After struggling to eat during the six hours of racing at Il Lombardia, 23-year-old Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) survived cramps to take seventh in just his second Monument appearance.
The Belgian was completely exhausted at the line in Como, opting to lie straight on the tarmac as he tried to recover after a full gas day in the saddle.
In the end, he was just delighted to have made it and not completely capitulated in the final 48km after race winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) attacked solo and left the rest of the field in his wake.
"I'm happy I'm here, I'm happy I finished. I said it before, I didn't have the best legs today," said Van Eetvelt to reporters at the finish.
"I was really surprised and I was really scared of the last climb. My legs were cramping so hard and I'm happy I've made it."
Van Eetvelt was racing for the first time since abandoning the Vuelta a España with breathing problems and was well in the fight for the podium alongside Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Enric Mas (Movistar) after bridging across solo on the Colma di Sormano.
However, by this point, the effects of not being able to eat set in and Van Eetvelt began to struggle and was barely able to offer assistance to his compatriot and Mas in their chase of Pogačar, before Evenepoel eventually set off on his own to take second.
"At the beginning of the race, I already felt it was maybe not my best day. I was a little nauseous and had trouble eating so I couldn't really eat a lot," revealed the Belgian.
"After three or four hours it's still fine but after five or six you really feel it and I was thinking maybe I would just have to do my own pace on the climb and then see.
"But when Tadej went, I tried to follow Remco just for myself and for people at home because it's the last race of the season so I also wanted to show something."
Upon reflection, there was some regret in Van Eetvelt's comments having tried to stick with Evenepoel for so long and not just ridden his own pace. This led to him taking seventh in the final having been caught by Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) on the descent into Como and losing the reduced sprint.
"On the Colma di Sormano, I was surprised that I could follow Remco for so long. In retrospect it might not have been the best idea to try that, because I didn't have my best day," said Van Eetvelt to home broadcaster Sporza.
"I would have liked to ride with Remco, but I was fighting the cramps and I was actually surprised that I was there. I was really on the limit. Did I think about the podium? At a certain point, yes, but I also felt my legs."
It's been a great season of ups and downs for Van Eetvelt, who after taking overall victory at the UAE Tour and 11th at Strade Bianche was sidelined for more than three months after undergoing knee surgery and being hit by a car in training. He then bounced back fully with third at San Sebastian before impressing at the Vuelta ahead of suffering from the breathing problems as mentioned.
With this seventh at Lombardia, Van Eetvelt has closed out the European season on a high, and his year isn't over yet as he travels now to China for the final WorldTour race of the season - the Gree-Tour of Guangxi.
"A lot of ups a lot of downs but I'm happy now I can have an up to end the season," he said. "I hadn't raced for a month before Lombardy. So I'm still reasonably fresh at the end of the year.
