Il Lombardia 2020 [FULL RACE]

August 15, 2020

Il Lombardia 2020 – Bergamo – Como : 231 km

This year’s Il Lombardia has changed from an end-of-season final showdown to a mid-summer Monument, and so 30°C temperatures will replace the falling leaves and autumn shadows. However, the history and prestige of Il Lombardia means that it remains a special race. Il Lombardia, or, as it was originally called, il Giro di Lombardia, was first held in 1905, and cycling legend Fausto Coppi holds the record for the most number of wins at the race, with five. The Il Lombardia profile means it’s always a race for the climbers and strongest riders, and is arguably cycling’s most difficult Monument, with over 4,000 metres of climbing and far longer climbs than those of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. It has always attracted the Grand Tour riders, but the hectic, rescheduled race programme also means that many of the usual contenders are fighting in the mountains of the Critérium du Dauphiné rather than racing in Italy. However, the presence of Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and a fascinating rivalry with Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) now tops the bill, and could offer up a battle between generations.

Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) picked up the second Monument victory of his career with a powerful solo attack in Il Lombardia, distancing pre-race favourite and Gran Piemonte winner George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) on the final climb of San Fermo della Battaglia overlooking Como.

Astana had a tactical advantage over Bennett with Aleksandr Vlasov following the surge from Fulsang on the key Civiglio climb. Bennett managed to crack Vlasov with an acceleration on the final ascent but Fuglsang then countered, distancing the Kiwi and descending to Como to celebrate his victory.

Bennett finished 31 seconds down on Fuglsang, with Vlasov third at 51 seconds.

“I felt good but you never know how the others feel. I saw George Bennett was strong and he’d won a couple of days ago,” Fuglsang explained.

“In the finale I told myself to wait for the sprint, I thought that I could beat him [Bennett] but when he attacked a second time I decided to go myself and he faded.”

Fuglsang thanked his teammate for his surge to rejoin him on the Civiglio climb and distance Trek-Segafredo’s Vincenzo Nibali, Bauke Mollema and Giulio Ciccone.

“It was important to reduce the group and Vlasov was a campione today. He gave me a big hand to finish things off.”

Fuglsang won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2019 and was strong at the recent Strade Bianche race before cracking in the heat. The race two weeks ago proved to be a vital lesson for Il Lombardia.

“It was a hard fast race. We went fast all day and a lot people paid for that. I learned after Strade Bianche that it was important to stay cool and it worked today.”

Bennett tried to find consolation in second place but admitted his disappointment. He targeted the two Italian races this week as his personal goals before turning his attention to working for his teammates at the Tour de France.

“I tried with everything but I couldn’t drop him…” Bennett said of Fuglsang. “During the race I felt I had good legs and wanted to attack on the Civiglio. I just couldn’t follow Fuglsang that last time. I’m disappointed but in a few I’ll be happy for this result.”

The action was marred by an alarming crash from Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep), who lost control and hit a low stone wall on the descent of the Muro di Sormano with 40km to go, flipping over the wall and into the ravine. Fortunately, his directeur sportif Davide Bramati said he never lost consciousness and was taken to hospital after being assessed by race doctors.

Neither Fuglsang or Bennett said they saw Evenepoel’s crash.

“I didn’t see anything. I saw Vincenzo go on the front and descent at full speed. I was third wheel and saw there were only a few of us left. I didn’t know what had happened but then I asked and they told me he’d crashed. We can only hope he’s okay,” Fuglsang said.

How it unfolded

The 114th edition of Il Lombardia started in Bergamo with a minute’s silence to remember the numerous local victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. Riders wore masks as per the strict medical protocol, with crowds limited and kept at a distance by double barriers. It was 26°C when the riders rolled just after midday, with temperatures going on to touch 33°C late in the race in Como.

Despite a number of attacks from Androni-Sidermec and others, it took some time for a break to form. Joey Rosskopf (CCC Team) opened a small gap at Mornico al Serio but was quickly pulled back. He fared better when he tried again with 187km to race and this time had Davide Gaburro (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), James Piccoli (Israel Start-Up Nation), Petr Vakoc (Alpecin-Fenix), Florian Stork (Team Sunweb), Alexander Riabushenko (UAE Team Emirates) and Andrea Pasqualon (Circus-Wanty Gobert).

They were soon joined by Daniel Savini (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Denis Nekrasov (Gazprom-RusVelo), Emmanuel Morin (Cofidis) and Marco Frapporti (Vini Zabù – KTM) and the 11-man move opened a gap of 3:40 on the peloton at the summit of the Colle Gallo after 54km of fast racing.

Deceuninck-QuickStep and Jumbo-Visma picked up the chase to defend the interests of Evenepoel and Bennett, and the break’s lead melted gradually under the summer sun, dropping to 2:25 with 100km left to race.

The Madonna del Ghisallo climb proved fatal for the break, with the 8.6km of climbing up from the lakeshore hurting everyone. James Piccoli was the last to be caught by a very reduced peloton of 50 riders as Dries Devenyns led the bunch with Evenepoel on his wheel. The brutal pace and the heat whittled down the peloton earlier than usual, with even Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) among those distanced.

It was a surprise to see Evenepoel with just Devenyns for company at that point, but he did not appear to concerned, knowing that the steep slopes of the Muro di Sormano would mark the start of the finale.

Indeed, the double-digit gradients hurt everyone, with only seven riders emerging over the top: Evenepoel, Fuglsang, Vlasov, Bennett, Nibali, Mollema and Ciccone. Mollema was last to secure a ticket, with the likes of Richard Carapaz, Diego Ulissi, Rafa Majka, Schachmann and Mathieu van der Poel suffering and losing contact.

Up front, Evenepoel was isolated and outnumbered, and so Nibali decided to attack the descent to test the skills of his rivals. The Italian dived down the early sweeping turns and lined out the break. Evenepoel was soon in trouble and then disappeared from view. His bike was seen leaning against the wall but he could not be seen. It soon emerged he had fallen into the trees. His team car and the race doctors were soon with him. He was conscious and taken to hospital after initial checks.

The race continued along the stunning shores of Lake Como, with the Civiglio the next decisive moment. Trek-Segafredo had Nibali, Ciccone and Mollema in the break, but all three appeared aware that they were the weakest of the six in front. For once, numerical superiority would count for little.

Fuglsang decided to attack on the Civiglio to test his rivals. Bennett was able to follow him, with Vlasov then surging across. Nibali used his last drops of strength to lead the chase and then dropped off but Ciccone and Mollema also struggled and were still 20 seconds back at the summit of the Civiglio. They bravely tried to chase on the descent back to Como but Fuglsang had Vlasov to do the work and the Russian national champion rode his heart out for his teammate. Mollema and Ciccone got to within ten seconds but then the Dutchman messed up a corner and a gear change. It was symbolic of his and Trek-Segafredo’s race, and their hopes of catching the leaders receded.

Bennett and Fuglsang knew the final climb of San Fermo della Battaglia would be decisive and that focused their minds as Vlasov led the trio on the lower slopes. Bennett made two attacks that put Vlasov into the red, but he couldn’t get rid of Fuglsang. He tried another but that only provoked a determined reaction from the Dane, who made his own, stinging acceleration.

Bennett’s head dropped and his legs lacked the strength to go with Fuglsang. The Dane was clear and he dug deeper on the final part of the climb, on the fast descent and in the final kilometre, knowing victory was his.

Fuglsang crossed the finish line alone, kissing his ring and pointing to his Astana jersey. Behind him, the top ten was spread across six minutes, with van der Poel at 6:28. Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe) was the last on the result sheet, at 25:57. 18 riders came in behind him but were cruelly deemed outside the time limit.

Results :
1 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 5:32:54
2 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:31
3 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:00:51
4 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:19
5 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:40
6 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:31
7 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:31
8 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:20
9 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:06:00
10 Mathieu Van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix 0:06:28
11 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:06:51
12 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:08:15
13 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Team Ineos
14 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Pro Cycling 0:10:05
15 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 0:10:09
16 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team 0:10:18
17 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Pro Cycling 0:10:25
18 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
19 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
20 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
21 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
22 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Israel Start-Up Nation
23 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Start-Up Nation
24 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:10:31
25 Jaakko Hänninen (Fin) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:10:56
26 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:04
27 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
28 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team 0:12:55
29 Michael Woods (Can) EF Pro Cycling 0:12:56
30 Simone Petilli (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert
31 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
32 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:12:59
33 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:13:04
34 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis 0:13:10
35 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
36 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
37 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:13:19
38 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:14:05
39 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:14:28
40 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
41 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:14:31
42 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bahrain McLaren
43 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:14:44
44 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale
45 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
46 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
47 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
48 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal
49 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:15:43
50 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:16:21
51 Petr Vakoč (Cze) Alpecin – Fenix 0:16:43
52 Harold Alfonso Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:16:45
53 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:17:50
54 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) AG2R la Mondiale
55 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) CCC Team
56 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos
57 Mikkel Frølich Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
58 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
59 Einer Augusto Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar Team
60 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
61 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:18:43
62 Aleksei Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:20:08
63 Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
64 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:20:20
65 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
66 Kamil Malecki (Pol) CCC Team
67 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
68 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
69 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
70 Kobe Goossens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
71 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
72 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma
73 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
74 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
75 Davide Gabburo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:20:55
76 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:21:11
77 Jonathan Caicedo (Ecu) EF Pro Cycling 0:22:42
78 Stefan De Bod (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling 0:24:16
79 Ion Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
80 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana Pro Team
81 Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
82 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
83 Matteo Spreafico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:25:29
84 Juan Diego Alba Bolivar (Col) Movistar Team
85 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:25:57
OTL Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) EF Pro Cycling
OTL Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team
OTL Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
OTL Simone Ravanelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
OTL Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
OTL Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
OTL Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
OTL Théo Delacroix (Fra) Circus – Wanty Gobert
OTL Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
OTL Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
OTL Attila Valter (Hun) CCC Team
OTL Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis
OTL Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
OTL Filippo Zana (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
OTL Benjamin King (USA) NTT Pro Cycling
OTL James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
OTL Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
OTL Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Circus – Wanty Gobert
DNF Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
DNF Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R la Mondiale
DNF Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Luca Chirico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Simon Pellaud (Swi) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
DNF Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
DNF Eros Capecchi (Ita) Bahrain McLaren
DNF Scott Davies (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
DNF Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
DNF Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain McLaren
DNF Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
DNF Francesco Romano (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
DNF Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
DNF Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Jasper De Plus (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
DNF Tom Devriendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
DNF Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Cofidis
DNF Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis
DNF Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
DNF Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
DNF João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-Quickstep
DNF Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
DNF Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
DNF Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
DNF Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
DNF Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Pro Cycling
DNF Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Pro Cycling
DNF Anton Kuzmin (Kaz) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Alexys Brunel (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
DNF Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
DNF Adam James Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
DNF Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
DNF Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Mikel Nieve Iturralde (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team
DNF Benjamin Dyball (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling
DNF Enrico Gasparotto (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
DNF Gino Mäder (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
DNF Matteo Sobrero (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
DNF Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
DNF Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos
DNF Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
DNF Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Team Ineos
DNF Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos
DNF Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNF Paul Martens (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNF Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNF Nico Denz (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
DNF Marco Frapporti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
DNF James Mitri (NZl) Vini Zabu’ KTM