alone in the world, Tadej Pogacar wins the Tour of Lombardy for the fifth time in a row

The Slovenian became isolated 36 kilometers from the finish, and was never contacted on Saturday. He won his fifth Lombardy, all in a row.

Could it be otherwise? Huge favorite in a race that he has locked down since 2021, Tadej Pogacar won for the fifth time in a row on the Tour of Lombardy, the last Monument of the season contested between Como and Bergamo, Saturday October 11. The Slovenian thus becomes the first runner in history to win the same Monument five times in a row, and equals Fausto Coppi with five in Lombardy.

After enormous work from his team, the 27-year-old runner left alone, as usual, 36 kilometers from the finish, and was never seen again, leaving his competitors glued to the road. On the podium, he is ahead of the Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and the Australian Michael Storer (Tudor). First Frenchman, the great French hope Paul Seixas (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) finished in a very good 7th place for his discovery of the race.

For this last major meeting of the season, the tactics of the UAE-Emirates-XRG team were known, and once again did not fail. While the initial breakaway group of 12 riders had already imploded, the Emirati team set off 60 kilometers from the finish under the leadership of Frenchman Pavel Sivakov.

Only Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), last survivor, could still believe it with two minutes to spare at the foot of Passo di Ganda (9.3 km at 7.1%), last difficulty of the day, the foot of which was located 40 kilometers away. But he also quickly understood: Jay Vine delivered a big relay to place his leader in orbit. 36 kilometers from the finish, the Slovenian left without having to really work to distance the few remaining runners, where we found Evenepoel, Storer but also Julian Alaphilippe, Paul Seixas and Isaac del Toro.

In a usual pattern, the Slovenian swallowed up the American (finally 4th) to rush towards the finish, which he reached with a 1'48 lead over his runner-up Evenepoel. He therefore won his 5th Dead Leaf Classic in a row, and his 108th career victory. Enough to conclude his exceptional year, boasting 20 victories including the Tour de France and a new world champion title. “A jAmazing trip from start to finish. I felt good, the whole team did a great job. I'm very happy that we were able to finish like that, for Rafal Majka too.”praised the winner, while his Polish teammate will retire on Saturday.

A sign of his versatility and voracity, the Slovenian was on the podium of all the Monuments of the season (winner of the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and in Lombardy, second in Roubaix and third in San Remo). Between them, Pogacar and Isaac del Toro (15 victories) account for 35 of the Emirati team's 93 victories this year. The second best team, Lidl-Trek, has… 47 fewer.

For the French, the day still remained positive, with three riders in the Top 25: Paul Seixas (7th), Lenny Martinez (12th) and Julian Alaphilippe (23rd). The first became, at just 19 years old, the youngest to finish in the Top 10 of a Monument since 1980, playing his… first in his career on Saturday. After his podium at the European Championships, the Lyonnais is already making plans for next season.

For his part, Julian Alaphilippe, in contact with the best in the final climb before dropping back, confirms his good end to the season. He has scored his seventh podium since the beginning of September, including his first victory under his new colors at the Quebec GP, then his podium at the Trois Vallées Varésines on Tuesday.