Gilbert repeat victor of Giro di Lombardia
Belgian solos to victory in Como
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.
1 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 6:46:32 |
2 | Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | 0:00:12 |
3 | Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 0:00:55 |
4 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank | 0:01:08 |
5 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | |
6 | Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 0:01:12 |
7 | Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 0:02:07 |
8 | Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:03:01 |
9 | Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step | 0:03:25 |
10 | Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha | 0:03:50 |
11 | Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:04:24 |
12 | Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Caisse d'Epargne | 0:05:13 |
13 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank | |
14 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step | 0:05:32 |
15 | Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Team Milram | 0:05:52 |
16 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:06:00 |
17 | Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Acqua & Sapone | 0:06:10 |
18 | Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Team Katusha | |
19 | Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo | |
20 | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team HTC - Columbia | |
21 | Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack | |
22 | Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:06:41 |
23 | Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:08:23 |
24 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 0:09:38 |
25 | José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Team Radioshack | 0:09:52 |
26 | Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:11:50 |
27 | Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | 0:12:30 |
28 | Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Androni Giocattoli | 0:12:42 |
29 | Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | 0:12:44 |
30 | Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana | 0:12:46 |
31 | Thomas Peterson (USA) Garmin - Transitions | |
32 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram | 0:14:34 |
33 | Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 0:20:39 |
34 | Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Team HTC - Columbia | 0:21:35 |
DNF | Jan Bakelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
DNF | Christophe Brandt (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
DNF | Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
DNF | Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
DNF | Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
DNF | Luca Paolini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
DNF | Paolo Ciavatta (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
DNF | Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
DNF | Andrea Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
DNF | Francesco Di Paolo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
DNF | Alessandro Proni (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
DNF | Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
DNF | Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | David Lelay (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Julien Loubet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Thomas Bertolini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Luca Solari (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Damiano Margutti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Fabrice Piemontesi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Astana | |
DNF | Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Astana | |
DNF | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana | |
DNF | Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana | |
DNF | Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) Astana | |
DNF | Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Astana | |
DNF | Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Astana | |
DNF | Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Chris Butler (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Jeffry Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Imanol Erviti (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | |
DNF | David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | |
DNF | Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | |
DNF | Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | |
DNF | Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | |
DNF | Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez (Col) Caisse d'Epargne | |
DNF | Davide Appollonio (Ita) Cervélo TestTeam | |
DNF | Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Cervélo TestTeam | |
DNF | Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Cervélo TestTeam | |
DNF | Joaquin Novoa Menedez (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam | |
DNF | Oscar Pujol Munoz (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam | |
DNF | Xavier Tondo Volpini (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam | |
DNF | Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervélo TestTeam | |
DNF | Marcel Wyss (Swi) Cervélo TestTeam | |
DNF | Emanuele Sella (Ita) Carmiooro NGC | |
DNF | Daniele Ratto (Ita) Carmiooro NGC | |
DNF | Enrico Peruffo (Ita) Carmiooro NGC | |
DNF | Sebastien Fournet Fayard (Fra) Carmiooro NGC | |
DNF | Aristide Ratti (Ita) Carmiooro NGC | |
DNF | Francesco Tizza (Ita) Carmiooro NGC | |
DNF | Andrea Piechele (Ita) Carmiooro NGC | |
DNF | Antonio Quadranti (Ita) Carmiooro NGC | |
DNF | David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
DNF | Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
DNF | Nico Sijmens (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
DNF | Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
DNF | Tristan Valentin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
DNF | Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
DNF | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
DNF | Filippo Savini (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
DNF | Michele Gaia (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
DNF | Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
DNF | Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
DNF | Federico Canuti (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
DNF | Alan Marangoni (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
DNF | Marco Frapporti (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
DNF | Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | |
DNF | Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | |
DNF | Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | |
DNF | Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | |
DNF | Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | |
DNF | Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | |
DNF | Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Française Des Jeux | |
DNF | Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française Des Jeux | |
DNF | Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française Des Jeux | |
DNF | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française Des Jeux | |
DNF | Yoann Offredo (Fra) Française Des Jeux | |
DNF | Anthony Roux (Fra) Française Des Jeux | |
DNF | Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Timothy Duggan (USA) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Christian Meier (Can) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Giovanni Visconti (Ita) ISD - Neri | |
DNF | Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) ISD - Neri | |
DNF | Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) ISD - Neri | |
DNF | G. Luca Mirenda (Ita) ISD - Neri | |
DNF | Diego Caccia (Ita) ISD - Neri | |
DNF | Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) ISD - Neri | |
DNF | Davide Ricci Bitti (Ita) ISD - Neri | |
DNF | Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) ISD - Neri | |
DNF | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | |
DNF | Enrico Magazzini (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | |
DNF | Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | |
DNF | Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Lampre-Farnese Vini | |
DNF | Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | |
DNF | Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | |
DNF | Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | |
DNF | Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | |
DNF | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo | |
DNF | Mauro Finetto (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | |
DNF | Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Doimo | |
DNF | Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | |
DNF | Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo | |
DNF | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step | |
DNF | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step | |
DNF | Marco Velo (Ita) Quick Step | |
DNF | Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step | |
DNF | Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quick Step | |
DNF | Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step | |
DNF | Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack | |
DNF | Matthew Busche (USA) Team Radioshack | |
DNF | Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team Radioshack | |
DNF | Grégory Rast (Swi) Team Radioshack | |
DNF | Ivan Rovny (Rus) Team Radioshack | |
DNF | Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team Radioshack | |
DNF | Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank | |
DNF | Mauricio Ardila Cano (Col) Rabobank | |
DNF | Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Rabobank | |
DNF | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank | |
DNF | Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank | |
DNF | Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank | |
DNF | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank | |
DNF | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | John-Lee Augustyn (RSA) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Dario David Cioni (Ita) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Stephen Cummings (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Kjell Carlström (Fin) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Peter Velits (Svk) Team HTC - Columbia | |
DNF | Martin Velits (Svk) Team HTC - Columbia | |
DNF | Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) Team HTC - Columbia | |
DNF | Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team HTC - Columbia | |
DNF | Adam Hansen (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia | |
DNF | Michael Albasini (Swi) Team HTC - Columbia | |
DNF | Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Milram | |
DNF | Markus Fothen (Ger) Team Milram | |
DNF | Wim De Vocht (Bel) Team Milram | |
DNF | Dominik Roels (Ger) Team Milram | |
DNF | Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram | |
DNF | Paul Voss (Ger) Team Milram | |
DNF | Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank | |
DNF | André Steensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank | |
DNF | Chris Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank | |
DNF | Gustav Larsson (Swe) Team Saxo Bank | |
DNF | Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank | |
DNF | Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank | |
DNF | Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank |
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