Il Lombardia: Fuglsang on fire with second Monument win

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Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) picked up the second Monument victory of his career with a powerful solo attack in Il Lombardia, distancing pre-race favourite and Gran Piemonte winner George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) on the final climb of San Fermo della Battaglia overlooking Como.

Astana had a tactical advantage over Bennett with Aleksandr Vlasov following the surge from Fulsang on the key Civiglio climb. Bennett managed to crack Vlasov with an acceleration on the final ascent but Fuglsang then countered, distancing the Kiwi and descending to Como to celebrate his victory.

Bennett finished 31 seconds down on Fuglsang, with Vlasov third at 51 seconds.

"I felt good but you never know how the others feel. I saw George Bennett was strong and he'd won a couple of days ago," Fuglsang explained.

"In the finale I told myself to wait for the sprint, I thought that I could beat him [Bennett] but when he attacked a second time I decided to go myself and he faded."

Fuglsang thanked his teammate for his surge to rejoin him on the Civiglio climb and distance Trek-Segafredo's Vincenzo Nibali, Bauke Mollema and Giulio Ciccone.

"It was important to reduce the group and Vlasov was a campione today. He gave me a big hand to finish things off."

Fuglsang won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2019 and was strong at the recent Strade Bianche race before cracking in the heat. The race two weeks ago proved to be a vital lesson for Il Lombardia.

"It was a hard fast race. We went fast all day and a lot people paid for that. I learned after Strade Bianche that it was important to stay cool and it worked today."

Bennett tried to find consolation in second place but admitted his disappointment. He targeted the two Italian races this week as his personal goals before turning his attention to working for his teammates at the Tour de France.

"I tried with everything but I couldn't drop him…" Bennett said of Fuglsang. "During the race I felt I had good legs and wanted to attack on the Civiglio. I just couldn't follow Fuglsang that last time. I'm disappointed but in a few I'll be happy for this result."

The action was marred by an alarming crash from Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep), who lost control and hit a low stone wall on the descent of the Muro di Sormano with 40km to go, flipping over the wall and into the ravine. Fortunately, his directeur sportif Davide Bramati said he never lost consciousness and was taken to hospital after being assessed by race doctors.

Neither Fuglsang or Bennett said they saw Evenepoel's crash.

"I didn’t see anything. I saw Vincenzo go on the front and descent at full speed. I was third wheel and saw there were only a few of us left. I didn’t know what had happened but then I asked and they told me he'd crashed. We can only hope he's okay," Fuglsang said.

How it unfolded

The 114th edition of Il Lombardia started in Bergamo with a minute’s silence to remember the numerous local victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. Riders wore masks as per the strict medical protocol, with crowds limited and kept at a distance by double barriers. It was 26°C when the riders rolled just after midday, with temperatures going on to touch 33°C late in the race in Como.

Despite a number of attacks from Androni-Sidermec and others, it took some time for a break to form. Joey Rosskopf (CCC Team) opened a small gap at Mornico al Serio but was quickly pulled back. He fared better when he tried again with 187km to race and this time had Davide Gaburro (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), James Piccoli (Israel Start-Up Nation), Petr Vakoc (Alpecin-Fenix), Florian Stork (Team Sunweb), Alexander Riabushenko (UAE Team Emirates) and Andrea Pasqualon (Circus-Wanty Gobert).

They were soon joined by Daniel Savini (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Denis Nekrasov (Gazprom-RusVelo), Emmanuel Morin (Cofidis) and Marco Frapporti (Vini Zabù – KTM) and the 11-man move opened a gap of 3:40 on the peloton at the summit of the Colle Gallo after 54km of fast racing.

Deceuninck-QuickStep and Jumbo-Visma picked up the chase to defend the interests of Evenepoel and Bennett, and the break's lead melted gradually under the summer sun, dropping to 2:25 with 100km left to race.

The Madonna del Ghisallo climb proved fatal for the break, with the 8.6km of climbing up from the lakeshore hurting everyone. James Piccoli was the last to be caught by a very reduced peloton of 50 riders as Dries Devenyns led the bunch with Evenepoel on his wheel. The brutal pace and the heat whittled down the peloton earlier than usual, with even Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) among those distanced.

It was a surprise to see Evenepoel with just Devenyns for company at that point, but he did not appear to concerned, knowing that the steep slopes of the Muro di Sormano would mark the start of the finale.

Indeed, the double-digit gradients hurt everyone, with only seven riders emerging over the top: Evenepoel, Fuglsang, Vlasov, Bennett, Nibali, Mollema and Ciccone. Mollema was last to secure a ticket, with the likes of Richard Carapaz, Diego Ulissi, Rafa Majka, Schachmann and Mathieu van der Poel suffering and losing contact.  

Up front, Evenepoel was isolated and outnumbered, and so Nibali decided to attack the descent to test the skills of his rivals. The Italian dived down the early sweeping turns and lined out the break. Evenepoel was soon in trouble and then disappeared from view. His bike was seen leaning against the wall but he could not be seen. It soon emerged he had fallen into the trees. His team car and the race doctors were soon with him. He was conscious and taken to hospital after initial checks.

The race continued along the stunning shores of Lake Como, with the Civiglio the next decisive moment. Trek-Segafredo had Nibali, Ciccone and Mollema in the break, but all three appeared aware that they were the weakest of the six in front. For once, numerical superiority would count for little.

Fuglsang decided to attack on the Civiglio to test his rivals. Bennett was able to follow him, with Vlasov then surging across. Nibali used his last drops of strength to lead the chase and then dropped off but Ciccone and Mollema also struggled and were still 20 seconds back at the summit of the Civiglio. They bravely tried to chase on the descent back to Como but Fuglsang had Vlasov to do the work and the Russian national champion rode his heart out for his teammate. Mollema and Ciccone got to within ten seconds but then the Dutchman messed up a corner and a gear change. It was symbolic of his and Trek-Segafredo's race, and their hopes of catching the leaders receded. 

Bennett and Fuglsang knew the final climb of San Fermo della Battaglia would be decisive and that focused their minds as Vlasov led the trio on the lower slopes. Bennett made two attacks that put Vlasov into the red, but he couldn't get rid of Fuglsang. He tried another but that only provoked a determined reaction from the Dane, who made his own, stinging acceleration.

Bennett's head dropped and his legs lacked the strength to go with Fuglsang. The Dane was clear and he dug deeper on the final part of the climb, on the fast descent and in the final kilometre, knowing victory was his.

Fuglsang crossed the finish line alone, kissing his ring and pointing to his Astana jersey. Behind him, the top ten was spread across six minutes, with van der Poel at 6:28. Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe) was the last on the result sheet, at 25:57. 18 riders came in behind him but were cruelly deemed outside the time limit.