Il Lombardia 2015 [FULL RACE]

October 4, 2015

Il Lombardia 2015 – Bergamo – Como : 245 km

The 2015 Il Lombardia (also known as the Giro di Lombardia or the Tour of Lombardy) was a one-day cycling classic that took place around Lake Como in Lombardy in northern Italy on 4 October 2015. It was the 109th edition of the Il Lombardia one-day cycling race and was the final cycling monument of the 2015 season, as well as being the final race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The course was difficult, taking in several hard climbs over the 245-kilometre (152 mi) route, including the famous Madonna del Ghisallo climb. It started in Bergamo and reached the coast of Lake Como about halfway through the race. The final 75 kilometres (47 mi) contained most of the climbing, with the final climb coming in the last 10 kilometres (6.2 mi). This was followed by a descent to the finish line in Como itself. There was aggressive racing from the climb of the Madonna del Ghisallo and the very difficult Muro di Sormano that followed it.

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) set out is intentions for Il Lombardia early on when he went to recon the final 100 kilometres of the route and he used that experience to take an impressive solo victory in Como on Sunday. Daniel Moreno (Katusha) put in a valiant chase but couldn’t match the descending skills of the Italian and took second place. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) came home in third to complete the podium. It was Nibali’s first Monument victory of his career.

“I’ve always wanted to win a race of this stature and of this kind and it was my time to win it,” Nibali said at the finish. “To win a Monument you also have to be lucky. It has been a great day.”

Nibali had looked strong throughout the day, even taking to the front of the bunch on the formidable Muro di Sormano. Astana had strength in numbers too, driving the pace and shedding some serious rivals in the process. Nibali still had Diego Rosa for company when it came to the two crucial, final, climbs and the pair worked together to put their rivals under pressure.

It wasn’t until near the top of the Civiglio that Nibali threw a move up the middle of a seven-man group. He pulled out a fair advantage but he really made the difference on the twisting descent, as he pushed the limits of the road. After the hair-raising ride down the other side, the Italian had 40 seconds as the chasers behind struggled to mount a proper challenge.

Rosa helped his elder teammate out, running down anyone who did dare to try and chase him down. Moreno helped to bring back plenty of moves and it even looked like he was working for fellow Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). There was no doubt about his intentions when he brought back a move by Pinot with six kilometres to go. Another kick on the tougher slopes of the San Fermo della Battaglia saw him shed the Frenchman.

At one point it seemed like only a matter of time that he would close down Nibali but the Italian’s superior descending skills proved vital once again and he had enough time to celebrate in the final 300 metres.

How it happened

The 198-strong peloton lined up under cloudy skies and rain at the start in Bergamo and many decided to remain in their team bus until as close to the start as possible. They did eventually set off at just after 10:30 local time to tackle the 245-kilometre course. It was a quick start to the day with several riders attempting to escape early on.

A number of groups were successful, eventually forming the 11-man move that would spend most of the day out front. The lucky riders who got away were: Stefan Schumacher (CCC Sprandi), Enrico Barbin (Badiani CSF), Jan Polanc (Lampre-Merida), Matteo Busato (Southeast), Dennis Van Winden (LottoNL-Jumbo), Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin), Pier Paolo de Negri (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Marco Canola (UnitedHealthcare), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Argon 18), Jerome Coppel (IAM Cycling) and Oscar Gatto (Androni Giocattoli).

Their gap quickly grew to a maximum of over eight minutes, with the peloton happy to take it a little easier. The pace did slow but, as the rain cleared, they still motored along a touch quicker than the fastest predicted time schedule. Astana had been bullish before the race and they lived up to their promise by controlling the peloton for almost the whole day, with a little help from Movistar and Team Sky.

As the race reached the halfway point, the 11 escapees saw their gap begin to disappear before their eyes. By the time they neared the bottom of the Madonna di Ghisallo, it was just a tiny 2:30 that separated them from the pack behind.

It had been a fairly placid affair until now but when the riders hit the Ghisallo all bets were off and the attacks started to come in. Up front, Benedetti and Canola distanced their tired companions, while Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) and six others set off in chase. Kwiatkowski was joined in his endeavours by Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), Tom Jelte Slagter (Cannondale-Garmin), Matteo Trentin, Carlos Verona, Lukasz Wisniowski (Etixx-QuickStep), Jon Izagirre (Movistar), Robert Gesink, Timo Roosen (Lotto NL-Jumbo), Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing).

Once the Ghisallo was dispatched with, the formidable Muro di Sormano was next in their sights. The punishing climb saw the riders almost grind to a halt as the 1,900 metres ticked by slowly. Kwiatkowski and Wellens emerged from the chasing group and eased passed Benedetti and Canola. Kwiatkowski looked the most comfortable of the two and pulled out a small gap, forcing Wellens to work hard to chase him down.

Astana continued to pile on the power behind, reducing the bunch to less than 20 riders by the top of the Sormano. While some were able to get back on, key riders such as Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin) were dropped and distanced. Gilbert tried to reel them back in but it came to nothing.

The twisting descent of the Sormano made for some heart-stopping watching but it didn’t faze Astana that began taking chunks out of the fragile lead of Kwiatkowski and Wellens. The bottom of the Civiglio spelled the end of their day and despite a last ditch attempt from Kwiatkowski, he was no match for the Astana team.

Astana, as they had been doing all day, put men on the front and burned off yet more riders until we were left with just seven out front. As the last rider pulled off, Nibali made his first of many attacks. His teammate Rosa was distanced briefly but came back when Team Sky’s Sergio Henao put in the work to bring himself back into contention.

Pinot, Rosa and Mikel Nieve were the main protagonists on the penultimate climb but nobody could snap the elastic. It took Nibali’s move with 17 kilometres remaining to finally do it and once he’d gone there was nobody who could touch him as he stormed to his first Monument victory.

Results :
1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 6:16:28
2 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:00:21
3 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:00:32
4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:46
5 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team
6 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Team Sky
7 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal 0:00:56
8 Jhoan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica GreenEdge
9 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Team Sky
10 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:10
11 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:06
12 Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky 0:04:10
13 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:04:23
14 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Argon 18
15 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
16 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Etixx – Quick-Step
17 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:25
18 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge
19 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:58
20 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin
21 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:25
22 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:05:44
23 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
24 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team
25 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Team Katusha
26 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
27 Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Sky 0:05:50
28 Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) BMC Racing Team 0:06:01
29 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:06:21
30 Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:06:26
31 Dominik Nerz (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 0:07:02
32 Matteo Busato (Ita) Southeast
33 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
34 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Southeast 0:08:37
35 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:08:55
36 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
37 Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida
38 Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
39 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Southeast
40 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal
41 Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ.fr
42 Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) Colombia 0:09:35
43 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Trek Factory Racing
44 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
45 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
46 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida
47 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Por) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
48 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Argon 18
49 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
50 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing
51 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:09:36
52 Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
53 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:09:41
54 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step
55 Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling
56 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge 0:11:58
57 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:14:59
58 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:15:01
59 Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
60 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky
61 Carlos Julian Quintero (Col) Colombia
62 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) FDJ.fr
63 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar Team
64 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Southeast
65 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team
66 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
67 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
68 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
69 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
70 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
71 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
72 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
73 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:15:06
74 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:17:22
75 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek Factory Racing
76 Christian Meier (Can) Orica GreenEdge 0:19:49
77 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
78 Pierre-Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
79 Stef Clement (Ned) IAM Cycling
80 Sylwester Szmyd (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
81 Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre-Merida
82 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
83 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
84 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Argon 18
85 Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Soudal
86 Adrian Honkisz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
87 Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Lampre-Merida
88 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge
89 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:19:51
90 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
91 Gianfranco Zilioli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
92 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team
93 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
94 Rodolfo Andres Torres Agudelo (Col) Colombia
95 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team
96 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
97 Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha
98 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:19:52
99 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:23:12
DNF Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
DNF Didier Alonso Chaparro Lopez (Col) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Eduard Michael Grosu (Rom) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Genki Yamamoto (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Chad Haga (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Bruno Pires (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Daniele Ratto (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
DNF Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team
DNF Jan Barta (Cze) Bora-Argon 18
DNF Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Bora-Argon 18
DNF Jorge Camilo Castiblanco Cubides (Col) Colombia
DNF Daniel Martínez (Col) Colombia
DNF Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Alessandro Malaguti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
DNF Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida
DNF Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team
DNF Samuele Conti (Ita) Southeast
DNF Kiel Reijnen (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Julian David Arredondo Moreno (Col) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Lucas Euser (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Tanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Federico Zurlo (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
DNF Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Marco Bandiera (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Oscar Gatto (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Simone Stortoni (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Alberto Nardin (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team
DNF Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Luca Chirico (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF José Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes (Por) Bora-Argon 18
DNF Paul Voss (Ger) Bora-Argon 18
DNF Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
DNF Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
DNF Alex Cano Ardila (Col) Colombia
DNF Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia
DNF Ramirez Chacon Brayan Stiven (Col) Colombia
DNF Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
DNF Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step
DNF Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step
DNF Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
DNF Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge
DNF Damien Howson (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
DNF Manuel Belletti (Ita) Southeast
DNF Luca Wackermann (Ita) Southeast
DNF Lawson Craddock (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha
DNF Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Team Katusha
DNF Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Team Katusha
DNF Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha
DNF Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
DNF Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
DNF Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Jerome Coppel (Fra) IAM Cycling
DNF Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling
DNF Clement Chevrier (Fra) IAM Cycling
DNF Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling
DNF Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling
DNF Lawrence Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling
DNS Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Androni Giocattoli
DNS Andrea Fedi (Ita) Southeast