Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) climbed to the third step of the Milano-Sanremo podium for the second time in his career on Saturday afternoon.

But it was his blood splattered shoes that told the story of how he fought through the pain to win the sprint by just two seconds over Wout Van Aert and Julien Alaphilippe after being scraped hard against the wall on the Poggio climb.

"Winning the sprint here in Milan-San Remo is pretty good, I think.

The Australian described what happened in a moment of adrenaline, pain, and speed as a group of 20 riders tried to chase down the attacking duo of Van Aert and Alaphilippe on the winding climb up Poggio.

"On the second part of Poggio, I wanted to attack. 'There were a couple of guys in front of me attacking and I wanted to go. But the door closed in front of me and I hit the wall. I scraped my hand and shoulder along the wall."

Van Aert and Alaphilippe went through the streets of San Remo with a seven-second lead. The chasing pack, including Matthews, could see them just ahead of them on the long straight to the red flag in the last kilometer.

Matthews' teammate Tiesj Benoot made a big turn at the front and tried to catch them, but the sprint down the Via Roma kept them out of Matthews' reach.

"I couldn't get a good handle on it, but I didn't want to give up because the team did a great job. But I didn't want to give up because the team did a great job," Matthews said. [But this is racing. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. To be on the podium was a nice reward."

Matthews also said that the team had a good chance to win the race, "but that's racing.

Matthews was pleased with his podium finish, which capped off a fresh start to the season, and will spend most of the rest of the 2020 season in Italy. Next weekend he will compete in Il Lombardia, and in September he will take on Tirreno Adriatico.