Matthews saw it coming early: “You know it’s going to happen, but following Pogacar is impossible”

“Racing Milan–San Remo in this weather was a big change,” Matthews began. “We expected that Pogacar would attack on the Cipressa—he had given a few signals beforehand. But actually following him? That’s a different thing. It just shows once again how strong Pogacar is—and Van der Poel and Ganna too.”

When UAE Team Emirates began to ramp up the pace on the Cipressa, Matthews immediately sensed what was coming. “When UAE made it hard, you just knew they were going to make a move like this. I think its his best possibility to win."

Matthews, who finished second last year, quickly realized it wasn’t going to be his day. “Honestly my legs were quite lactated all day. I'm really struggling in the cold unfortunately. When the sun came out in Nice, I was better but. The sprint was good though. But unfortunately it was only for fourth place not for first. Pretty early on, I knew Van der Poel, Ganna, and Pogacar would be hard to catch.”