Tadej Pogacar continues mastery with long-range raid to win Il Lombardia

Tadej Pogacar obliterated the field to win his fourth Il Lombardia in a row and claim his 25th victory of the 2024 season . The Slovenian star powered away from the peloton with just over 48km to go and finished 3min 16sec ahead of Remco Evenepoel in second.

Giulio Ciccone earned himself a spot on the podium with a move inside the final 5km to catch and go away from the chasing pack, but this race was all about Pogacar. The 26-year-old, who won two of the year’s three grand tours and the world championship rainbow jersey, attacked on the last major climb to leave the rest of the peloton behind. Evenepoel and the other hopefuls would not see Pogacar until the finish line in Como, as the world champion powered away to win by the biggest margin at Il Lombardia since Eddy Merckx in 1971.

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“Every victory is special, and today also,” said Pogacar after crossing the finish line. “The team worked so hard all year for all the victories we achieved, and today is no different. It was a big day for us, long race, hard race, and it was all dependant on our team, but we did a super good job and I’m super happy to win with the team.”

Pogacar was given the platform for victory by his UAE Team Emirates colleagues who delivered their leader to the Colma Di Sormano with the fleeting breakaway group reeled in. “We planned it like this,” explained Pogacar. “The race is so hard that in the end the last 40km is more or less man to man. I knew if I had a decent gap on the top I can come to the finish, but you never know. There was a moment after the descent where it was false down but really fast, then a little bit up and down, and there I tried to push to win some seconds and win the mental game on this chase. Then it was one by one to the finish anyway.”

Pogacar took a look over his shoulder before celebrating on the finish line, but he need not have bothered. “I was just enjoying the crowds, and looking forward to off-season,” he said.

Another rider looking forward to a break is Tom Pidcock, who was a surprise omission from Ineos Grenadiers’ squad for the race when it was announced on Friday. Amid rumours of a departure from the British team, Pidcock said he was “deselected” from the season’s final monument.

“Just as things were on the up after a turbulent end to the year I am deselected for Lombardia tomorrow,” Pidcock wrote on Instagram. “I am in great shape and was really looking forwarded to it! Good luck to the boys, I guess off season starts early. Thanks for everyone’s support even in the tough times.”