Pinot wins Il Lombardia

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Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) won the 2018 Il Lombardia with a solo attack on the penultimate climb of Civiglio, leaving defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) in his wake.

Nibali took second place, 32 seconds behind the Frenchman, having been part of the elite attacking group from the top of the Muro di Sormano onwards. Dylan Teuns (BMC Racing) rounded off the podium with a sprint from the chasing group, 43 seconds down.

Primož Roglič (LottoNL-Jumbo) kicked off the days' festivities with a long-range attack on the Sormano. His attack provoked Nibali and Pinot into going, with the trio leaving the remains of the peloton behind as they crested the top of the climb.

Egan Bernal (Team Sky) joined them after a fearless descent, and the four men enjoyed a 40-second lead as they hit the climb of Civiglio with 19km to race. Roglič and Bernal fell back on the climb, leaving just Pinot and Nibali up front.

After several attempts to get away, the Frenchman managed to gap Nibali at the top of Civiglio, going solo with 14km to the line. Nibali couldn't offer a response, and it was game over as Pinot soloed to his first Monument victory just days after triumphing at Milano-Torino.

Nibali was caught by the chasers in the closing kilometres, but managed to immediately strike out to take a solo second place.

"Among the Monuments, Il Lombardia is the nicest in my mind," said Pinot after the win. "I've always wanted to win it. I'm in the best shape of my career but to win ahead of Nibali is something very special.

"When I saw him attacking I said 'bingo, this is the right move.' I'm glad he attacked at Sormano. That was the key to success."

Nibali was philosophical after his second place, happy with the result after his late-season plans were thrown into turmoil after suffering fractured verterbrae in a crash at the Tour de France.

"The condition is what it is," he said. "However it grew just in time for Lombardia, which is a very beautiful race for me. I care about it but I couldn't do more - Pinot was the winner in Milano-Torino and had a was in top condition like I was last year.

"I still managed to get this good second place with the grit which is important to me as an athlete. It's a kind of redemption for all that has happened - a good success."

How it unfolded

There would be a slight change of route at the final European WorldTour race of the years. With the race 6km shorter than last year at 241km, the final climb of San Fermo della Battaglia left out due to road problems. The Madonna del Ghisallo, Muro di Sormano and Civiglio remained though, while the final test would be Monte Olimpino, a short climb topping out 3.3km from the finish.

It took a 4km battle for the break of the day to establish themselves. Davide Ballerini (Androni-Sidermec), Umberto Orsini, Alessandro Tonelli (both Bardiani-CSF), Florian Sénéchal (Quick Step Floors), Franck Bonnamour (Fortuneo-Samsic), Jonathan Restrepo (Katusha-Alpecin), Michael Storer (Team Sunweb), and Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates) were the lucky men out front.

In the race's early stages, Movistar were among the teams working on the front, on behalf of new world champion Alejandro Valverde. Five minutes up the road, the break tackled the day's early climbs - the Colle Gallo and Colle Brianza.

On the Madonna del Ghisallo (8.5km at 6.2%) the real attrition started as Bahrain-Merida upped the pace at the head of the peloton with a Vincenzo Nibali repeat victory in mind. Up front, the break fell apart, leaving Orsini, Tonelli, Storer and Bonnamour as the leaders. Over the top, their advantage was 1:45 with 60km to race.

Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) and Jan Hirt (Astana) were among the attackers on the climb, with the Australian going solo on the descent. He was caught on the lower slopes of the Muro di Sormano though, as LottoNL-Jumbo set the pace in the peloton.

At 1.9km, the Sormano is a short climb, but the 15.8% gradients (27% maximum) bit. The break was quickly caught and Primož Roglič launched an attack 49km out as the peloton shattered behind.

Towards the top, Nibali and Thibaut Pinot leapt out of the peloton, which was already only around 20-men strong. Dropped on the climb, Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) came to grief at the top after a spectator's camera strap caught on his handlebars. The Frenchman managed to stop before hitting the deck though.

Nibali led the way down the technical descent, with Roglič chasing the lead duo down, eventually making it a trio with 38km to race. Further back, Egan Bernal flew down the descent alone, some ten seconds back.

As the leaders hit the shores of Lake Como at the bottom of the descent, Bernal was with them. The foursome were 45 seconds up with 30km to race. Meanwhile back in the chase group Daniel Martinez (EF-Drapac) put in a big turn of at the front for his team leader Rigoberto Urán.

On Civiglio, a 4.2km 9.7% climb which started 19km out, Roglič and Bernal were dropped as Pinot and Nibali pushed on. Further back, the chase was stalling before Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) tried an attack near the top of the climb. Up front, Pinot managed to drop Nibali, having previously attempted several attacks.

Inside the final 10km, 45 seconds separated Pinot and the chase group, while Nibali was 25 seconds behind the Groupama-FDJ man. With victory almost certain for Pinot on Monte Olimpino, the main suspense in the final kilometres concerned the destination of the final podium spots.

Another Martin attack saw Nibali caught 3km from the line, but 'the Shark' wouldn't give up, immediately countering from the chase group which included two of his Bahrain-Merida teammates.

It was an impressive second wind from the Italian, who eased away from the chasers to salvage a second place after his season-ruining crash caused by a fan on the Alpe d'Huez in July. Dylan Teuns won the sprint for the final podium spot, 11 seconds behind Nibali.

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