Il Lombardia 2023 - Inspired Tadej Pogacar powers to majestic victory, Primoz Roglic finishes third

An inspired ride saw Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) power to a brilliant victory at Il Lombardia on Saturday afternoon as Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) finished third.

There was a lot on the line with Pogacar tipped to battle for the triumph along with fellow cycling superstars Roglic and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), and it was the 25-year-old who came out on top in an engrossing finale.

The 25 year-old attacked first on the penultimate climb, the Passo di Ganda, but was unable to completely distance a strong group. The decisive move then came just ahead of the descent, where Pogacar simply eased himself away from the rest, and establish what would turn out to be a race-winning lead. Even a case of cramp, that came inside the final 15km, could not deny him a fifth Monument title of his career.

The 238km race, this year running from Como to Bergamo, having been ridden in the opposite direction a year ago, began in clement conditions and in lively style. At the drop of the director's flag a larger group than is typical for Il Lombardia was able to escape the clutches of the peloton. After a bit of a fight they were able to settle themselves into a rhythm, even as a series of unsuccessful attacks continued behind.

After half an hour of racing, a crash in the bunch appeared to have put one of the favourites, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal QuickStep), out of contention, though the Belgian was able to get back on his bike and was brought back to the peloton. Tadej Pogacar's team-mate Sjoerd Bax was, however, forced to abandon with a fractured femur.

The incident gave the peloton an excuse to bring active hostilities to a close and allowed another group of six riders to join the front of the race, for a total of sixteen.

That breakaway, which included Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Dstny) rode well, and hard, but as Jumbo Visma took over at the front of the peloton, was never allowed more than a four minute lead. EF Education Easypost was the other team most interested in managing the lead, in the shape of Mikkel Honore.

The race coasted along at some speed, covering the first hundred kilometres at a pace of 40kph. As the race said goodbye to the Como region, it also said goodbye to Spanish favourite Enric Mas (Movistar) who fell away on the Berbenno climb and subsequently abandoned. That was also where Soudal-Quickstep took things up at the front, providing an indication of how Evenepoel was feeling following his crash.

The breakaway's lead was brought back to around two minutes by the fourth climb, the Passo Della Crocetta, where the first attack came from the bunch. Scotsman Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich) was the rider to make the move, with Ben Healy (EF Education EasyPost) keen to follow.

The pair took 10km to make it across to the leaders, where Healy upped the pace in an effort to keep the peloton, whose own speed had increased, at bay. Approaching the final serious climb, the Passo di Ganda, Healy was left with only one rider, Martin Marcellusi (Green Project–Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè) for company. The Irishman had a short spell as the race's lone leader before the peloton finished the job.

In the final phase of the race, Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) was the rider to light things up. His attack knocked several riders out of contention, and ultimately left a final selection of ten.

33km from the finish, Pogacar put in a testing acceleration, which initially Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora Hansgrohe) was the only rider able to follow, though Roglic measured his effort well and made contact, along with a couple of others, right at the summit.

Before the descent properly began there was a short, windy section of flat. Seemingly without meaning to, Pogacar was able to slip away from his rivals, and in a flash was carrying twenty seconds advantage onto the descent. Yates was in the group behind, with his obligation not only not to chase, but to disrupt it.

Pogacar gained more time on the descent. With 15km to go his lead was significant but not definitive, if the others were able to work together. They weren't.

Despite getting struck with a case of cramp, Pogacar was able to power through and enter Bergamo almost a minute to the good. He had time to take in the crowd as he crossed the finishline 52 seconds ahead of anyone else.

After the finish, Pogacar acknowledged a moment of fear that cramp might cost him the race: "I was thinking that's it but I pushed through," he said. "I lowered down the power, and focussed on being as aero as possible to save myself for the final kick. I hoped that behind there would not be such a good collaboration, which there probably wasn't because I was gaining but I was not going so fast."

Andrea Bagioli (Soudal Quick-Step) finished in second place with Roglic having to settle for rounding out the podium in third. Britain's Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) came in fifth.

The Slovenian, who makes history for fun, becomes only the third rider to win three consecutive editions of the Tour of Lombardy, the first since Fausto Coppi. He is also the first to win three in a row of any Monument in 36 years.

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