Alexander Kristoff continued his strong start to life at UAE Team Emirates as he secured a fourth-place finish in the first big classic of the season, the Milan-San Remo.

The reigning European Champion survived an early crash to finish just outside the podium places, behind Australian Caleb Ewan and France’s Arnaud Demare.

Vincenzo Nibali made a late solo break to win the race – the first time an Italian rider has won since Filippo Pozzato in 2006.

The 2014 Tour de France winner, nicknamed ‘The Shark’, shook off the sprint favourites on the Poggio hill 10km from home in the 294km race through north-western Italy.

It was a commendable performance nonetheless from Kristoff, who said: “I’m pretty upset for not being able to get on the podium, but on the other hand, I can’t help but be content for this fourth place since I pulled out of Paris-Nice with the flu.”

“During the race, I didn’t feel super. On the Cipressa, my legs felt empty, then on the Poggio, it seemed to me that I was slightly better, but in the sprint, my legs weren’t that great.

“This is a fourth place different from last year since I won the sprint behind the escape of three riders. If I repeated that this time, I would’ve been second.

“The podium was my minimum goal, but since I didn’t have super legs, this placing is not that bad either. Now, I’ll concentrate on the Northern Classics.”

Meanwhile, best for UAE Team Emirates were: Ben Swift (54th), Simone Consonni (93rd), Diego Ulissi (103rd) and Filippo Ganna (161st).