Wout van Aert outsprints Julian Alaphilippe to win Milan-San Remo 2020

Strade Bianche champion takes his first monument after outsprinting breakaway compatriot and defending champion Julian Alaphilippe 

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) won the 2020 Milan-San Remo ahead of Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), with the Belgian beating the defending champion in a two-up sprint to the line on the Via Roma.

The pair had got away after and Alaphilippe attack on the Poggio, and narrowly held off the peloton going into the final few hundred metres.

Alaphilippe launched his sprint first from behind Van Aert, but he could do nothing to stop his rival from powering to the line just ahead of him.

Michael Matthews (Sunweb) managed to take third from the peloton behind.

Van Aert said afterward, "I'm super happy. I can't believe I've taken these these two victories in a row. I don't have words actually. I know everyone says that when they win a Monument but to start the second part of the season like this... it's crazy."

What was going through Van Aert's head when Alaphilippe attacked?, "Hold on, hold on, hold on! That was the only thing on my mind. Actually, it didn't happen. He went quite early and I had to close a little gap. I dropped again but there was nobody behind my so I had no choice but to keep pushing and I was rewarded because I came back on the downhill.

"Julian played it really well, he put me on the front, and I needed to to keep a bit of speed because the bunch was coming back. It was hard to do the right pace and still keep something for the sprint but in the end it was enough, because it was only half a wheel.

VIDEO: 2020 Milan-San Remo Highlights

2020 Milan-San Remo Top 10

1 Wout van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 07:16:09
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 00:00:02
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
5 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
6 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
7 Alex Aranburu (Spa) Astana Pro Team
8 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
9 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
10 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain McLaren