Tadej Pogačar wins Il Lombardia presented by EOLO 2021

Bergamo, 9 October 2021 – After the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tour of Slovenia and Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar won Il Lombardia on his first attempt at the ‘classic of the falling leaves’. He rode away from the favourites group with 36km to go on the new key point of the course, Passo Ganda. Only Fausto Masnada came across to him. The Bergamo-born rider opted for a defensive tactic as world champion Julian Alaphilippe, his team-mate from Deceuninck-Quick Step, was in the chasing group. Pogačar made the best of the two-man sprint in Bergamo whereas Adam Yates placed third at the expense of pre-race hot favourite Primož Roglič.

FINAL RESULT

1 – Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) – 239km in 6h01’39”, average speed 39.652km/h

2 – Fausto Masnada (Deceuninck-Quick Step) s.t.

3 – Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) at 51″

Statistcs

Tadej Pogačar becomes the first Slovenian winner of Il Lombardia. Slovenia is the 14th winning nation in the history book of the race, after Denmark (Jakob Fuglsang, 2020) and Colombia (Esteban Chaves, 2016).

Tadej Pogačar is the first rider to win Tour de France and Il Lombardia in the same year since Bernard Hinault in 1979. Before him, only Eddy Merckx had won Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tour de France and Il Lombardia in the same year (1971, 1972).

Fausto Masnada is the fourth native of the province of Bergamo to stand on the podium of Il Lombardia in Bergamo after Eddy Mazzoleni (3rd in 1999), Paolo Lanfranchi (2nd in 1997) and Felice Gimondi (1st in 1966 and 1973 – he also made the podium on three other occasions but with a finish located in Como).

Adam Yates is the second Englishman to make the podium of Il Lombardia, after Tom Simpson who won it in 1965 (Max Sciandri, an Italian with British nationality as well, came third in 1993).

Quotes

The winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) said in the press conference: “This season has been crazy from the start to the end. I couldn’t be happier to finish it off like this. I’ve enjoyed every moment with UAE Team Emirates and the Slovenian national team. I’m hearing a lot about having made history today, but I don’t think about it. I just enjoy riding my bike. At the moment Fausto Masnada came across to me, I understood he would not help me, there was nothing else I could do but keep riding because we only had a 30″ to 40’’ advantage. In the final climb, I did my best to come together with Masnada. In the sprint, I knew what I had to do. The three races I did in Italy before gave me the motivation to go for the win at Il Lombardia.”

Runner up Fausto Masnada (Deceuninck-Quick Step) said: “I was second, but I’m satisfied with my race. It was a hard one. The whole team worked very well and we arrived into the final with a good place for me. I was up front with Tadej, but I didn’t push because Alaphilippe was behind. For a moment I thought that Alaphilippe could get across to our group, but Tadej was really strong. He pulled and on the last climb he tried to drop me, so I could do no better than 2nd. It’s a dream for me, I know that it’s 2nd place, but I live here, I grew up on this road, so it’s really great to be on the podium.”

Third-placed Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) said: “If I’d had the legs, I would have gone with him [Masnada]. But in the end, I was suffering quite a bit, and I think a lot of guys were too. He did a very good race, and I was just happy to be up there, fighting for the win. I’m glad to be finishing the season well in Italy. For sure we’ll be back next year.”

Andrea Garosio (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), the first rider clearing the Ghisallo climb, with the Premio Todisco in memory of the late La Gazzetta dello Sport journalist

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