to go broke away, with Van der Poel hot in pursuit as they crested the Poggio, but the Slovene could not build a big enough gap and Philipsen made his move with metres remaining to take a famous win.
Ch.Havering--AMWN