Il Lombardia 2025, monument, October 11

[RedheadDane]

Well, my "Mose Boys" were absolutely useless...
Don't tell me... did Skjelmose hit another road sign?

 

[AmRacer]

Wake me up when Pogacar crashes or retires. 💤🥱

SB, PR, TdF...you can wake up now?

 

[postmanhat]

Pello Bilbao in penultimate position and, Ganna in last position. To put Simmons' performance into perspective. Incredible.

I think he would have been third from the peloton.

It's a shame we didn't see how he dropped Del Toro..

Simmons has had so many physical and psychological issues previously, that we only rarely saw glimpses of his talent, and he fell way down the pecking order at a team with similar riders/other priorities. Understandably, this season he's had to earn his results the hard way, and it's been great to watch.

If Lidl were smart, they'd make him a protected rider for a lot more races. Would easily have beaten Storer today riding from the peleton.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Roglic beaten by Michael Matthews in Il Lombardia after preparing specifically for this part of the season. Sheesh...

You don't understand , his minor crash at the giro is still hurting him and he's far from his best, otherwise he would challenge for the win. Next year after finally recovering he will be back to his 2021 level

 

[Cycling111]

It seems Roglic's time has passed. His best moment this year was a 100-kilometer stage in Catalunya and time trials. Short efforts.

In the Giro, before the accident, he didn't look so good In the stage Ayuso won, Bernal overtook him in a sprint.

 

[Leinster]

If Lidl were smart, they'd make him a protected rider for a lot more races. Would easily have beaten Storer today riding from the peleton.

Simmons probably benefited from going up Ganda at his own pace with a 2-3 minute head start rather than having to follow the pace UAE set.

 

[Netserk]

If Lidl were smart, they'd make him a protected rider for a lot more races. Would easily have beaten Storer today riding from the peleton.

I don't think so. He's super strong for the kind of effort he made today, but climbing Ganda from the peloton is something else. I was very disappointed with his performance in Kigali, but maybe that was also about when he arrived and how he prepared.

 

[Pippo_San]

THE GOAT STRIKES BACK 🐐
(insert Darth Vader theme 🎵)

What a perfect machine on the bike.
Poetry.

 

[Red Rick]

Remco's engine is too good in 250 km races. Let's remember that when in form he's a very good climber (so he can tire out very good climbers in such a long classic).

It seems like the flats are why he tires less quickly than the pure climbers. He was clearly gassed at the end.

 

[Netserk]

You don't understand , his minor crash at the giro is still hurting him and he's far from his best, otherwise he would challenge for the win. Next year after finally recovering he will be back to his 2021 level

2026 is the new 2024. Rogla will be ready to rock!

 

[Cycling111]

Do you know how Carapaz is? The accident against that wall was horrible.

 

[Gigs_98]

Maybe, can join the likes of the previous couple of Lombardia’s.

At least last year Pogacar dominating Lombardia like that was still a novelty. People easily forget the few editions prior to that were rather close. He won his first two Lombardias in a sprint and in the third one he created the crucial gap on the descent, not the climb. None of these races were great, but they were much better than today.

 

[Hugh Januss]

V$ne must ride the Tour next year.

He could totally win KOM!

 

[Unchained]

No, 200 kilometer syndrome.

Sort of true, but Del Toro needs to put his bravado in his back pocket earlier instead of later after Pogacar blows everything up. Isaac needs to do less and stop trying to be shadow to Pogacar. Lots of stuff I hate about Quinn Simmons just needlessly spreading himself all over the road aimlessly also apply to Del Toro who needs to back off and save some juice.
In my opinion the biggest failure for UAE and Del Toro is not turning his volume knob down sooner and getting him in a rainbow jersey at gravel worlds. He still could have enjoyed most of all this Italian adulation.
He only needed to taper a little to be there.
And Pogacar didn't need Del Toro for any of this. Guys like Vine, Sivakov, Torres, Majka all perfectly capable of doing all Tadej requires, which ain't much. Seems like most UAE riders are just place markers to force Pogacar to act human for longer periods.
Recent Move podcast, Johan Bruyneel looks at Strava data from Pogacar and others, same race stats and often Tadej is consuming @15-20+% less calories than other riders. And Pogacar often in the wind alone, while calorie count for other riders is while they are in the wheels get some draft.
It makes sense to have a full fire department in case something goes sideways for Pogacar, but fans, other racers are seeing it as a bit of overkill. My point is sure Del Toro had an impressive day ,so what he could have won somewhere else.. and as far as spending bullets.. Did today help Del Toro if he is indeed going to race Trofeo..no

 

[houtdffan]

This from the CN live ticker: "We shouldn’t lose sight of how great Evenepoel has been in this latter part of the season, despite again being outclassed by Pogačar. Since the Worlds, his results have been 1st (World time trial) 2nd (Worlds road race), 1st (European time trial), 2nd (European road race) and 2nd (Il Lombardia) - if it weren’t for Pogačar, he’d have won all five."

Remco is riding amazingly well; he's just up against an historical talent. Not one thing to be ashamed about and Red Bull should be over the moon he's coming aboard next year.

One thing Red Bull will know how to do is make him more aero. He may be spending some serious time in the F1 wind tunnel this offseason

 

[Sciatic]

It IS a very beautiful race, and even though I believe the winner is inevitable I'm still interested in seeing if Remco can bring ANYTHING to this, if Seixas can podium his first monument ( and REALLY send everyone into a frenzy), who else might have a big day; there are still plenty of stories down the field. But I wouldn't bet a pair of shoelaces on Pogi losing, unfortunately.

great approach, same here

 

[Unchained]

So you know how Carapaz is? The accident against that wall was horrible.

When the motorcycle went by he was screaming that Del Toro or Yates crashed him intentionally..

 

[postmanhat]

Apparently everything wrong with Cian is mental, guy has best results since he announced he was defecting to Movistar. Bernal continues to come around. Simmons with a good result, good finish he really settled down after Pog blew past him.

Is that true? Think they finally resolved what was giving him problems physically on the bike, and he's been flying since the start of August. Had he already agreed a deal with Movistar then?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

It seems like the flats are why he tires less quickly than the pure climbers. He was clearly gassed at the end.

Evenepoel cooked almost everyone except Pogacar on the Ganda ascent. He's very good in such long races, not only on flats.

 

[Netserk]

Evenepoel cooked almost everyone except Pogacar on the Ganda ascent. He's very good in such long races, not only on flats.

Had it been a 180 km stage in the Giro with the finish at the top of the climb, he would also have dropped Storer.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Had it been a 180 km stage in the Giro with the finish at the top of the climb, he would also have dropped Storer.

I thought he was the second best climber on Ganda. And there were good climbers in this race. Am I wrong?

 

[Netserk]

I thought he was the second best climber on Ganda. And there were good climbers in this race. Am I wrong?

You're right, but I don't think that depended on the distance today.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

You're right, but I don't think that depended on the distance today.

Del Toro would hang on on a shorter course probably. Anyway, it wasn't only on flat that he was better than the rest today (as @Red Rick suggested).

 

[Danskebjerge]

Wishing a cyclist would have a crahs is the worst thing I've read here. And I've read a lot of things, but cyclists have died in races due to accidents.

I didn't wish it, dude.

 

[Andy262]

Massive difference between Remco and Pog is that Pog has a team around him tailored for these races. Remco doesn’t.

We all lose from the strength of the superteams because people like Vine, Del Toro could actually be contending in these races rather than just supporting Pog and ensuring nobody can take him by surprise.