Il Lombardia - As it happened!
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ByTom Owen
Updated 15/08/2020 at 16:25 GMT
Re-live Il Lombardia as it happened.
Astana Pro Team Denmark rider Jakob Fuglsang celebrates as he crosses the finish line at the end of the 114th edition of the giro di Lombardia (Tour of Lombardy), a 231 km cycling race from Bergamo to Como on August 15, 2020.
Image credit: Getty Images
And that's it!
Jakob Fuglsang of Astana bided his time, waited for the perfect moment and then seized his chance. He becomes the first Dane to win Il Lombardia.
Bennett crosses the line second, with the prodigiously talented Vlasov in third.
Flamme rouge!
Jakob 'Fuggy' Fuglsang is heading for a famous victory.
2km to go – 25 seconds now for Fuglsang
He's honing in on the finish line and the gap to Bennett continues to expand.
5km to go – Fuglsang is just too strong
After covering a series of attacks from Bennett with apparent ease, Fuglsang has launched a counter attack and he has left the Kiwi in his dust. He's already put 18 seconds into the Jumbo Visma rider and the Dane is on course for a second monument victory.
7.5km – Attack de Bennett!
George Bennett lights it up and immediately he gets rid of Vlasov. Fuglsang, though, is equal to the attack. The young Russian is plugging away but the gap is slowly growing. This final climb is just under three kilometres long.
10km to go – Ciao, Como!
We're hurtling into the city of Como now and Bennett is still right up there with the Astana duo of Fuglsang and Vlasov.
Mollema and Ciccone of Trek are chasing hard behind with a gap of 15 seconds.
16km to go – Astana attacking... each other?
An odd little attack there from Fuglsang manages to set his teammate adrift off the back. Bennett meanwhile, is going nowhere. The Russian national champion is now dangling about a bike length behind the front pair and must be feeling really thankful for his teammate at this moment!
17km to go – Bennett beds in
Bennett is firmly glued to the back wheel of Jakob Fuglsang and he's looking in good nick. You'd imagine his best tactical move is to attack here and try and stay away, rather than try his luck in a sprint.
18km to go – Nibali blows up
NIbali has popped and is going backwards on the Civiglio. In fact, all three Trek riders have slipped off the pace, leaving Bennett with two Astana riders to try and keep up with.
20km to go – Remco en route to hospital
The young Belgian is on his way to hospital and we've seen footage of him being treated earlier at the roadside. He was conscious and we can assume getting the best possible care.
Meanwhile, the six leaders are heading for the Civiglio and the trio of Trek-Segafredo riders are currently leading the pack. It's true to say that anyone in this group could take the victory, with most recent winners having launched their attacks on this very climb. It's not a patch on the Sormano in terms of severity, but it provides a tidy launchpad.
Will Trek give it the old one-two-three, or can lone Jumbo rider George Bennett spirit up some solo magic? Will Astana turn out to be the stars of the show?
25km to go – Quite a palmarés
This lead group has three past wins of Lombardia (Mollema and Nibali with the Italian having two titles to his name).
We'll see how well the three Trek riders can work together to try and 'roll' the other three, because with that sort of numerical advantage you really should be winning the bike race.
32km to go – Mighty Mathieu on the chase
Mathieu van der Poel is chasing behind and trying to regain contact with the leaders. He's not the strongest climber here, but he finishes fast and – if he can make contact – would pose a serious threat to the hopes of the favourites. The toughest climb, remember, is already over.
35km to go – Remco "conscious" according to RAI
The leading group is six-strong now, with three members of Trek-Segafredo in the leading sextet, plus George Bennett, Alexander Vlasov and Jakob Fuglsang.
Italian host broadcaster RAI is reportinf that Remco Evenepoel is "conscious" which is brilliant news. It was a truly sickening crash.
40km to go – Serious crash for Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider
In what looks like an extremely serious crash, a rider – probably Evenepoel – has crashed and fallen over the wall of a bridge.
45km to go – Nibali doing Nibali things
Vincenzo NIbali is descending from the Sormano in typically audacious style. He trains around these roads, has won Lombardia twice and will doubtless have total confidence in his ability to eke every scrap of speed out of the road.
Fuglsang is clinging to his back wheel, while Mathieu van der Poel is catching up on the lead group after being distanced on the other side of the Sormano.
50km to go – Summitting the Sormano
Six riders cross the summit of the Sormano together and you wouldn't bet against the winner coming from that sextet: Giulio Ciccone, Nibali and Mollema from Trek, George Bennett of Jumbo Visma and Astana's Jakob Fuglsang and Alexander Vlasov.
However, it's a long way to go and there'll be plenty of riders striving to get back on before the next climbs.
51km to go – Dries, dropped
I must have put the mockers on him. Devenyns has been dropped as the severe gradient of the Muro di Sormano kicks in. Astana take up the lead and there are now no more than 12 riders in the front group.
52km to go – Leave them alone, Dries!
Dires Devenyns has been setting this blistering pace for what feels like hours and he shows no signs of slowing down. He's really putting in a shift on behalf of Evenepoel and making the rest of the favourites suffer.
We're seeing loads of great climbers dropped, including Simon Clarke, Max Schachmann and Eddie Dunbar in the last few minutes.
Still hanging tough is American climbing talent Brandon McNulty of UAE Team Emirates. He transferred to that team from Rally Cycing this season and has yet to really show what he can do at the WorldTour level. Could today be the day he announces his presence?
55km to go – Into the Woods
Mike Woods of EF Pro Cycling is in this elite bunch, riding pretty far back but looking OK. Only one other EF rider has survived the infernal pace of Deceuninck.
Woods loves the steeper stuff and the Muro di Sormano averages 15% and maxes out at 25% – which certainly counts as 'steep'.
60km to go – pain on the horizon
The hardest climb in any one-day race
That's how Brian Smith has described the next climb, the Muro di Sormano. Horrible for the riders, absolutely scrummy for us watching from home!
64km to go – Trek are mobhanded
The lead group has really been reduced, with just one lieutenant left for Remco. Nibali and Molllema's Trek-Segafredo, meanwhile, are sitting pretty with four men in the lead group.
It's still a furious pace being set, but how long can Deceuninck sustain this before Evenepoel is totally isolated?
68km to go – break caught, Aru going backwards
Oh dear, Fabio Aru is diappearing out the back of the peloton. He's had a really torrid few years, between struggling to manage the expectations that fall on the shoulders of a young Grand Tour winner and discovering that he had a serious problem with his iliac artery. His UAE Team Emirates colleagues Valerio Conti and Diego Ulissi will have to manage without him in the closing part of this race.
The final dregs fo the breakaway have been scooped up and now it's Remco's Deceuninck teammates setting the pace. They are drilling things pretty hard to try and discourage any attacks over the Madonna del Ghisallo. Jakob Fulgsang and his Astana teammates are sitting just behind them and looking menacing.
70km – breakup of the breakaway
The escapees are beginning to fracture. They have realised that, with just 30 seconds left of their lead on the peloton, their goose is cooked unless someone can push on.
As they begin the Madonna del Ghisallo, the real race is now on.
75km to go – The reigning champ
Bauke Mollema is here! It was perhaps remiss of me to skip over him in that brief look at a few of the favourites; he is, after all, the reigning champion of Il Lombardia after a surprising but extremely popular victory in 2019. The Dutchman is in the twilight of his career, for sure, but he has never been more exciting to watch. He grabbed this race by the scruff of the neck when he attacked on the Civiglio, soloing to the biggest win of his career.
85km to go – pictures are live!
We've just had a first glimpse of the finish line in Lake Como and – obnoxious euro-pop on the PA system notwithstanding – it's very hard not to wish you were there. The sun is shining, the water is a glittering azure blue and it[s absolutely battering down with rain outside my window in Cambridgeshire. A graphic has just flashed up saying it's 31°C. Nope, not jealous in the slightest, thanks...
90km to go – gap begins to dwindle
There has been an acceleration in the peloton and the gap between the break and the bunch has shrunk to less than three minutes. It's very hard to see them pulling a win out of the bag now.
95km to go – waving to the Madonna
The break will be climbing the Madonna del Ghisallo in about 28 kilometres time, one of the most iconic cycling climbs in northern Italy. It's rare for race deciding moves to be launched at this early point in the race, but it certainly marks the start of the 'pointy end' of this legendary course.
100km to go – Remco the hot favourite
Remco Evenepoel is the man to beat today. He has been in fantastic form since the season restart and – with 2020's other breakout success story, Wout Van Aert, busy at the Dauphiné – he's got to fancy his chances.
Aiming to upset the applecart will be Mathieu van der Poel, who enjoyed a similarly impressive win rate in 2019 as young Remco has been experiencing this year. The canny old master Vincenzo Nibali will be keen to repeat his 2015 and 2017 wins but is perhaps a little bit closer to retirement than he might like to admit, while everyone's favourite kiwi climber, George Bennett, will be looking to double his tally of one-day career wins after a midweek victory in the Gran Piemonte.
Bernal out of Criterium du Dauphiné
While we're waiting for things to hot up here in northern Italy, we have one major story from the world of cycling, which is that Egan Bernal has withdrawn from the Criterium du Dauphiné. The Colombian Team Ineos leader slipped to seventh on GC yesterday and has not been looking at his marauding best. Nor have his team, who we're so used to seeing dominate in French stage races. Could this be a charging of the guard?
110km to go – Meet the breakers
A chunky breakaway today, with eleven riders and a healthy – but far from race-winning – lead of four minutes.
Joey Rosskopf (CCC Team), Davide Gaburro (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), James Piccoli (Israel Start-Up Nation), Petr Vakoc (Alpecin-Fenix), Florian Stork (Team Sunweb), Alexander Riabushenko (UAE Team Emirates). Andrea Pasqualon (Circus-Wanty Gobert), Daniel Savini (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Denis Nekrasov (Gazprom-RusVelo), Emmanuel Morin (Cofidis) and Marco Frapporti (Vini Zabù – KTM).
Ciao tutti!
Welcome to the Il Lombardia live blog! In this topsy turvy year, the traditional fifth monument of the calendar is actually happening second and while it's typically known as 'the Race of the Falling Leaves', it's mid-summer in Italy and the leaves are more of a scorched yellow colour and still firmly attached to the boughs.
There's some big news from around the cycling world to tackle, but the big question for today is whether anyone can take on Deceuninck-QuickStep's Belgian phenom Remco Evenepoel.
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