Swift stays cool to finish second in Milan-San Remo

Brit Swift, racing for Team Sky, latched on to Arnaud Demare's wheel after the 295km race culminated in the predicted sprint finish, but he was unable to surge past in the closing metres and ended up losing by a bike length.

It was the second time Swift has finished on the podium at Milan-San Remo in three years, following his third place in the 2014 edition.

Demare became the first Frenchman to win the first of the season's five Monument classics since Laurent Jalabert in 1995, but Swift was still left toasting a job well done.

"Obviously it's quite disappointing to get second - so close to the win," Swift told TeamSky.com.

"That said I've got to be happy and I'm back on the podium in a Monument. I'm slowly chipping away. We've had a second, a third and we'll keep on trying in the next few years.

"The team was brilliant today. Unfortunately we lost Pete (Kennaugh) and Geraint (Thomas) in that crash.

"It was a super stressful day and we lost a lot of horsepower there. We rode a great attacking race and we did what we wanted to do. When Ian went on the Cipressa it set it up perfectly. Then Michal went on the Poggio so we couldn't have done it any better.

"I just tried to stay as relaxed as possible in the last kilometre and I tried to follow Jurgen Roelandts. Last year I think I stressed a little bit too much. This year I was a bit more relaxed. I was close to a crash at the finish there but it is what it is."

Sportsbeat 2016