Pogacar thanks team for 'almost perfect' season
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ROME - Tadej Pogacar retained his Giro di Lombardia title on Saturday in the final professional cycling race of the season when his attacking intentions were rewarded on the line after a 253km ride from Bergamo to Como.
The two-time Tour de France winner and runner-up in the 2022 edition shook things up in the penultimate ascent before beating Spain's Enric Mas in a two-man sprint while another Spaniard, Mikel Landa, ended up third, 10 seconds behind.
It was Pogacar's third victory in one of the "Monument" group of classic races, after he prevailed in Como in 2021 and also in Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
"It's really amazing to repeat victory here. It was great team work," the Slovenian winner said as he paid tribute to his UAE Team Emirates teammates.
"I cannot say how grateful I am that the team did such an amazing job. This season has been almost perfect," he added.
Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard, the 2022 Tour champion, suffered in the Il Lombardia finale and took a disappointing 16th place.
Pogacar accelerated with 20km left, and Landa and Mas were the only ones to follow in the ascent to the Civiglio.
Two kilometres further on, he attacked again and Landa was dropped and, while the Spaniard made it back in the descent, he again cracked on the last climb to San Fermo della Battaglia, when Mas upped the pace.
Pogacar followed easily and the 24-year-old was never troubled in the final sprint.
It was also the last race for previous Grand Tour winners Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde, both of whom are retiring.
Italian Nibali, one of only seven riders to win all three of cycling's Grand Tours, finished 24th while Spain's Valverde, a former world champion and Vuelta a Espana winner, took sixth place.
Although 37-year-old Nibali, who is also a two-time winner of Il Lombardia, and Valverde, 42, are retiring, the duo are not hanging up their helmets just yet.
They will join Vingegaard, four-time Tour champion Chris Froome and Olympic silver medallist Mark Cavendish in what will be a star-studded field of 32 at the inaugural Tour de France Prudential Singapore Criterium from Oct 29-30.
AFP, REUTERS