Il Lombardia 2018 [LAST 20 KM]

October 13, 2018

Il Lombardia 2018 – Bergamo – Como : 241 km

It’s called Il Lombardia these days, but what was known to English speakers as the Tour of Lombardy for so long remains one of the sport’s oldest and most romantic of one-day races, enjoying the poetic nickname of ‘The Race of the Falling Leaves’. Autumn wouldn’t seem like the ideal time for one of the best races of the season, but the scenery – with the race based around the stunning Lake Como, which includes the climb of the magnificent Ghisallo – as well as the opportunity to see the new world champion in their fresh white jersey with the rainbow stripes, which in this case is Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde, makes this a must-see event for fans, whether on the roadside or at home in front of the TV. While many of the big names have already drawn their seasons to a close by this point, either through fatigue or injury, for others the chance to notch up a Monument on their palmarès is too good an opportunity to miss.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) won the 2018 Il Lombardia with a solo attack on the penultimate climb of Civiglio, leaving defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) in his wake. Nibali took second place, 32 seconds behind the Frenchman, having been part of the elite attacking group from the top of the Muro di Sormano onwards. Dylan Teuns (BMC Racing) rounded off the podium with a sprint from the chasing group, 43 seconds down.

Primož Roglič (LottoNL-Jumbo) kicked off the days’ festivities with a long-range attack on the Sormano. His attack provoked Nibali and Pinot into going, with the trio leaving the remains of the peloton behind as they crested the top of the climb.

Egan Bernal (Team Sky) joined them after a fearless descent, and the four men enjoyed a 40-second lead as they hit the climb of Civiglio with 19km to race. Roglič and Bernal fell back on the climb, leaving just Pinot and Nibali up front.

After several attempts to get away, the Frenchman managed to gap Nibali at the top of Civiglio, going solo with 14km to the line. Nibali couldn’t offer a response, and it was game over as Pinot soloed to his first Monument victory just days after triumphing at Milano-Torino.

Nibali was caught by the chasers in the closing kilometres, but managed to immediately strike out to take a solo second place.

“Among the Monuments, Il Lombardia is the nicest in my mind,” said Pinot after the win. “I’ve always wanted to win it. I’m in the best shape of my career but to win ahead of Nibali is something very special.

“When I saw him attacking I said ‘bingo, this is the right move.’ I’m glad he attacked at Sormano. That was the key to success.”

Nibali was philosophical after his second place, happy with the result after his late-season plans were thrown into turmoil after suffering fractured verterbrae in a crash at the Tour de France.

“The condition is what it is,” he said. “However it grew just in time for Lombardia, which is a very beautiful race for me. I care about it but I couldn’t do more – Pinot was the winner in Milano-Torino and had a was in top condition like I was last year.

“I still managed to get this good second place with the grit which is important to me as an athlete. It’s a kind of redemption for all that has happened – a good success.”

How it unfolded

There would be a slight change of route at the final European WorldTour race of the years. With the race 6km shorter than last year at 241km, the final climb of San Fermo della Battaglia left out due to road problems. The Madonna del Ghisallo, Muro di Sormano and Civiglio remained though, while the final test would be Monte Olimpino, a short climb topping out 3.3km from the finish.

It took a 4km battle for the break of the day to establish themselves. Davide Ballerini (Androni-Sidermec), Umberto Orsini, Alessandro Tonelli (both Bardiani-CSF), Florian Sénéchal (Quick Step Floors), Franck Bonnamour (Fortuneo-Samsic), Jonathan Restrepo (Katusha-Alpecin), Michael Storer (Team Sunweb), and Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates) were the lucky men out front.

In the race’s early stages, Movistar were among the teams working on the front, on behalf of new world champion Alejandro Valverde. Five minutes up the road, the break tackled the day’s early climbs – the Colle Gallo and Colle Brianza.

On the Madonna del Ghisallo (8.5km at 6.2%) the real attrition started as Bahrain-Merida upped the pace at the head of the peloton with a Vincenzo Nibali repeat victory in mind. Up front, the break fell apart, leaving Orsini, Tonelli, Storer and Bonnamour as the leaders. Over the top, their advantage was 1:45 with 60km to race.

Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) and Jan Hirt (Astana) were among the attackers on the climb, with the Australian going solo on the descent. He was caught on the lower slopes of the Muro di Sormano though, as LottoNL-Jumbo set the pace in the peloton.

At 1.9km, the Sormano is a short climb, but the 15.8% gradients (27% maximum) bit. The break was quickly caught and Primož Roglič launched an attack 49km out as the peloton shattered behind.

Towards the top, Nibali and Thibaut Pinot leapt out of the peloton, which was already only around 20-men strong. Dropped on the climb, Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) came to grief at the top after a spectator’s camera strap caught on his handlebars. The Frenchman managed to stop before hitting the deck though.

Nibali led the way down the technical descent, with Roglič chasing the lead duo down, eventually making it a trio with 38km to race. Further back, Egan Bernal flew down the descent alone, some ten seconds back.

As the leaders hit the shores of Lake Como at the bottom of the descent, Bernal was with them. The foursome were 45 seconds up with 30km to race. Meanwhile back in the chase group Daniel Martinez (EF-Drapac) put in a big turn of at the front for his team leader Rigoberto Urán.

On Civiglio, a 4.2km 9.7% climb which started 19km out, Roglič and Bernal were dropped as Pinot and Nibali pushed on. Further back, the chase was stalling before Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) tried an attack near the top of the climb. Up front, Pinot managed to drop Nibali, having previously attempted several attacks.

Inside the final 10km, 45 seconds separated Pinot and the chase group, while Nibali was 25 seconds behind the Groupama-FDJ man. With victory almost certain for Pinot on Monte Olimpino, the main suspense in the final kilometres concerned the destination of the final podium spots.

Another Martin attack saw Nibali caught 3km from the line, but ‘the Shark’ wouldn’t give up, immediately countering from the chase group which included two of his Bahrain-Merida teammates.

It was an impressive second wind from the Italian, who eased away from the chasers to salvage a second place after his season-ruining crash caused by a fan on the Alpe d’Huez in July. Dylan Teuns won the sprint for the final podium spot, 11 seconds behind Nibali.

Results :
1 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama – FDJ 5:53:22
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain – Merida 0:00:32
3 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bmc Racing Team 0:00:43
4 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Team EF Education First – Drapac P/B Cannondale
5 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
6 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Bahrain – Merida
7 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora – Hansgrohe
8 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain – Merida
9 Daniel Martin (Irl) Uae Team Emirates 0:00:48
10 George Bennett (NZl) Team Lotto Nl – Jumbo 0:01:22
11 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:31
12 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Team Sky
13 Michael Woods (Can) Team EF Education First – Drapac P/B Cannondale
14 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama – FDJ
15 Mikel Nieve Iturralde (Spa) Mitchelton – Scott
16 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:01:57
17 Primož Roglic (Slo) Team Lotto Nl – Jumbo 0:03:04
18 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora – Hansgrohe 0:03:33
19 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
20 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
21 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team
22 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora – Hansgrohe
23 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora – Hansgrohe
24 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick – Step Floors 0:03:54
25 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
26 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Samsic
27 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
28 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Lotto Nl – Jumbo 0:03:59
29 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton – Scott 0:04:01
30 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain – Merida 0:04:04
31 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini 0:04:55
32 Mathias Frank (Swi) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:04:57
33 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Bmc Racing Team
34 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:06:02
35 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 0:06:40
36 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
37 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek – Segafredo 0:07:02
38 Rui Costa (Por) Uae Team Emirates
39 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick – Step Floors
40 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha Alpecin
41 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani Csf
42 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
43 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Mitchelton – Scott
44 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek – Segafredo
45 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Lotto Nl – Jumbo
46 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani Csf
47 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
48 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
49 Daniel Felipe Martinez Poveda (Col) Team Ef Education First – Drapac P/B Cannondale 0:07:07
50 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
51 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Quick – Step Floors
52 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Team Sky
53 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:08:10
54 Fabio Aru (Ita) Uae Team Emirates 0:08:40
55 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani Csf
56 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain – Merida 0:08:57
57 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani Csf 0:09:51
58 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia 0:10:36
59 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek – Segafredo
60 Simon Špilak (Slo) Team Katusha Alpecin
61 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Samsic
62 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:10:39
63 David De La Cruz Melgarejo (Spa) Team Sky
64 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek – Segafredo
65 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team Lotto Nl – Jumbo 0:12:28
66 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal
67 Jérémy Maison (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Samsic
68 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
69 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
70 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Team Dimension Data
71 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
72 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bmc Racing Team
73 Simon Clarke (Aus) Team Ef Education First – Drapac P/B Cannondale
74 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:14:27
75 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:15:01
76 Mikael Cherel (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
77 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
78 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton – Scott
79 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama – Fdj 0:15:05
80 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:17:02
81 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Bahrain – Merida
82 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton – Scott
83 Daan Olivier (Ned) Team Lotto Nl – Jumbo
84 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani Csf
85 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Team Dimension Data
86 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
87 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky
88 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Lotto Nl – Jumbo 0:19:21
89 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Team Katusha Alpecin 0:23:36
90 Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Team Katusha Alpecin
91 Joan Bou Company (Spa) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
92 Marco Tizza (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
93 Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
94 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:24:56
95 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Samsic 0:25:08
96 Matteo Spreafico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec 0:25:10
97 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
98 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain – Merida
DNF Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
DNF Nans Peters (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
DNF François Bidard (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
DNF Ben Gastauer (Lux) Ag2R La Mondiale
DNF Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani Csf
DNF Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani Csf
DNF Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Bmc Racing Team
DNF Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Bmc Racing Team
DNF Simon Gerrans (Aus) Bmc Racing Team
DNF Joseph Rosskopf (USA) Bmc Racing Team
DNF Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora – Hansgrohe
DNF Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora – Hansgrohe
DNF Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora – Hansgrohe
DNF William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama – Fdj
DNF Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama – Fdj
DNF Jérémy Roy (Fra) Groupama – Fdj
DNF Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama – Fdj
DNF Awet Andemeskel (Eri) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Omer Goldshtein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
DNF Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton – Scott
DNF Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton – Scott
DNF Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
DNF Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
DNF Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini – Europa Ovini
DNF Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick – Step Floors
DNF Kasper Asgreen (Den) Quick – Step Floors
DNF Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick – Step Floors
DNF Florian Senechal (Fra) Quick – Step Floors
DNF Lachlan Morton (Aus) Team Dimension Data
DNF Ben O’connor (Aus) Team Dimension Data
DNF Serge Pauwels (Bel) Team Dimension Data
DNF Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Team Dimension Data
DNF Julien Vermote (Bel) Team Dimension Data
DNF Matti Breschel (Den) Team Ef Education First – Drapac P/B Cannondale
DNF Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Team Ef Education First – Drapac P/B Cannondale
DNF Sacha Modolo (Ita) Team Ef Education First – Drapac P/B Cannondale
DNF Brice Feillu (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Samsic
DNF Elie Gesbert (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Samsic
DNF Romain Le Roux (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Samsic
DNF Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Robert Kišerlovski (Cro) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Jhonatan Restrepo Valencia (Col) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
DNF Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
DNF Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
DNF Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek – Segafredo
DNF Niklas Eg (Den) Trek – Segafredo
DNF Peter Stetina (USA) Trek – Segafredo
DNF Marco Marcato (Ita) Uae Team Emirates
DNF Manuele Mori (Ita) Uae Team Emirates
DNF Edward Ravasi (Ita) Uae Team Emirates
DNF Rory Sutherland (Aus) Uae Team Emirates
DNF Matteo Busato (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia
DNF Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia