Gilbert repeat victor of Giro di Lombardia

Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) reaffirmed his immense talent for the toughest classics in cycling by taking his second successive victory at the Tour of Lombardy.

Gilbert looked the strongest rider throughout the new finale of the race, handling the heavy rain and cold conditions far better than any of his rivals.

After putting all his rivals to the sword in the final hour of the race, he dropped Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli) over the top of the final San Fermo di Battaglia climb to win the final classic of the year alone. He waved and smiled as he crossed the finish line, savouring his second consecutive victory on the shores of Lake Como.

"This year it was a lot more difficult to win and the weather made it even worse,” Gilbert said after lifting the winner's trophy.

"This race is really hard to win and I had to go deep. We had to make huge efforts in the finale and for a long time there was a head wind. It was 45 minutes at 100 percent."

Scarponi finished 12 seconds later but it seemed much more, such was the superiority of Gilbert. He was rightly satisfied with second after trying his hardest to take on Gilbert. Pablo Lastras (Caisse d'Epargne) was a surprise third at 55 seconds, proving he is also one of the hard men of the peloton.

195 starters, only 34 finishers

195 riders rolled out of Milan, happy to get the last race of the season underway but only 34 made it to the finish on Como. The riders crossed the line alone or in small groups, with the pain of racing in the cold and wet for most of the 260km, carved deep in their faces.

Gilbert was the only one smiling. He was patently the most on-form man in the race and his win was born as much of his strength of mind as the strength in his legs.

As usual the early action fast and furious, with the early break consisting of six riders: Tony Gallopin (Cofidis), Gianluca Mirenda (ISD-Neri), Diego Caccia (ISD-Neri), Mauro Da Dalto (Lampre-Farnese Vini), Kjeil Carlström (Team Sky) and Michael Albasini (HTC-Columbia).

They went clear after 15km and opened a seven-minute lead but Gilbert's Omega Pharma-Lotto team worked solidly to keep them in check during the long circuit of Lake Como.

The Belgian team has been criticised for its poor results in the past but the riders always raise their game when Gilbert is at his best and they stoically whittled down the gap before also shaking out the group of favourites; first on the Madonna del Ghisallo climb up from the lake shore and then on the new Colma di Sormano climb.

Italian national champion Giovanni Visconti (ISD-Neri) and Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) went away from the bunch on the Ghisallo and got across to the remnants of the break. Albasini was clear alone but the Sormano climb was long and hard and reshuffled the race.

Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) surged across to the front group and then dropped the others but his move was far too early and far too ambitious.

The real race began on the treacherous descent of the Sormano. Gilbert went to the front in order to negate the threat from Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) and show he was in control.

The twisting descent split the front group into a long broken line of riders, with Gilbert leading Nibali, Lastras and Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack).

When Nibali crashed on a hairpin corner, landing on his chest and looking stunned and defeated, Gilbert accelerated to make sure he would not get back on. It was perhaps a key moment of the race, making victory much simpler for Gilbert.

The rest of the descent and the fast run-in to Como turned into a pursuit match as Gilbert drove on the front. Scarponi emerged as the best chaser and managed to get across to Gilbert after a long, solo effort. He was the only one to make it but would pay for it later, while the likes of Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank), Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) formed the first chase group.

The two rode shoulder-to-shoulder most of the way up the climb, even touching as they fought the gradient and tried to handle the rough roads. However, Gilbert’s expression was one of supreme control and smooth pedalling backed by immense strength.

After eyeing up his prey, Gilbert seemed to switch to the big chain ring and that was enough to distance Scarponi, who also had a brief gear problem. The gap was made and the race was over.

Gilbert wisely took no chances on the descent into Como but was in total control and won by 12 seconds ahead of Scarponi, while Pablo Lastras (Caisse d’Epargne) clipped off the front of the Nibali group to take third. Behind, Fuglsang out-sprinted the Italian for fourth place, and a second successive season ended with success for Gilbert and without an Italian classics victory.

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Full Results
1Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto6:46:32
2Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli0:00:12
3Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne0:00:55
4Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank0:01:08
5Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-DoimoRow 4 - Cell 2
6Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi0:01:12
7Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi0:02:07
8Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team0:03:01
9Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step0:03:25
10Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha0:03:50
11Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team Katusha0:04:24
12Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Caisse d'Epargne0:05:13
13Bauke Mollema (Ned) RabobankRow 12 - Cell 2
14Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step0:05:32
15Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Team Milram0:05:52
16Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto0:06:00
17Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Acqua & Sapone0:06:10
18Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Team KatushaRow 17 - Cell 2
19Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-DoimoRow 18 - Cell 2
20Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team HTC - ColumbiaRow 19 - Cell 2
21Christopher Horner (USA) Team RadioshackRow 20 - Cell 2
22Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale0:06:41
23Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto0:08:23
24Serge Pauwels (Bel) Sky Professional Cycling Team0:09:38
25José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Team Radioshack0:09:52
26Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale0:11:50
27Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini0:12:30
28Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Androni Giocattoli0:12:42
29Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne0:12:44
30Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana0:12:46
31Thomas Peterson (USA) Garmin - TransitionsRow 30 - Cell 2
32Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram0:14:34
33Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team0:20:39
34Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Team HTC - Columbia0:21:35
DNFJan Bakelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-LottoRow 34 - Cell 2
DNFChristophe Brandt (Bel) Omega Pharma-LottoRow 35 - Cell 2
DNFOlivier Kaisen (Bel) Omega Pharma-LottoRow 36 - Cell 2
DNFMatthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-LottoRow 37 - Cell 2
DNFStaf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Omega Pharma-LottoRow 38 - Cell 2
DNFLuca Paolini (Ita) Acqua & SaponeRow 39 - Cell 2
DNFPaolo Ciavatta (Ita) Acqua & SaponeRow 40 - Cell 2
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DNFAndrea Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & SaponeRow 42 - Cell 2
DNFFrancesco Di Paolo (Ita) Acqua & SaponeRow 43 - Cell 2
DNFAlessandro Proni (Ita) Acqua & SaponeRow 44 - Cell 2
DNFAlessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & SaponeRow 45 - Cell 2
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DNFTadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La MondialeRow 47 - Cell 2
DNFDavid Lelay (Fra) AG2R La MondialeRow 48 - Cell 2
DNFJulien Loubet (Fra) AG2R La MondialeRow 49 - Cell 2
DNFChristophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La MondialeRow 50 - Cell 2
DNFThomas Bertolini (Ita) Androni GiocattoliRow 51 - Cell 2
DNFAlessandro Bertolini (Ita) Androni GiocattoliRow 52 - Cell 2
DNFLuca Solari (Ita) Androni GiocattoliRow 53 - Cell 2
DNFLeonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Androni GiocattoliRow 54 - Cell 2
DNFDamiano Margutti (Ita) Androni GiocattoliRow 55 - Cell 2
DNFFabrice Piemontesi (Ita) Androni GiocattoliRow 56 - Cell 2
DNFAlexsandr Dyachenko (Kaz) AstanaRow 57 - Cell 2
DNFDmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) AstanaRow 58 - Cell 2
DNFEnrico Gasparotto (Ita) AstanaRow 59 - Cell 2
DNFAndriy Grivko (Ukr) AstanaRow 60 - Cell 2
DNFJosep Jufre Pou (Spa) AstanaRow 61 - Cell 2
DNFMirko Selvaggi (Ita) AstanaRow 62 - Cell 2
DNFGorazd Stangelj (Slo) AstanaRow 63 - Cell 2
DNFCadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing TeamRow 64 - Cell 2
DNFAlessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing TeamRow 65 - Cell 2
DNFChris Butler (USA) BMC Racing TeamRow 66 - Cell 2
DNFKarsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing TeamRow 67 - Cell 2
DNFJeffry Louder (USA) BMC Racing TeamRow 68 - Cell 2
DNFSteve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing TeamRow 69 - Cell 2
DNFMichael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing TeamRow 70 - Cell 2
DNFImanol Erviti (Spa) Caisse d'EpargneRow 71 - Cell 2
DNFDavid Lopez Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'EpargneRow 72 - Cell 2
DNFAngel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Caisse d'EpargneRow 73 - Cell 2
DNFLuis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'EpargneRow 74 - Cell 2
DNFFrancisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'EpargneRow 75 - Cell 2
DNFJuan Mauricio Soler Hernandez (Col) Caisse d'EpargneRow 76 - Cell 2
DNFDavide Appollonio (Ita) Cervélo TestTeamRow 77 - Cell 2
DNFGabriel Rasch (Nor) Cervélo TestTeamRow 78 - Cell 2
DNFVolodymir Gustov (Ukr) Cervélo TestTeamRow 79 - Cell 2
DNFJoaquin Novoa Menedez (Spa) Cervélo TestTeamRow 80 - Cell 2
DNFOscar Pujol Munoz (Spa) Cervélo TestTeamRow 81 - Cell 2
DNFXavier Tondo Volpini (Spa) Cervélo TestTeamRow 82 - Cell 2
DNFThor Hushovd (Nor) Cervélo TestTeamRow 83 - Cell 2
DNFMarcel Wyss (Swi) Cervélo TestTeamRow 84 - Cell 2
DNFEmanuele Sella (Ita) Carmiooro NGCRow 85 - Cell 2
DNFDaniele Ratto (Ita) Carmiooro NGCRow 86 - Cell 2
DNFEnrico Peruffo (Ita) Carmiooro NGCRow 87 - Cell 2
DNFSebastien Fournet Fayard (Fra) Carmiooro NGCRow 88 - Cell 2
DNFAristide Ratti (Ita) Carmiooro NGCRow 89 - Cell 2
DNFFrancesco Tizza (Ita) Carmiooro NGCRow 90 - Cell 2
DNFAndrea Piechele (Ita) Carmiooro NGCRow 91 - Cell 2
DNFAntonio Quadranti (Ita) Carmiooro NGCRow 92 - Cell 2
DNFDavid Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En LigneRow 93 - Cell 2
DNFMickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En LigneRow 94 - Cell 2
DNFNico Sijmens (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En LigneRow 95 - Cell 2
DNFTony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En LigneRow 96 - Cell 2
DNFTristan Valentin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En LigneRow 97 - Cell 2
DNFRomain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En LigneRow 98 - Cell 2
DNFDomenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago - CSF InoxRow 99 - Cell 2
DNFFilippo Savini (Ita) Colnago - CSF InoxRow 100 - Cell 2
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DNFAlessandro Bisolti (Ita) Colnago - CSF InoxRow 102 - Cell 2
DNFGianluca Brambilla (Ita) Colnago - CSF InoxRow 103 - Cell 2
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DNFMarco Frapporti (Ita) Colnago - CSF InoxRow 106 - Cell 2
DNFPablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel - EuskadiRow 107 - Cell 2
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DNFJonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Euskaltel - EuskadiRow 110 - Cell 2
DNFJuan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel - EuskadiRow 111 - Cell 2
DNFJavier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Euskaltel - EuskadiRow 112 - Cell 2
DNFOlivier Bonnaire (Fra) Française Des JeuxRow 113 - Cell 2
DNFBenoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française Des JeuxRow 114 - Cell 2
DNFArnaud Gerard (Fra) Française Des JeuxRow 115 - Cell 2
DNFMatthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française Des JeuxRow 116 - Cell 2
DNFYoann Offredo (Fra) Française Des JeuxRow 117 - Cell 2
DNFAnthony Roux (Fra) Française Des JeuxRow 118 - Cell 2
DNFThomas Danielson (USA) Garmin - TransitionsRow 119 - Cell 2
DNFTimothy Duggan (USA) Garmin - TransitionsRow 120 - Cell 2
DNFMichel Kreder (Ned) Garmin - TransitionsRow 121 - Cell 2
DNFDaniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - TransitionsRow 122 - Cell 2
DNFChristian Meier (Can) Garmin - TransitionsRow 123 - Cell 2
DNFPeter Stetina (USA) Garmin - TransitionsRow 124 - Cell 2
DNFJohan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin - TransitionsRow 125 - Cell 2
DNFGiovanni Visconti (Ita) ISD - NeriRow 126 - Cell 2
DNFPatrik Sinkewitz (Ger) ISD - NeriRow 127 - Cell 2
DNFBartosz Huzarski (Pol) ISD - NeriRow 128 - Cell 2
DNFG. Luca Mirenda (Ita) ISD - NeriRow 129 - Cell 2
DNFDiego Caccia (Ita) ISD - NeriRow 130 - Cell 2
DNFPaolo Longo Borghini (Ita) ISD - NeriRow 131 - Cell 2
DNFDavide Ricci Bitti (Ita) ISD - NeriRow 132 - Cell 2
DNFPier Paolo De Negri (Ita) ISD - NeriRow 133 - Cell 2
DNFFrancesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese ViniRow 134 - Cell 2
DNFEnrico Magazzini (Ita) Lampre-Farnese ViniRow 135 - Cell 2
DNFDaniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese ViniRow 136 - Cell 2
DNFAndrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Lampre-Farnese ViniRow 137 - Cell 2
DNFDiego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese ViniRow 138 - Cell 2
DNFMauro Da Dalto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese ViniRow 139 - Cell 2
DNFDaniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-Farnese ViniRow 140 - Cell 2
DNFValerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-DoimoRow 141 - Cell 2
DNFMaciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-DoimoRow 142 - Cell 2
DNFMauro Finetto (Ita) Liquigas-DoimoRow 143 - Cell 2
DNFPeter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-DoimoRow 144 - Cell 2
DNFIvan Santaromita (Ita) Liquigas-DoimoRow 145 - Cell 2
DNFSylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-DoimoRow 146 - Cell 2
DNFDario Cataldo (Ita) Quick StepRow 147 - Cell 2
DNFSylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick StepRow 148 - Cell 2
DNFMarco Velo (Ita) Quick StepRow 149 - Cell 2
DNFFrancesco Reda (Ita) Quick StepRow 150 - Cell 2
DNFKevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quick StepRow 151 - Cell 2
DNFMatteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick StepRow 152 - Cell 2
DNFJanez Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioshackRow 153 - Cell 2
DNFMatthew Busche (USA) Team RadioshackRow 154 - Cell 2
DNFMarkel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team RadioshackRow 155 - Cell 2
DNFGrégory Rast (Swi) Team RadioshackRow 156 - Cell 2
DNFIvan Rovny (Rus) Team RadioshackRow 157 - Cell 2
DNFHaimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioshackRow 158 - Cell 2
DNFOscar Freire Gomez (Spa) RabobankRow 159 - Cell 2
DNFMauricio Ardila Cano (Col) RabobankRow 160 - Cell 2
DNFDmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) RabobankRow 161 - Cell 2
DNFSebastian Langeveld (Ned) RabobankRow 162 - Cell 2
DNFPaul Martens (Ger) RabobankRow 163 - Cell 2
DNFGrischa Niermann (Ger) RabobankRow 164 - Cell 2
DNFDennis Van Winden (Ned) RabobankRow 165 - Cell 2
DNFEdvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling TeamRow 166 - Cell 2
DNFJohn-Lee Augustyn (RSA) Sky Professional Cycling TeamRow 167 - Cell 2
DNFBradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling TeamRow 168 - Cell 2
DNFDario David Cioni (Ita) Sky Professional Cycling TeamRow 169 - Cell 2
DNFStephen Cummings (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling TeamRow 170 - Cell 2
DNFKjell Carlström (Fin) Sky Professional Cycling TeamRow 171 - Cell 2
DNFPeter Velits (Svk) Team HTC - ColumbiaRow 172 - Cell 2
DNFMartin Velits (Svk) Team HTC - ColumbiaRow 173 - Cell 2
DNFKanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) Team HTC - ColumbiaRow 174 - Cell 2
DNFMarco Pinotti (Ita) Team HTC - ColumbiaRow 175 - Cell 2
DNFAdam Hansen (Aus) Team HTC - ColumbiaRow 176 - Cell 2
DNFMichael Albasini (Swi) Team HTC - ColumbiaRow 177 - Cell 2
DNFFilippo Pozzato (Ita) Team KatushaRow 178 - Cell 2
DNFJoaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team KatushaRow 179 - Cell 2
DNFAlexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team KatushaRow 180 - Cell 2
DNFPavel Brutt (Rus) Team KatushaRow 181 - Cell 2
DNFEgor Silin (Rus) Team KatushaRow 182 - Cell 2
DNFMarkus Eichler (Ger) Team MilramRow 183 - Cell 2
DNFMarkus Fothen (Ger) Team MilramRow 184 - Cell 2
DNFWim De Vocht (Bel) Team MilramRow 185 - Cell 2
DNFDominik Roels (Ger) Team MilramRow 186 - Cell 2
DNFGerald Ciolek (Ger) Team MilramRow 187 - Cell 2
DNFPaul Voss (Ger) Team MilramRow 188 - Cell 2
DNFAndy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo BankRow 189 - Cell 2
DNFAndré Steensen (Den) Team Saxo BankRow 190 - Cell 2
DNFChris Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo BankRow 191 - Cell 2
DNFGustav Larsson (Swe) Team Saxo BankRow 192 - Cell 2
DNFMatti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo BankRow 193 - Cell 2
DNFRichie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo BankRow 194 - Cell 2
DNFAnders Lund (Den) Team Saxo BankRow 195 - Cell 2

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Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.

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