World champion Tadej Pogacar is planning to end his already magnificent season with another victory. The Slovenian will start as the big favorite at the Tour of Lombardy on Saturday.
Pogacar, who has won Lombardy three times in the last three years, has another historic mark to his name. Should he triumph on the road to Como, he would draw level with Alfredo Binda, who also won this Italian autumn classic a total of four times between 1925 and 1931.
Fausto Coppi remains the only rider to have won the Tour of Lombardy five times - at least until the fall of next year - including four in a row (1946 to 1949 and 1954).
Pogacar's perfect year
This year, Pogacar has already adorned his palmarès with victories at the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, the Road World Championships in Zurich, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Strade Bianche. Now the Tour of Lombardy, which is the fifth and final monument of the road cycling season and covers 252 km over a total of eight climbs, is set to be the next stage.
"It was a perfect year. The whole team has worked hard this season and everything has worked well. It was something special, but it's not over yet. I want to achieve a good result in my last race in 2024," the 26-year-old was quoted as saying in the UAE team's communiqué.
Hirschi as a noble helper
Pogacar will be up against two riders who narrowly missed out on a medal on his back at the World Championships in Zurich two weeks ago. One of them is Marc Hirschi, this time a team colleague and helper of the UAE star, the other is Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian can also look back on an outstanding season with two Olympic victories, the world time trial title and third place at the Tour de France premiere, which could be crowned with victory in the "dead leaf classic".
In addition to Hirschi, who finished sixth in the World Championships, a second Swiss rider, Jan Christen, will be at the Slovenian's service. Mauro Schmid will try to build on his strong Vuelta performances. Yannis Voisard is back this week after his coronavirus illness. Corratec teammates Alexandre Balmer, Valentin Darbellay and Antoine Debons are also on the provisional start list.
Oliver Zaugg was the last Swiss rider to win the Tour of Lombardy in 2011. In the years before the turn of the millennium, Oscar Camenzind (1998), Pascal Richard (1993) and Tony Rominger (1992) were successful.
SDA
