Pogacar ended a breathtaking year by fending off a chase from local boy Fausto Masnada to claim victory in Bergamo
Tadej Pogacar won the Il Lombardia cycling race on Saturday after beating a field of stars to win the last big race of the season.
UAE Team Emirates rider Pogacar ended a breathtaking year by pushing back the pursuit of local boy Fausto Masnada for victory in Bergamo after winning a second consecutive Tour de France as well as Liège-Bastogne-Liège this season.
Two cycling “monuments” and the Tour in one season is a historic achievement that places the 23-year-old alongside Eddy Merckx and Fausto Coppi.
It happened after he attacked alone more than 30 kilometers from the finish in his first appearance in the Italian race. Adam Yates clinched last place on the podium after sprinting past some of the sport’s biggest names, including fit Primoz Roglic and world champion Julian Alaphilippe. “Every victory is important, especially this one, I dreamed of starting at Il Lombardia and racing with the best here in Italy. Now I am here and I won the victory, ”said Pogacar. An eventful race started with a small group, initially led by Jan Bakelants of Intermarché, escaping after 30 kilometers and creating a gap of more than six minutes on the peloton. By the time the leaders reached the Dossena climb with 90 km remaining, that lead had been reduced to two minutes. Once the Zambla Alta passed, the leading group dropped from 10 to 5 with the peloton just 25 seconds.
The last members of the breakaway were caught descending the descent with 55km to go as the big guns battled for good positions before the final 10km climb of Passo di Ganda, the key climb.
The only big name out of action at this point was BikeExchange rider Simon Yates, who had been abandoned by the peloton with 71km to go and never returned to the lead.
Pogacar moved halfway up the climb to Passo Di Ganda, escaping on his own after Vincenzo Nibali was caught. Pogacar extended his lead over a handful of star names to 35 seconds.
He was then chased by Bergamo-born Fausto Masnada, who raced down roads he knows well to reduce Pogacar’s lead on the winding descent through the verdant countryside outside his hometown.
Masnada rejoined Pogacar just as the descent flattened out on the way to Bergamo with 16 km to go with the group of pursuers at 44 seconds, a gap which remained more or less constant once the peloton started to move in. bickering about the workload.
But Masnada de Deceuninck-Quick-Step was no match for Pogacar in the final kilometers and the Slovenian star crossed the line first to make it into the history books.
