Cycling
Coppi record equalized: Pogacar wins Tour of Lombardy
In the world champion jersey to the next victory: Tadej Pogacar photo
© Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse/AP/dpa
Tadej Pogacar crowns his outstanding season by winning another classic. The Slovenian is on a par with a cycling legend.
Tadej Pogacar rolled across the finish line with his arms outstretched, then lifted his racing machine into the air. The Slovenian cycling star won the Tour of Lombardy with another demonstration of power and equaled the ancient record of the legendary Fausto Coppi. The road world champion and Tour de France champion single-handedly won the difficult autumn classic for the fourth time in a row after 255 kilometers. In doing so, the all-rounder equalized the record set by the Italian cycling icon, who had also triumphed four times in a row between 1946 and 1949.
Pogacar took victory in Como with a lead of over three minutes over the Belgian double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel. For the 26-year-old, it was the culmination of an outstanding season with a total of 25 victories, including the overall victories in the Giro d’Italia and the Tour, the world title, the spring classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the gravel race Strade Bianche.
“Every victory is special. It was a long, hard race. I’m super happy. We planned it that way. The race is so hard, the last 40 kilometers are a mental thing. I enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to it now the end of the season,” said Pogacar and rejected comparisons to Coppi: “We’ll see where I stand after my career.”
Pogacar alone again
After Pogacar broke away early at the World Cup and most recently at the Giro dell’Emilia, the competition tried a different tactic this time. A large group with strong riders such as ex-Sanremo winner Matej Mohoric, Giro runner-up Daniel Felipe Martinez and classics specialist Tiesj Benoot attacked early and built up a good lead.
But 48.4 kilometers from the finish, Pavel Sivakov, Pogacar’s last UAE helper, had closed the gap to the group at Colma di Sormano. His captain then immediately went into attack mode and launched a sharp attack. Evenepoel, who had a serious fall on the Tour of Lombardy four years ago and suffered a broken pelvis, was no longer able to follow.
