Tadej Pogacar launches another long-range attack to win Il Lombardia

Tadej Pogacar obliterated the peloton to win his fourth Il Lombardia in a row and claim his 25th victory this season

The Slovenian star powered away from the peloton with just over 48km to go and finished 3min 16sec ahead of a tearful Remco Evenepoel in second. Giulio Ciccone earned third place with a move inside the final 5km to catch and attack the chasing pack.

The 26-year-old, who won two of this year’s three grand tours and the world championship rainbow jersey, attacked on the last major climb to leave the rest of the peloton for dead. The world champion powered away to win by the biggest margin at Il Lombardia since Eddy Merckx in 1971.

“Every victory is special, and today also,” said Pogacar after crossing the finish line. “The team worked so hard all year for all the victories we achieved, and today is no different. It was a big day for us, long race, hard race, and it was all dependant on our team, but we did a super good job and I’m super happy to win with the team.”

Pogacar was given the platform for victory by his UAE Team Emirates team mates who delivered their leader to thebottom of the Colma Di Sormano. Pogacar sadi afterwards “We planned it like this, the race is so hard that in the end the last 40km is more or less man to man. I knew if I had a decent gap at the top I can come to the finish, but you never know. There was a moment after the descent where it was false down but really fast, then a little bit up and down, and there I tried to push to win some seconds and win the mental game on this chase. Then it was one by one to the finish anyway.”

Pogacar sat up before the finish line, “I was just enjoying the crowds, and looking forward to off-season,” he said. Ineos Grenadiers’ Tom Pidcock, who is in super form, wasn't selected amid rumours of his departure from the British team which are in disarray with dismal results.

Pogacar began his campaign in Italy eight months ago by storming to the Strade Bianche with an 81km charge and topped that by nearly 20km on his way to world championship glory in Switzerland. Between those two wins, Pogacar claimed a second Liege-Bastogne-Liege and six stages in each of his victories at the Tour and Giro, while also winning the Tour of Catalonia, the Montreal Grand Prix and last weekend's Giro dell'Emilia.

Those triumphs have made him the heir not just to seven-time Grand Tour champion Coppi but also Eddy Merckx, the greatest to ever sit on a bike. No-one since Merckx's heyday of the 1970s has expressed the sort of dominance Pogacar has over the rest of the field this year. Pogacar has only been beaten twice this year, at Milan-San Remo where he finished third, while his seventh place at the Quebec Grand Prix was his worst finish of the season.

HIGHLIGHTS: 2024 Il Lombardia

2024 Il Lombardia Top 10

1. Tadej Pogacar (slo)
2. Remco Evenepoel (bel) + 3.16
3. Giulio Ciccone (ita) + 4.31
4. Ion Izagirre (spa) + 4.34
5. Pavel Sivakov (fra) s.t.
6. Lennert Van Eetvelt (bel) s.t.
8. Neilson Powless (usa) + 4.58
9. David Gaudu (fra) s.t.
10. Xandro Meurisse (bel) s.t.