Il Lombardia 2013 [FULL RACE]

October 6, 2013

Il Lombardia 2013 – Bergamo – Lecco : 242 km

The 2013 Giro di Lombardia or 2013 Il Lombardia was the 107th edition of the Giro di Lombardia single-day cycling race, often known as the Race of the Falling Leaves. It was held on 6 October 2013. A shift in date and an alteration to its title may have troubled those with a sense of cycling’s traditions, but in sporting terms, the Tour of Lombardy – or Il Lombardia, as it is now known – has shown no signs of suffering from the changes introduced last year, and an exceedingly strong field will line up in Bergamo on Sunday. Last year, the economic (and political) realities of contemporary cycling saw the race shift forward three weeks from its traditional end of season date to allow space for the Tour of Beijing (and, lest we forget, the abortive Tour of Hangzhou). Now taking place a week after the world championships, as was the case in the late 1990s, the Tour of Lombardy again bills itself as a shot at redemption for those who missed out on the rainbow jersey seven days earlier. As was the case for Milan-San Remo, RCS Sport has this year switched the Tour of Lombardy from a Saturday to a Sunday in order to attract the maximum television audience, but the route remains unchanged from twelve months ago. The 242km race starts in Bergamo and finishes in Lecco, with the Muro di Sormano, Madonna del Ghisallo and Villa Vergano all featuring before that most scenic of finales on the shores of Lake Como.

Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) defended his Giro di Lombardia title after attacking on the final climb of the Villa Vergano and soloing to victory in the 242km race on Sunday. The Spaniard finished 17 seconds ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and 23 seconds up on Rafal Majka (Saxo-Tinkoff). Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) placed fourth at 45 seconds.

Rodriguez came into the race as the red hot favourite after finishing second in last week’s World Championships and just as in 2012 the defending champion used the Villa Vergano as his launch pad, skipping clear on the 15 percent slopes and establishing a small but crucial buffer on the chasers.

“If I wanted to win, I knew I had to attack then,” Rodriguez said. “Lombardia is never easy, especially in weather like this. It was a very hard race – I think we raced faster than last year.”

The win was nearly identical to that of Rodriguez’s 2012 Lombardia success, although this year’s rain was not nearly as torrential as last year’s. The Spaniard not only gained important points toward the overall WorldTour, he also turned around a season riddled with disappointments, the last of which came last Sunday with his devastating second place at the world championships.

In Florence last weekend, Rodriguez’s 10-second advantage wilted under the power of Rui Costa’s chase, but the same advantage in Lombardia was enough to net him another Monument for his palmares. Rodriguez said he thought about the similarity of the race situation to that of the Worlds, and was never quite sure until the end if he would win.

“My radio fell out and it was only in the last kilometer that I could hear from my directeur sportif that it was done.”

The group behind Rodriguez contained Valverde – the rider who many criticised for costing Spain gold at the Worlds – plus Martin and Majka but on the slippery descent to the line the trio’s chase broke down, first with Valverde dropping his two companions and then with Martin crashing on the final turn.

Rodriguez, though, had no such problems, creating clear air between himself and Valverde, while world champion Rui Costa sacrificed his chances of victory by working for Valverde earlier in the race.

The win provided Rodriguez some amount of solace after his tearful display at the end of the Worlds, and with Chris Froome (Sky) a non-starter the Katusha rider claimed the WorldTour’s top spot for a second consecutive season.

Rodriguez admitted that the world championship loss was hard to handle, but said he preferred to focus on the future, and the victory today will help him look toward 2014.

“Of course I wish I could win the WorldTour while wearing the world champion’s jersey,” he said. “You can’t forget about the world championships because of its importance, but it’s important that I could recover so well and be able to focus on today.”

Bergamo beginnings

While the riders enjoyed some tentative sunshine at the start of the 242km race in Bergamo, the clouds were touching the tips of the climbs, soaking the riders as they headed toward Lake Como. The first moves went on the slopes of the Valico di Valcava with six riders emerging together: Fabio Felline (Androni-Giacatolli), Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale), Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge), Reto Hollenstein (IAM Cycling), Carlos Quintero (Colombia) and Willem Wauters (Vacansoleil-DCM).

Albasini and Felline were the first to get dropped, while further back Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and later Andy Schleck (RadioShack) called it a day. The four men left up front never gained much of an advantage, and what was a two-minute lead was whittled down to mere seconds on the Colle Brianza at the mid-point of the race, and then the race was all back together.

A large group of 21 riders separated themselves from the peloton over the crest, but the lower slopes of the daunting Colma di Sormano called an end to their lead. A crash leading into the climb spelled the end of Vincenzo Nibali’s race – he limped to the ambulance, favoring his left knee.

Saxo-Tinkoff led what was left of the peloton up the wall of the Sormano, but lost Alberto Contador before the upper reaches of the climb. It was instead Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) who gained separation at the top. The pair were joined by Astana’s Enrico Gasparotto, Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) and Italian champion Ivan Santaromita (BMC) on the tricky descent.

On the way to Bellagio the main chasing group came within striking distance of the five leaders, and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) took the chance to attack, bridge to the leaders and then leave them all behind. With the Madonna del Ghisallo looming, the group behind seemed content to let him burn his matches. Only Marcel Wyss (IAM) could be lured into chasing solo, but a crash took the impetus out of his effort.

A steady tempo set by Katusha for defending champion Rodriguez allowed the chasing peloton to swell to 30 riders as they made their way up the Madonna del Ghisallo, 2:35 behind Voeckler.

However, with a long stretch of flat roads and Michael Rogers marshalling the chase for Saxo-Tinkoff, the Frenchman looked to be riding on borrowed time. Strung out, and with the conditions worsening, the peloton began to slowly close with Voeckler ticking through his show reel of facial expressions in time with every desperate second lost.

With the waters of Como as the backdrop, and the Villa Vergano quickly approaching, Voeckler’s defences were futile. His earpiece theatrically discarded with the bunch on his heels, it was Mickaël Chérel (Ag2R) who led the reduced peloton up to Voeckler on the lower slopes of the climb.

Quintana and Valverde were still in menacing mood but Rodriguez lurked in the shadows watching every move. Ivan Basso (Cannondale) and Daniel Martin also looked comfortable but it was another Frenchman, Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), who scampered clear first. He drew Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2R) with him and when the remnants of the peloton regrouped only a dozen riders remained in contention.

Pozzovivo decided to remain at the front of the action, setting the pace as the bunch held tight as they approached the final tough ramps of the climb. Rodriguez had played his first card in hunting down Pozzovivo and Pinot moments before, but his second turn of speed inflicted the significant damage.

It was a textbook move from the Spaniard. On the front, out of the saddle, Majka, Valverde and Martin could only watch as the rider everyone calls Purito left only a trail of smoke.

Results :
1 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha 6:10:18
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:17
3 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:00:23
4 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp 0:00:45
5 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
6 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha 0:00:55
7 Pieter Serry (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
8 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
9 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team
10 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
11 Ivan Basso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
12 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr
13 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
14 Ben Hermans (Bel) RadioShack Leopard
15 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
16 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team
17 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 0:01:07
18 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
19 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
20 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
21 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
22 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Sky Procycling 0:01:33
23 Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) Colombia
24 Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) Team NetApp-Endura
25 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida
26 Johann Tschopp (Swi) IAM Cycling
27 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:59
28 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:02:46
29 Diego Rosa (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:03:02
30 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
31 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:38
32 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 0:03:44
33 Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling 0:04:05
34 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 0:04:08
35 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:05:31
36 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:07:27
37 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha
38 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 0:08:35
39 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha
40 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:10:37
41 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
42 Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano 0:10:49
43 Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) Androni Giocattoli 0:10:56
44 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
45 Marc Goos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:11:11
46 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:11:50
47 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano 0:11:52
48 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:11:53
49 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
50 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
51 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
52 Louis Meintjes (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka
53 Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) Lotto Belisol 0:20:46
HD Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka 0:37:35
DNF Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Katusha
DNF Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha
DNF Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Katusha
DNF Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha
DNF Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Riccardo Chiarini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Patrick Facchini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Fabio Felline (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Simone Ponzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Bram Tankink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Stef Clement (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
DNF David Tanner (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team
DNF Marco Pinotti (Ita) BMC Racing Team
DNF Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
DNF Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Maciej Paterski (Pol) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Daniele Ratto (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Cameron Wurf (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Robinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez (Col) Colombia
DNF Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia
DNF Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Colombia
DNF Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombia
DNF Carlos Julian Quintero (Col) Colombia
DNF Jeffry Johan Romero Corredor (Col) Colombia
DNF Juan Pablo Valencia (Col) Colombia
DNF Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ.fr
DNF Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ.fr
DNF Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr
DNF Caleb Fairly (USA) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Alex Howes (USA) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Lachlan David Morton (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin-Sharp
DNF David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling
DNF Jonathan Fumeaux (Swi) IAM Cycling
DNF Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM Cycling
DNF Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) IAM Cycling
DNF Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling
DNF Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling
DNF Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Winner Anacona Gomez (Col) Lampre-Merida
DNF Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Gaetan Bille (Bel) Lotto Belisol
DNF Brian Bulgac (Ned) Lotto Belisol
DNF Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol
DNF Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol
DNF Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Lotto Belisol
DNF Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team
DNF Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team
DNF Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Songezo Jim (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka
DNF Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) MTN-Qhubeka
DNF Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) MTN-Qhubeka
DNF Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) MTN-Qhubeka
DNF Meron Russom (Eri) MTN-Qhubeka
DNF Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka
DNF Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
DNF Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
DNF Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
DNF Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
DNF Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
DNF Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
DNF Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Andy Schleck (Lux) RadioShack Leopard
DNF Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack Leopard
DNF George Bennett (NZl) RadioShack Leopard
DNF Matthew Busche (USA) RadioShack Leopard
DNF Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack Leopard
DNF Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) RadioShack Leopard
DNF Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack Leopard
DNF Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling
DNF Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling
DNF Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling
DNF Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling
DNF Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Sky Procycling
DNF Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
DNF Francois Parisien (Can) Team Argos-Shimano
DNF Thomas Peterson (USA) Team Argos-Shimano
DNF Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Argos-Shimano
DNF Natnael Berhane (Eri) Team Europcar
DNF Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar
DNF Bjorn Thurau (Ger) Team Europcar
DNF Angelo Tulik (Fra) Team Europcar
DNF Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team NetApp-Endura
DNF Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Team NetApp-Endura
DNF José Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes (Por) Team NetApp-Endura
DNF Erick Rowsell (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura
DNF Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura
DNF Paul Voss (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura
DNF Alexander Wetterhall (Swe) Team NetApp-Endura
DNF Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
DNF Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
DNF Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
DNF Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
DNF Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
DNF Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
DNF Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
DNF Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
DNF Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
DNF Willem Wauters (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team