After winning in 2021 and then in 2022 in the “Classic of Dead Leaves”, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates), 25, once again extended his impressive track record by winning, Saturday October 7, for the third year in a row, the Tour of Lombardy. Setting off alone 30 kilometers from the finish line, the double winner of the Tour de France kept at bay (51′) a group of pursuers led in particular by his two runners-up of the day: the Italian Andrea Bagioli (2nd, Soudal -Quick Step) and his compatriot Primoz Roglic (3rd, Jumbo-Visma).
This historic hat-trick had only been achieved twice in the history of the Italian Monument, by two local runners: in 1949 by Fausto Coppi, and in the 1920s by Alfredo Binda.
The Slovenian therefore concludes the year 2023 with two Monuments on his record (with the Tour of Flanders), the title on the Paris-Nice and a second place on the Grande Boucle. He thus signed, in the streets of Bergamo, his 17th success of the season – the highest total in the peloton – and the 63rd of his young career.
Overpowering in the descent of the “Passo di Ganda”, Tadej Pogacar took on a route traditionally predestined for climbers. Even the cramps, suffered around ten kilometers from the end of the course which consisted of 248, were not able to slow down “Pogi”, unreachable in Lombardy.
A few moments after his victory, the Slovenian, still smiling, rejoiced in front of the press: “To win three times, for the second time here in Bergamo, it’s a dream come true, it was fantastic, I enjoyed the last few kilometers, I had fun.”
“I have the best audience in the world.”
Beyond Pogacar’s performance, this Tour of Lombardy also marked the last professional race of Frenchman Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ). Winner of the Italian classic in 2018 – one of his favorites on the circuit – the 33-year-old rider, applauded from the front row at the start, gave himself a passionate lap of honor, concluding thirteen years at the highest level.
At the end of a “complicated day”, the newly retired man was able to enjoy a grandiose end to the race in Bergamo. Not far from the finish, a turn full of French supporters who came to celebrate their idol welcomed the Franc-Comtois as a hero, who expressed his emotion on the microphone of Eurosport: “It was crazy. I’m not world champion, I’m far from it, but I have the best audience in the world. »
Among the French, the best place goes to Romain Bardet (11th, Team DSM-Firmenich), in the wheel of the unfortunate favorite Remco Evenpoel (9th, Soudal-Quick-Step), the Belgian having suffered a fall from the first kilometers of the race.
If the French champion Valentin Madouas (27th, Groupama-FDJ) still played his personal card, most of Thibaut Pinot’s teammates preferred to surround their leader, like two of them, at his side at the finish: “Finishing with Rudy [Molard], with Quentin [Pacher], for me, it’s a beautiful symbol. This is what I remember today,” concluded “Tibo”, in the honesty and simplicity that are dear to him.