Déjà vu again
When Pogačar took off on the hardest climb of the day, the Passo di Ganda (9.3km @ 7.1%), no one even tried to follow him. (I saw the same passivity in Tuesday’s Tre Valli Varesine, also won by the UAE Team Emirates–XRG leader after a 30-something solo.) Perhaps it’s because it’s the end of the year and everyone (except Pogačar) is tired, or they decided that chasing an impossible dream is not worth risking a potential spot on the podium.
Evenepoel told Het Laatste Nieuws that he simply couldn’t keep up. “When Tadej attacked, I had to go into survival mode. It was not even the steepest part of the climb. It is special to see how he can still accelerate despite that brutal opening tempo from [Jay] Vine.” This was the time trial world champion’s last ride for Soudal Quick-Step, following a seven-year collaboration that had many highs and a few lows. It will be interesting to watch his progress with Red Bull–BORA hansgrohe.
According to TNT Sports, this was the fiftieth (yes, 50th) solo-ride win of Pogačar’s career. More importantly, the Slovenian superstar became the second rider, with the great Fausto Coppi, to win Il Lombardia five times. But he is the only rider to record the five wins in five years. He is also only the second rider to win three Monuments in one season; Eddy Merckx is the other. At 27 years of age, he has now won 10 of the sport’s Monuments – the five toughest one-day races on the calendar. Merckx won 19, including three in 1969, 1971, 1972 and 1975. At the rate he’s going, Pogačar will catch him in three years.
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The smiling killer
Because he is not only the best rider in the peloton, but also one of the nicest, Pogačar went out of his way to thank his UAE teammates. “To win five times in a row and every time I’ve started, well, this race is really suited to me,” he said. “But at the same time I had such a good team around me to enable me to pull it off and a big thanks goes to all my teammates.” The retiring Rafal Majka and Jay Vine set a blistering pace on the Ganda ascent, reducing the peloton to a handful of riders and hurting the legs of those who remained.
Asked if this season was his best ever, with a fourth Tour de France win, the three Monument victories and the World and European road race championships, Pogačar said, “For seven years in a row I’ve said, ‘This is my best season so far.’ And once again I can say that this is my best season so far.”
Majka, who rode his last race with Pogačar after five years of invaluable support for him and the team, said of his team leader at a pre-race ceremony honoring the Pole, “He can attack anywhere, win anywhere, and I’ve never seen that in my life. I’ve worked for Peter Sagan and Alberto Contador, but this guy is a machine. A killer.”
Honorable mentions
As for the third-place Storer, he gave his Pro-level Tudor team its first Monument podium ever and, as he put it, gifted himself an unexpected highlight. “I’m super grateful for everything,” he said. “The team will be super happy. I’m sure my phone will be exploded now. Fabian [Cancellara, the team’s owner and manager] went on the recon with us and was super motivated for this race, even though he wasn’t racing. It’s the highlight I wasn’t expecting to come at the very end. I feel like there have been a lot of highlights this year. As I said before, I can be proud of my season, proud of today, and proud of my team.”
One more honorable mention from this last major race of the year should go to 19-year-old Paul Seixas, who finished seventh and therefore, according to L’Equipe, became the youngest rider in a men’s Monument top 10 since 1917, when Luigi Cuppi finished fourth in Milan-San Remo at the age of 18. “I’m a bit disappointed because I was in the right group,” he said. “But then I was done, and the riders in front were stronger. I fought until the end, I gave everything, and that’s what I wanted to do today.”
Results of the 2025 Il Lombardia
- Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates–XRG 5:45:53
- Remco Evenepoel, Soudal Quick-Step +1:48
- Michael Storer, Tudor +3:14
- Quinn Simmons, Lidl-Trek +3:39
- Isaac Del Toro, UAE Team Emirates–XRG +4:16
- Tom Pidcock, Q36.5 “
- Paul Seixas, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale “
- Egan Bernal, INEOSGrenadiers “
- Jay Vine, UAE Team Emirates–XRG +4:18
- Cian Uijtdebroecks, Visma–Lease a Bike +4:30
