Untouchable Pogacar follows in the footsteps of Fausto Coppi, winning the Tour of Lombardy for the fifth consecutive time

The Race of the Falling Leaves, the final Monument of the season, headed toward Bergamo this year after finishing in Como last year. As has become tradition, the start and finish alternate each edition. Pogacar had the chance to achieve something truly historic: no one had ever won the Tour of Lombardy five times in a row.

Once again, the world champion was the overwhelming favorite. Rival teams had to get creative if they wanted to stop him, sending riders up the road early. A powerful breakaway of 14 riders formed, including Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Quinn Simmons (Lidl–Trek), Michael Matthews (Jayco–AlUla), Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step), and Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers).

The first climb of the day was the famous Madonna del Ghisallo. The break crested the climb with about 1 minute 30 seconds in hand. On the descent, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) crashed. The shadow favorite had to change his shoe mid-race, but the physical damage appeared minor.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG set a fierce tempo with Domen Novak at the front, soon joined by the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe squad. Primoz Roglic clearly had great legs, allowing Pogacar’s men to ease off slightly... until the Roncola, the first real test of the day, where UAE took control again.

The peloton briefly split apart, with Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Paul Seixas (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), and Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) among those momentarily distanced, but the race regrouped soon after. Up front, the climbs began to take their toll, gradually thinning the lead group. With 100 kilometers to go, 10 riders remained in front.

The Passo della Crocetta marked the start of the finale, its summit lying about 80 kilometers from the finish. The climb wasn’t too steep, so Pogacar, Evenepoel, and the other favorites bided their time. Not so for Quinn Simmons. The U.S. champion launched a blistering attack from the break and quickly opened a large gap. At the top of the Zambla Alta, the highest point of the race, he had 2 minutes over the chasers.

The peloton wasn’t gaining either; the flamboyant American clearly had magic legs. He plunged into the descent with a solid advantage. Among the favorites, things remained calm, though Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers), and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) all began to lose contact.

It was only a matter of time before the showdown on the Passo di Ganda, a climb where Pogacar had already set the KOM during recon. Simmons began the ascent with a 2:30 lead, but UAE quickly turned the screws. Rafal Majka and Jay Vine shredded the group, setting up Pogacar’s inevitable attack. Isaac Del Toro couldn’t hold his wheel, and neither Evenepoel, Storer, nor Seixas could follow.

Within moments, Pogacar had ridden clear of everyone. Simmons’ advantage melted away, and with 3 kilometers to the summit, the world champion caught him. The American tried to hang on, but couldn’t match Pogacar’s brutal pace for long. He could only hope to stay ahead of Evenepoel and the others over the top.

At the summit, Pogacar had a lead of more than a minute on Evenepoel, who was battling Simmons and Storer on the final steep ramps. They just managed to crest together, while Del Toro and Seixas were dropped. The Mexican tried to claw back 15 seconds to rejoin the fight for the podium. Simmons soon suffered the same fate, losing contact on a false flat and forced to chase.

Evenepoel descended like a man possessed, dropping Storer and closing the gap slightly to the world champion. However, Pogacar still had over a minute at the bottom. Behind, Del Toro and Simmons teamed up, though both North Americans were already more than two minutes down on the Slovenian leader.

On the flat, Evenepoel distanced Storer further, but just like at the European Championships and Worlds, he couldn’t get closer to Pogacar. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG powerhouse began the final climb, the Colle Aperto, with a lead of 1:30 minutes. The world champion still had plenty left in the tank, powering up the climb once more. Evenepoel briefly had to stop because of a stalled motorbike blocking the road amid the chaos.

The descent into Bergamo caused no problems for Pogacar, who soared to his fifth straight victory in the Tour of Lombardy. He matched Fausto Coppi’s total record, though the Italian didn’t win his five consecutively. Evenepoel again finished second at a respectful distance, while Storer crossed the line over three minutes down, taking third.