Tadej Pogacar wins the Tour of Lombardy for the fourth time in a row. The Slovenian reaches the finish in Como solo. Second place goes to the Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, 3:15 minutes behind.
Marc Hirschi, the highest Swiss trump card, wasn't allowed to take the stage. The Bernese rider put himself at the service of Pogacar and had to close a gap before the Slovenian attacked.
The 252 km Tour of Lombardy with eight climbs is tailored to mountain specialists. Pogacar was basically the only favorite and fully lived up to this role. The 26-year-old reached the culmination point at the last significant obstacle 41 km before the finish with a lead of 1:09 minutes over the first three chasers including Evenepoel. And the exhibition race continued on the descent and on the flat.
With his victory in the fifth and final monument of the season, the Slovenian rounded off an outstanding year in style. The Slovenian started his season dernière in the world champion's jersey from Zurich, having previously won the Giro and the Tour de France and also triumphed at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Strade Bianche.
Pogacar cannot be beaten physically at the moment, but only with tactics. Almost every team sent a rider into a larger breakaway group to wait and see how Pogacar's UAE team would react. When the lead had grown to over four minutes, Hirschi and Jan Christen were brought in.
On the way to Como, Pogacar drew level with Alfredo Binda, who also won this Italian autumn classic a total of four times between 1925 and 1931. Fausto Coppi remains - at least until the following fall - the only rider to win the Tour of Lombardy five times, four of them in a row (1946 to 1949 and 1954).
SDA
