Il Lombardia 2022, one day monument, October 8, farewell to Nibali and Valverde

[ice&fire]

Pog and two dudes I never thought they would be on a monument podium

 

[noob]

At least we hade Como!

 

[Aimar16]

That was a lot closer than even I thought it would be.

It was just the camera angle. Pog won comfortably

 

[gregrowlerson]

Will be a classic when Pog is informed that Topcat was up the road.

 

[Pantani Attacks]

Pog not even in top gear. But to be expected. What a cyclist.

 

[Escarabajo]

The winner of the day: Pogacar
The surprise of the day: Landa
The bad tactic (positioning) of the day: Higuita

No big surprises for this race today as far as the 1st and 2nd.

Farewell Valverde, Nibali and Nieve. Pity the crash for Nieve. Hope he gets well soon.

 

[JosefK]

Pogi is liable to be adopted by the Italians. Well done, Pog, Mas, Landa.

 

[Breezy1985]

Pog and two dudes I never thought they would be on a monument podium

Nothing against Pog but I'm gutted one of the Spanish lads couldn't pull it off.

 

[perico]

Where have the Uber Mas haters been the last month? Up until the first real stages of the Vuelta, we had certain posters would pop into every major race thread just to take a crap on him.

 

[Scarponi]

Wonder how many of these will Pog win? Surely he gets 5 over his career

 

[titan31]

Piccolo finishing 11th is pretty impressive. Man is only 21 like.

 

[Escarabajo]

Yeah. dropping Sormano isn't that hot of an idea

But to be honest it would not have changed things IMHO.

 

[ice&fire]

Nothing against Pog but I'm gutted one of the Spanish lads couldn't pull it off.

Sadly the question of who of Landa and Mas is the worst sprinter remains unanswered.

 

[Climbing]

Wonder how many of these will Pog win? Surely he gets 5 over his career

Well I thought he would win 10 TdF in a row, but then again...
A bit like Mercx, when he wouldn't distance everybody he would beat them anyway at the sprint!
Thanks Ale and Vinnie, you will be sorely missed.

 

[Scarponi]

Well I thought he would win 10 TdF in a row, but then again...
A bit like Mercx, when he wouldn't distance everybody he would beat them anyway at the sprint!
Thanks Ale and Vinnie, you will be sorely missed.

Yeah it’s the sprint that’s really going to help him rack these up

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Congrats to Pogi on his second consecutive Lombardia! Great victory capping off a great season. The only thing missing was his start in Liege - big chance lost and no duel with Remco at a monument this year. This race is becoming kinda predictable with Pogi around - it's a matter of whether anybody is able to follow him only to lose the sprint. As long as he's strong enough to be in the front group he's hard to beat. This time it was Mas, who was strong enough to match him. Kudos to his performance as well. And to Landa on his podium place. And last but not least - goodbye Alejandro and Vincenzo! You will be missed.

 

[HelloDolly]

Sadly the question of who of Landa and Mas is the worst sprinter remains unanswered.

I think Landa has this

 

[titan31]

Wonder how many of these will Pog win? Surely he gets 5 over his career

Hard to know. I mean there's Remco who this race suits a lot too and then you've guys like WVA, VDP, Ala etc who are also challengers here depending how they structure their year, never mind who is coming in the future.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Sadly the question of who of Landa and Mas is the worst sprinter remains unanswered.

It would have gone unanswered even if Pog wasn't there. Either Mas would have dropped Landa or it would have been like the women's Amstel Gold when Longo Borghini and Niewiadoma, renowned as two of the worst sprinters in the bunch, were both so scared of proving to be worse than the other that they torpedoed their own chances of winning after taking a quick perusal of the course text for Domenico Pozzovivo's "how to finish 7th in a three man sprint" course.

 

[tobydawq]

Where have the Uber Mas haters been the last month? Up until the first real stages of the Vuelta, we had certain posters would pop into every major race thread just to take a crap on him.

And then he suddenly became a much better rider. No wonder that results in less criticism...

 

[Big Doopie]

miss remco. whether you like him or hate him, he rides in an exciting way. and cannot wait for the sprint. and wont be satisfied with anything but the win.

this was entirely predictable.

with uae showing the beginnings of sky-type dominance and riding, killing the race.

mas super good and put pog under pressure on the last climb at least.

 

[noob]

Ala #51 :/

 

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

But to be honest it would not have changed things IMHO.

It would’ve likely given a better chance to Mas, the best climber today.

 

[Netserk]

There was no clear path to 1st for Mas, but I think he nearly played his cards optimally. If he wouldn't be able to drop Pogi uphill (looking back, I don't think he could do that no matter how he tried), his only viable option left would be to force Pogi to go too long in the final sprint. For that, he needed Landa to be gapped, but close enough to come back in the final km. A bit like in Ronde.

He should have stopped pulling a little bit earlier to keep Landa closer, and then in the final km he should have done like Vino in London and blocked Pogi's vision to Landa.

The Valverde card was over with almost instantly, as the gap on Civiglio grew too quickly.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

And then he successfully stayed upright for eight days in a row. No wonder that results in less criticism...

FTFY, as I think that was the most important part of it