World and European champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) swept to his 19th victory of the season at Tre Valli Varesine, soloing home once again after attacking 22km from the line of the 200km race.
The Slovenian attacked from a select lead group on the descent of the Montello climb (2km at 5.1%) on the penultimate hill of the hilly 16km circuit in Varese. He quickly built a minute gap over the peloton and easily held on to the finish to record yet another victory in 2025.
Behind Pogačar, the chase group fought over the podium placings a minute down the road. Eventually, a group of around 30 battled in a reduced sprint for second place with Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek) coming out on top. He beat Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) in a photo finish, 44 seconds down on Pogačar.
How it unfolded
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A general view of the peloton for 200.3km from Busto Arsizio to Varese(Image credit: Getty Images)
Andrew 'AJ' August of Ineos Grenadiers hits the front of the race early on(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG in the peloton(Image credit: Getty Images)
Julian Alaphilippe of Tudor Pro Cycling Team rides in the peloton(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lorenzo Milesi of Movistar Team rides behind Egan Bernal of Ineos Grenadiers in the breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images)
The action started early on the 200km day which started in Busto Arsizio, quickly heading north to Varese for eight laps of a hilly local circuit and two longer laps of an enlarged circuit in the city.
Just 2km after the start of the race, a breakaway group of Andrew August (Ineos Grenadiers), Mattia Bais (Polti-VisitMalta), Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana), and Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) jumped clear.
The strong group built a maximum advantage of 3:30 over the peloton, while back in the main group it was UAE Team Emirates-XRG who controlled the pacing for race favourite and 2022 winner Pogačar.
The quartet would last out front until the 80km to go marker, at which point Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) launched a counter-move from the peloton to join sole breakaway survivor Milesi.
The pair continued out front for some time, despite a double move from Tudor duo Michael Storer and Gianluca Brambilla. They made a move at 71km to go but wouldn't make it across to Bernal and Milesi, eventually getting brought back 47km from the line.
Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) compete in the breakaway with Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) (Image credit: Getty Images)
Milesi dropped back soon after too, leaving Bernal alone out front with an advantage of 35 seconds. Behind the Colombian champion, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) attacked across to Milesi, working with the Italian to get back to Bernal and make it three up front at the start of the final lap with 32km to go.
Three kilometres later, Pogačar, his UAE teammate Isaac Del Toro, Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious), and Victor Lafay (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) went clear from the peloton, working their way across by the 24km mark.
Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG attacks with 22km to go for solo breakaway into Varese (Image credit: Getty Images)
Pogačar didn't wait much longer to make a move of his own, meanwhile, pushing on down the descent of the Montello. He swiftly built a gap and kept pushing on alone, while further back the chasers were eventually caught.
With 14km to go, Pogačar's lead hit the one-minute mark, though Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) wasn't giving up hope, launching an attack from the peloton. His move saw a select group form in the chase, with Del Toro, Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek) also in the move.
That group wouldn't stay away to contest second and third place, however, with a larger group coming out of the peloton to join them and race towards the line at 4km to go. Up the road, Pogačar celebrated another victory while those he had left behind battled it out in the sprint for the minor placings.
Final podium (L to R): Albert Withen Philipsen of Lidl - Trek on second place, race winner Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Julian Alaphilippe of Tudor Pro Cycling Team on third place (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
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