Prize money Milan-Sanremo 2022 | How much cash the top 20 men get | Sticky Bottle

*Tadej Pogačar throws in one of his attacks up the Poggio today, followed by Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, with the remains of the peloton close behind (Photo: Fabio Ferrari)*

Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) wrote his name into the history books of Milan-Sanremo today when he put in a daring attack coming down the Poggio inside the final 5km to win. He rode away from the 15 to 20 riders who made up the remains of the peloton to clinch the biggest win if his career.

Mohorič had fitted a dropped seat post for the race as part of his pre-race planning to attack coming down the Poggio. It meant he could lower his saddle by flicking a button on his handlebars. That enabled him to get lower, and more aero, and he believed it made a big difference as he won the race by just two seconds.

After he pressed on at the very top of the descent, the favourites' group did not cooperate in their bid to bring him back. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who had attacked repeatedly up the Poggio, made a brief effort to chase the lone leader, as did Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma).

However, Mohorič maintained a slender gap all the way to the finish, which was only ever threatened when his chain briefly dropped - before popping back on - with 900m to go. Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) attacked the chasing group in the final kilometre in a bid to catch Mohorič but could not get across to him.

In the end the Slovenian - a former junior and U23 world road race champion - hung on to win by two seconds from Turgis, with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Fenix) just behind taking 3rd place.

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The prize money for the 293km monument is nothing to write home about. This is despite the race being one of the biggest events of the year and despite it being owned by RCS, one of the biggest race promoters in pro cycling.

For his winning ride, Mohorič takes home €20,000 while Turgis claimed €10,000 and van der Poel picked up €5,000. Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco) placed 4th and won €2,500 and by the time we get to Pogačar in 5th place, the money is down to just €2,000.

Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) was 6th and won €1,500, as did Søren Kragh Andersen (Team DSM) for his 7th place. Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious) were 8th and 9th respectively and each won €1,000.

The money then falls to €500 per man for all those riders who filled 10th to 20th positions. It's not much for being in the mix at the end of 6½ hours of racing in an event that is one of the most prestigious in world cycling. Professional cyclists, of course, do not make their living from prize money. Instead, they are paid salaries by their teams and some of the bigger names also have sponsorship deals outside of their team contracts.

The prize money is essentially an added bonus and is normally distributed within each team. In some teams the money goes into a pool and all of the riders who are competing for the team in that race get an equal share. In other cases the money is pooled between both the riders and team staff working on the race.