Thibaut Pinot climbs to victory in Il Lombardia

Thibaut Pinot claimed his first Monument victory as he dropped defending champion Vincenzo Nibali on the final climb to win Il Lombardia.

The Frenchman, racing for Groupama–FDJ, made repeated attacks on the Civiglio and eventually left home hope Nibali behind with 14 kilometres left of the 241km route from Bergamo to Como in Italy.

Bahrain-Merida’s Nibali, looking to win the event for the third time in four years and claim a second Monument success of the season, had no answer after the duo had managed to drop Team Sky’s Egan Bernal and Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) near the start of the Civiglio.

The four-time Grand Tour winner did manage to hold off his pursuers on the run into Como to finish second, with Dylan Teuns (BMC) taking the final place on the podium.

Bernal had produced a spectacular descent of the Sormano to make contact with the leading trio, but was eventually swallowed up by the chasing pack and missed out on a top-10 finish.