photo credits @ Il Lombardia
Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) claimed this year’s Il Lombardia today, after the French rider commenced a solo attack along the penultimate climb of Civiglio, leaving defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) unable to respond to his aggressions.
Nibali later crossed the finish more than half a minute behind his French rival, while Dylan Teuns (BMC Racing) rounded out the podium in a sprint for third – a further 11 seconds down.
Race Highlights
Today’s decisive move was made along the climb of the Muro di Sormano., wherein Primož Roglič (LottoNL-Jumbo) initiated a long-range attack that was quickly countered by Nibali and Pinot on the descent – leaving the peloton behind them.
With 19 kilometers remaining, Egan Bernal (Team Sky) managed to bridge his way to the trio. But, it wasn’t long before he and Roglič fell back on the climb, leaving Pinot and Nibali up front.
After several attempts, Pinot finally succeeded in distancing Nibali at the summit of the Civiglio, going solo during the last 14 kilometers as Nibali failed to offer a response.
Previously, the day’s early breakaway group containing Florian Sénéchal (Quick-Step Floors), Jhonathan Restrepo (Katusha-Alpecin), Michel Storer (Sunweb), Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates), Davide Ballerini (Androni-Sidermec), Umberto Orsini, Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani CSF) and Franck Bonnmour (Fortuneo-Samsic) managed toped up an advantage of almost four minutes over the peloton as they approached the climb of the Colle Gallo. .
From there, the escapees’ lead continued to grow, swelling to almost six minutes before they reached the climb of the Colle Brianza.
However, with 50 kilometers to go, the peloton finally reined in the group as the race hit the challenging ascent of the Muro of Sormano, where Roglič animated things with an initial attack.
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