Il Lombardia 2019 [FULL RACE]

October 12, 2019

Il Lombardia 2019 – Bergamo – Como : 243 km

The Giro di Lombardia (English: Tour of Lombardy), officially Il Lombardia, is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five ‘Monuments’ of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycling, and one of the last events on the UCI World Tour calendar. Nicknamed the Classica delle foglie morte (“the Classic of the falling (dead) leaves”), it is the most important Autumn Classic in cycling. The race’s most famous climb is the Madonna del Ghisallo in the race finale.

Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) soloed to the biggest win of his career, and his first Monument, with victory in Il Lombardia on Saturday.

The 32-year-old attacked on the penultimate climb of the Civiglio with 18km to go after a brief lull in the lead group, and despite a late chase from a group that contained the winners of this year’s Tour de France, the Trek-Segafredo rider hung on to win ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Egan Bernal (Team Ineos).

The group of favourites failed to respond when Mollema launched his winning attack, and as the Dutchman stretched his lead to over 30 seconds on the Civiglio, it looked as though the race was slipping away from the chasers.

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), who had won twice in the space of a week, first at the Giro dell’Emilia and then at Tre Valli Varesine, counter attacked with 9.6km to go, but despite opening a lead on those behind he was unable to make a sizeable dent into Mollema’s advantage.

On the final climb of the San Fermo della Battalgia, the Jumbo rider was brought back by a group that contained Bernal, Valverde, Michael Woods (EF Education First) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) but despite the obvious firepower, a lack of cohesion and punch saw Mollema crest the climb with just over 20 seconds of a lead. On the breakneck descent to the line, Valverde rode off the front and although he was quickly joined by Bernal, the pair could only manage a sprint for the final two places on the podium.

For Mollema, this was arguably his greatest one-day success in a career that has included wins in San Sebastian, a stage in the Tour de France a multiple top 10 Grand Tour finishes.

How it unfolded

The riders were greeted by a warm autumnal sun as they signed on in Bergamo, the prospect of racing on dry roads instead of cold rain making for a far more enjoyable last day in the saddle. Some riders are due to head to China for the Tour of Guangxi, and Rory Sutherland will double-up and ride Sunday’s Paris-Tours, but most of the peloton was ready to celebrate the end of a long and demanding season.

The riders gathered in a moment of commemoration before rolling, out, recording local hero and two-time Il Lombardia winner Felice Gimondi.

The 243km race route included six serious climbs, but that did not dissuade the attacks, with eight riders going clear after 10 kilometres. In there, representing different tactics and ambitions, were Fausto Masnada (Androni-Sidermec), Davide Ballerini (Astana), Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe), Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Petr Rikunov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Toms Skujiņš (Trek-Segafredo) and Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates).

The peloton let them go, and the eight quickly opened a three-minute lead, with Jumbo-Visma accepting responsibility for the early chase. After 45km, the gap was up to five minutes, with 47km covered in the brisk first hour in the saddle.

As the break’s lead stretched to three minutes, Jumbo-Visma picked up the reins in the peloton on behalf of Primoz Roglic. The status quo remained over the Colle Gallo and the Colle Brianza, as the race headed north and then west towards Lake Como. Team Ineos and EF Education First helped with the chase, bringing down the gap as the race entered the final 100km and the key climbs loomed.

The gap was just 2:40 as the race blasted along the lakeshore and through Bellagio for the 8.6km climb to Madonna del Ghisallo.

As soon as the gradient steeped, Masnada, Cavagna and Skujins pulled away from their breakaway companions. Bergamo resident Masnada was determined to reach the cyclist’s chapel first and was cheered on by the tifosi as the bells rang out.

The increase in pace began to shake out the peloton with 80km left to race. Mikel Landa was quick to climb off in his final race with Movistar, with others joining him at the second feed zone and jumping into team cars for a fast ride to the team bus in Como.

The peloton was timed at two minutes at the summit of the Madonna del Ghisallo, and Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep) decided it was time to react. He surged away and began to chase down the remains of the early break one by one. Masnada and Skujiņš were the last to be caught, but Jungels’ effort was in vain because Team Ineos lead the chase to the foot of the Colma di Sormano.

The Sormano is only 1.9km long but cruelly zigzags up the side of the hills, with a 15.8 per cent gradient and tight hairpins at over 20 per cent. Last year Thibaut Pinot and Roglic kicked of the finale of the race here. This time the team leader sent their teammates ahead to ensure they would be there over the top for the finale 50km of the race.

Sepp Kuss was there for Roglic, Ivan Sosa for Bernal, Giulio Ciccone for Bauke Mollema and Rafa Majka for Davide Formolo. Jungles cracked and paid for his earlier effort as the selection came naturally. Majka lead over the top and a 35-rider group of leaders and teammates formed on the fast descent back to the shores of Lake Como and the all-important Civiglio climb, where Mollema made his move.

Results :
1 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 5:52:59
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:16
3 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Team Ineos
4 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana pro Team
5 Michael Woods (Can) Ef Education First 0:00:34
6 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
7 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma
8 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:50
9 Pierre Latour (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale
10 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-Fdj
11 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-Fdj
12 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
13 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
14 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Team Ineos
15 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:57
16 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana pro Team 0:02:08
17 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Neri Sottoli Selle Italia Ktm
18 Daniel Martin (Irl) Uae Team Emirates 0:02:09
19 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:02:12
20 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels 0:02:30
21 Mathias Frank (Swi) Ag2r la Mondiale
22 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:37
23 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
24 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:46
25 Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eri) Team Dimension Data 0:02:47
26 Steff Cras (Bel) Team Katusha Alpecin 0:03:28
27 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
28 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana pro Team 0:03:41
29 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:51
30 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Ag2r la Mondiale
31 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
32 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-Fdj
33 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:53
34 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
35 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma
36 Mikel Nieve Iturralde (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
37 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
38 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:05:50
39 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy 0:06:02
40 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Team Dimension Data
41 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
42 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels
43 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
44 Stephane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
45 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
46 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
47 Victor De la Parte (Spa) Ccc Team
48 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
49 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
50 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos
51 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
52 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
53 Simon Clarke (Aus) Ef Education First
54 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
55 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
56 Tanel Kangert (Est) Ef Education First
57 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:06:58
58 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:10:09
59 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
60 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Uae Team Emirates 0:10:44
61 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana pro Team 0:10:48
62 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
63 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani Csf 0:12:34
64 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani Csf
65 Simone Petilli (Ita) Uae Team Emirates
66 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Neri Sottoli Selle Italia Ktm
67 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
68 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
69 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
70 Jhoan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
71 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
72 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
73 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
74 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
75 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
76 Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) Ef Education First
77 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team Katusha Alpecin
78 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
79 Jan Polanc (Slo) Uae Team Emirates
80 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Neri Sottoli Selle Italia Ktm
81 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
82 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Ccc Team
83 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
84 Simon Geschke (Ger) Ccc Team 0:14:00
85 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Ccc Team 0:16:02
86 Simone Velasco (Ita) Neri Sottoli Selle Italia Ktm 0:17:37
87 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Neri Sottoli Selle Italia Ktm
88 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
89 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
90 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-Fdj
91 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Team Dimension Data
92 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) Ccc Team
93 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
94 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Ccc Team 0:17:39
95 Marco Marcato (Ita) Uae Team Emirates
96 Patrick Müller (Swi) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels 0:19:55
97 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-Fdj
98 Josip Rumac (Cro) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
99 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Team Dimension Data
100 Awet Andemeskel (Eri) Israel Cycling Academy
101 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani Csf
102 Remi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
103 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani Csf
104 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Uae Team Emirates
105 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels
106 Axel Domont (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale 0:20:52
107 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
108 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Ef Education First 0:21:54
109 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:25:05
DNS Francesco Romano (Ita) Bardiani Csf
DNF Mikael Cherel (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale
DNF Ben Gastauer (Lux) Ag2r la Mondiale
DNF Jaakko Hanninen (Fin) Ag2r la Mondiale
DNF Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Kevin Rivera Serrano (CRc) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Daniel Muñoz Giraldo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana pro Team
DNF Hugo Houle (Can) Astana pro Team
DNF Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana pro Team
DNF Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani Csf
DNF Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani Csf
DNF Gregor Moehlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Ccc Team
DNF Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
DNF Petr Vakoc (Cze) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
DNF Hugh John Carthy (GBr) Ef Education First
DNF Sean Bennett (USA) Ef Education First
DNF Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Petr Rikunov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Aleksei Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-Fdj
DNF Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-Fdj
DNF Edwin Alcibiades Avila Vanegas (Col) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Riccardo Minali (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Jasha Sutterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
DNF Umberto Marengo (Ita) Neri Sottoli Selle Italia Ktm
DNF Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Neri Sottoli Selle Italia Ktm
DNF Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Dimension Data
DNF Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Team Dimension Data
DNF Jaco Venter (RSA) Team Dimension Data
DNF Nicolas Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Ineos
DNF Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
DNF Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Ineos
DNF Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNF Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNF Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Jose Goncalves (Por) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb
DNF Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
DNF Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Rui Costa (Por) Uae Team Emirates
DNF Maxime Cam (Fra) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels
DNF Justin Mottier (Fra) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels
DNF Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels