Il Lombardia 2021

The road

At the start

The last Monument, Como to Bergamo

The Race of the Falling Leaves closes the season with the strongest field it has had in years: the world champion Julian Alaphilippe, two of this year's three Grand Tour winners and Tadej Pogačar all on the start line in Como. Remco Evenepoel returns to the race that ended his 2020 with a crash on the Sormano descent — a climb this route leaves out.

How it was won

1. 137 km to go

   Nibali lights the fuse, Pogačar rides away

   With 37km to race Vincenzo Nibali attacks on the slopes of the Passo di Ganda and the race finally catches fire. Pogačar bridges to him almost casually — and then, still in the big ring, simply rides straight past and away, an audacious solo move nobody behind is willing to answer.

2. 230 km to go

   Over the Ganda alone

   Pogačar crests the summit 35 seconds clear while behind him Yates has shredded the chase down to eight. On the descent Masnada slips across the gap to join him.

3. 315 km to go

   The chase closes to 45 seconds

   For a moment the cooperation behind works and the gap tumbles. Then the QuickStep car pulls alongside Masnada and orders him to stop working so Alaphilippe can bridge — the Italian, visibly furious, complies.

4. 49 km to go

   Yates blows up the chase

   Nine kilometres out Yates attacks and the truce collapses. Valverde latches on, Alaphilippe burns a match to scramble across with Bardet, and by the time it all comes back together the deficit has ballooned to 45 seconds and is still growing.

5. 53 km to go

   Colle Aperto

   Above Bergamo's old city Pogačar tries everything to shake his passenger, and for once cannot. Masnada, rested from ten kilometres of sitting on, follows him over the top.

6. 6At the line

   A second Monument

   Pogačar watches, waits into the final kilometre, then opens a sprint so violent that Masnada never draws level. He becomes the first rider since Hinault in 1979 to take the Tour and Il Lombardia in one season.

The result