victorious first for Tadej Pogacar, who equals Coppi and Merckx

0

The end of the season will have satisfied cycling enthusiasts in search of thrills. In the wake of an edition of Paris-Roubaix that became legendary last weekend, the Tour of Lombardy offered, Saturday, October 9, a superb pass between a favorite and a local surprise. In a David-like finish against Goliath, it was finally the favorite, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, who won in the sprint in front of the Italian Fausto Masnada, in the streets of Bergamo. Briton Adam Yates completes the podium.

Already winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April and the Tour de France in July, the UAE Team Emirates rider had never taken part in the last classic of the season until then, except in 2017 with the Espoirs. “It’s crazy to end the season this way. I have no words “, reacted the 23-year-old runner at the end of the race.

After 239 kilometers from Como to Bergamo with seven passes on the menu, Pogacar had the perfect race. Well stuck in the peloton, he decided to accelerate in the Passo de Ganda, 35 kilometers from the finish, dropping all his rivals, including Vincenzo Nibali, the last transalpine winner of the classic, in 2017. Fausto Masnada thought of doing work for his Deceuninck – Quick-Step teammate Julian Alaphilippe, but the regional of the stage was the only one with the legs to hope to challenge the triumph of the Slovenian.

Returning to his height 16 kilometers from the finish, the 27-year-old Italian believed until the end of a coronation in Bergamo, his birthplace. Premier French and 6e of the race ahead of David Gaudu (7e) and Romain Bardet (8e), Alaphilippe, very recent world champion, confirmed his difficulties in repeating efforts on long collars. “When I attacked, I thought someone would come with me. I knew that Masnada was going to join me in the technical part of the descent because he knew perfectly the route that I was discovering ”, Pogacar explained.

High point of an exceptional season

The Slovenian victory is the high point of an exceptional season. The one nicknamed “Pogi” continues to write the legend of his (young) career, even if the summer break had revealed some signs of feverishness. “This is not the first time that I notice that when I cut the summer, it is more difficult to resume than at other times. I don’t know why, maybe I’m spending too much time at the beach and it makes me soggy! “, he conceded Thursday on the sidelines of the race.

At the end of August, he had to give up at Plouay during the Bretagne Classic and more recently at the Tour d’Emilie, a first since 2019. Two disappointments quickly erased by a 4e place on Milan-Turin and a 3e position in the Three Varese valleys, where he had left the keys to his teammate Davide Formolo, who had finished just ahead of him.

He had announced it, the Tour of Lombardy – his “Favorite classic” – was his only end-of-season goal. His coronation in Bergamo confirms his dispositions for big races and his ability to bounce back when expected a little less, he who had not won since July. This was already the case when he won his first Tour de France in 2020, under the nose and beard of Primoz Roglic, making him the youngest winner in the history of the race.

With its Lombard performance, the world number 1 signs its 30e victory among professionals and his 13e of the season. After Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April and the Tour de France in July, he joined Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx in the closed circle of riders who won the Grande Boucle and two “monuments” over a season. The former had won Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Lombardy and the Tour de France in 1949 while “the Cannibal” had done better, winning three “Monuments” and the Tour de France over two consecutive seasons, in 1971 and 1972.

His success made him the first rider to win the Tour de Lombardie and the Tour de France in the same year since 1979, and Bernard Hinault.

Walid Kachour


source site