are 12.10. Bergamo > Como 252 km Pogačar
race profile, 4500 cont. meters (© illombardia.it)
Although already Tadej Pogačar a three-time winner of Il Lombardia, he has never started in the position of such a big favorite as he is today. He had a literally unbeatable form, so many experts were only seriously discussing when he would become independent at the front and what the fight behind him would look like. Rival teams had two options – either they will try it in a big way from the start for a big escape, which will be very difficult for UAE to keep in check, or they will stay with Pogačar and fight for the remaining Top 10 form after the selection that the top favorite will make. You could read the preview here.
From the start, the pace was very high and dozens of competitors tried to escape. After various battles, 21 competitors succeeded. Several of them were 1-3 in their team hierarchy. place. They really had nothing to lose today. Not a single team had more than two competitors there, which helped the cooperation, although there were not enough domestics “for sacrifice”.
They were there Caruso a Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Molard a Rochas (Groupama – FDJ), Arensman a Rivera (Ineos Grenadiers), Mühlberger a Rubio (Movistar), Tusveld a Vermaerke (DSM – Firmenich), Benoot a Kelderman (Visma – Lease a Bike), Die (Alpecin – Deceuninck), Tronchon (Decathlon – Ag2r), Bernard (Lidl – Trek), Martínez (Red Bull – Bora), Vansevenant (Soudal – Quick-Step), Dunbar (Jayco – AlUla), Blacksmith (Polti – Comet) a Johannessen (One-X).
Already 117 km before the finish, the cooperation in the group was not quite ideal, so Rivera from Ineos ordered an increase in the pace on the descent. It worked temporarily. The group increased the lead on the peloton to four minutes. Four more hills awaited them. The pack in this phase of the race was pulled by the youngest competitor at the start – Jan Christenwinner of two minor classics this season. But there was nothing to do today, he had to work for Pogačar.
The hills followed Osigo saddle a Madonna del Ghisallo. Beneath them, EF Education First also started pulling the peloton for a short time, but when it started to climb, it already took over Rafal Majka. The gap has already started to close. After 25 kilometers, the leak came in two minutes. He only had 2:30 left. Under the hardest hill Colma di Sormano (12.9 km; 6.4%) the escape came with only a minute advantage. Everything looked clear and simple. Only the moment of Pogačar’s arrival was expected.
In the first half of the climb, it had not yet arrived. First, it was necessary to catch up with the escape, where they stayed the longest Xandro Meurisse a Thymen Arensman. They were caught up 48 km before the finish line at the moment when Sivakov finished as the last domestic of the UAE and immediately followed the inevitable – a mammoth attack Tadej Pogačarwhom the opponents did not even have time to greet. He was gone instantly.
All the opponents knew that they were only going for second place, so they couldn’t blow it, but on the other hand, they couldn’t give up to the point that there would be 25 left, because the end would be too unpredictable. Groups were formed right away, and they went at their own pace. There were three behind the world champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal), Enrique Mas (Movistar) a Lennert Van Eelvet (Lotto). They created another party Pavel Sivakov (UAE), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl), David Gaudu (Groupama), Roger Adria (Red Bull), Michael Storer (Tudor) a Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group).
Pogačar crossed the top of the hill with a lead of 1:10 ahead of the three pursuers and was the strongest among the others Sivakov (+1:50). In the end, it turned out that Pogačar started at a moment when he had not yet worked and was just unlucky that the pace picked up. If he hadn’t pulled before, he might have caught a trio with Evenepoel. By the way, the former world champion was not going to bother with weaker skiers with him and intended to get away with them. He did it quickly and easily.
While Cake maker s Evenepoelom they came down at roughly the same time, But s I have Eelvet they fell behind by three quarters of a minute. Well, just as well Sivakov behind them, who was already losing 2:30. Thus, the convention deepened the losses and cemented the status-quo. On the subsequent plane they looked But s I have Eelvet frustrated, and when Sivakov spotted the mechanics behind this group, he couldn’t help it and worked hard to catch up with them, and he succeeded. He gradually gave up Evenepoel. He had information that it had been relaxed behind him, so there was nothing to worry about…
Cake maker he coined a different tactic – not to linger unnecessarily in the saddle, to arrive at the destination as soon as possible, complete all the “obligatory dances” and go on vacation. It was his 25th victory of the year, 88th overall in his career and the interesting thing is that he equaled the number of triumphs of Primož Roglič and Fabian Cancellara. He won the Lombardy for the fourth timewhich at such a young age was achieved only by Binda and Coppi in cycling prehistory. In just a year, he can equal Faust Coppi’s record with five triumphs at the final monument.
Evenepoel he came for the second place, which he won very skillfully in the descent. If he hadn’t done that, he might not even be standing on the stage. He was going great, better than the rest of the world, but but… His gap was striking, climbing to 3:16, the biggest gap between the two best runners in the recent history of this race. As well as the distance of the third competitor, which was only 4:31.
The battle took place at least for this third place. The group went so badly that they became a trio But, From Eelvet a Sivakov a large group of about ten fighters approached. When Sivakov noticed this, he immediately got on board so as not to lose the prospect of standing next to his star colleague on the stage. But the rivals did not give up and caught him on the last short hill. But suddenly he appeared to them Giulio Ciccone. His tactics were clear, he needed to get on top of them in order to “reach” them physically and mentally. He succeeded with flying colors and took third place.
Remco Evenepoel is the best of the humans today, more than 3 minutes behind Pogacar. He did a briliant race, there was nothing he could do better against Pogi. Hats off, Remco! #iLombardy pic.twitter.com/SfGAFsRQeh
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) October 12, 2024
Finally, he finished off the frustrated trio Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), who was not visible at all until then and took fourth place from them in the final sprint. He was the fifth Butthe sixth Sivakovthe seventh Van Eetvelt and the sprint of the next group was won by the winner of Thursday’s Gran Piemonte Neilson Powless z EF Education.
Immediately after the race, ratings appeared that Tadej Pogačar he is the best cyclist in history. More restrained fans say that he still needs two monuments. If he starts next season with legs similar to the ones he has now, we have no doubt that he should take on Poggia with no problems at the via Roma in San Remo. It will be more difficult with Paris – Roubaix, which fans would definitely watch with great interest if he tries to win.
⚪️White Roads
3rd Milan – San Remo
????Volta Catalunya + 4 stages
????????? Bastogne lounger
????Giro d’Italia + 6 stages
????Tour de France + 6 courses
???????? GP Montreal
????Road Race World Champion
⛪️Tour of Emilia
????Lombardy
25 winsTadej Pogacar 2024.
Greatest season in history pic.twitter.com/Iw8WxFnnJO— #AlwaysGino (@NairoInGreen) October 12, 2024
Statement by Tadej Pogačar (winner)
“Every win is something special, and this one too. The team has worked very hard all year for all the wins we’ve had. Today was no different. It was a long, hard race where everything depended on us. We did an amazing job and I’m us proud.
We planned it so that I would start on that hill, because the last 40 km was already about the mentality – to endure until the finish line. In the final kilometers I was enjoying the crowds along the track and I was already thinking a bit about the post-season.”
Statement by Remec Evenepoel (2nd place)
“I’ll tell you the truth that I feel like a mental winner. We know how it went the last time I rode Lombardia on this route from Bergamo to Como (in 2020, when he fell). We knew we were going for second place, so to get it is really great. I’m very happy. We knew that Tadej was going to attack, but the main thing was to go our own way and I tried to leave in the descent so that I didn’t have to do my time trial.
I am very satisfied with the season I drove and how I ended it.”
Statement by Giulio Ciccone (3rd place)
“I’m very happy that I could end the season like this, which was difficult for me. I’m already glad that it’s behind me and I can recharge my batteries.
I felt good on the hill, but I attacked unnecessarily at one point, I should have kept it a bit and could have stayed in the group with Remco, but I didn’t have the splits to do it at that moment. In the descent, I tried to go as hard as I could to still finish the group in front of me. You never know what will happen next. When I succeeded, I enjoyed the last kilometer.”
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