Mollema wins Il Lombardia with solo attack

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Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) soloed to the biggest win of his career, and his first Monument, with victory in Il Lombardia on Saturday. The 32-year-old attacked on the penultimate climb of the Civiglio with 18km to go after a brief lull in the lead group, and despite a late chase from a group that contained the winners of this year's Tour de France, the Trek-Segafredo rider hung on to win ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Egan Bernal (Team Ineos).

The group of favourites failed to respond when Mollema launched his winning attack, and as the Dutchman stretched his lead to over 30 seconds on the Civiglio, it looked as though the race was slipping away from the chasers.

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), who had won twice in the space of a week, first at the Giro dell'Emilia and then at Tre Valli Varesine, counter attacked with 9.6km to go, but despite opening a lead on those behind he was unable to make a sizeable dent into Mollema's advantage.

On the final climb of the San Fermo della Battalgia, the Jumbo rider was brought back by a group that contained Bernal, Valverde, Michael Woods (EF Education First) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) but despite the obvious firepower, a lack of cohesion and punch saw Mollema crest the climb with just over 20 seconds of a lead. On the breakneck descent to the line, Valverde rode off the front and although he was quickly joined by Bernal, the pair could only manage a sprint for the final two places on the podium.

For Mollema, this was arguably his greatest one-day success in a career that has included wins in San Sebastian, a stage in the Tour de France a multiple top 10 Grand Tour finishes.

How it unfolded

The riders were greeted by a warm autumnal sun as they signed on in Bergamo, the prospect of racing on dry roads instead of cold rain making for a far more enjoyable last day in the saddle. Some riders are due to head to China for the Tour of Guangxi, and Rory Sutherland will double-up and ride Sunday's Paris-Tours, but most of the peloton was ready to celebrate the end of a long and demanding season.

The riders gathered in a moment of commemoration before rolling, out, recording local hero and two-time Il Lombardia winner Felice Gimondi.

The 243km race route included six serious climbs, but that did not dissuade the attacks, with eight riders going clear after 10 kilometres. In there, representing different tactics and ambitions, were Fausto Masnada (Androni-Sidermec), Davide Ballerini (Astana), Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe), Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Petr Rikunov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Toms Skujiņš (Trek-Segafredo) and Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates).

The peloton let them go, and the eight quickly opened a three-minute lead, with Jumbo-Visma accepting responsibility for the early chase. After 45km, the gap was up to five minutes, with 47km covered in the brisk first hour in the saddle.

As the break's lead stretched to three minutes, Jumbo-Visma picked up the reins in the peloton on behalf of Primoz Roglic. The status quo remained over the Colle Gallo and the Colle Brianza, as the race headed north and then west towards Lake Como. Team Ineos and EF Education First helped with the chase, bringing down the gap as the race entered the final 100km and the key climbs loomed.

The gap was just 2:40 as the race blasted along the lakeshore and through Bellagio for the 8.6km climb to Madonna del Ghisallo.

As soon as the gradient steeped, Masnada, Cavagna and Skujins pulled away from their breakaway companions. Bergamo resident Masnada was determined to reach the cyclist's chapel first and was cheered on by the tifosi as the bells rang out.

The increase in pace began to shake out the peloton with 80km left to race. Mikel Landa was quick to climb off in his final race with Movistar, with others joining him at the second feed zone and jumping into team cars for a fast ride to the team bus in Como.

The peloton was timed at two minutes at the summit of the Madonna del Ghisallo, and Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep) decided it was time to react. He surged away and began to chase down the remains of the early break one by one. Masnada and Skujiņš were the last to be caught, but Jungels' effort was in vain because Team Ineos lead the chase to the foot of the Colma di Sormano.

The Sormano is only 1.9km long but cruelly zigzags up the side of the hills, with a 15.8 per cent gradient and tight hairpins at over 20 per cent.  Last year Thibaut Pinot and Roglic kicked of the finale of the race here. This time the team leader sent their teammates ahead to ensure they would be there over the top for the finale 50km of the race.

Sepp Kuss was there for Roglic, Ivan Sosa for Bernal, Giulio Ciccone for Bauke Mollema and Rafa Majka for Davide Formolo. Jungles cracked and paid for his earlier effort as the selection came naturally. Majka lead over the top and a 35-rider group of leaders and teammates formed on the fast descent back to the shores of Lake Como and the all-important Civiglio climb, where Mollema made his move.