◆3 sources
France’s Paul Seixas won the 120th Tour of Lombardy, completing an 18-kilometre solo ride to become the race’s youngest-ever winner at 20 years and 16 days. The 240-kilometre race ran from Bergamo to Como.
Enric Mas of Spain finished second and Italy’s Giulio Ciccone third. Bauke Mollema rode the final race of his career in Italy.
10 sources
Bauke Mollema ended his professional cycling career at the Tour of Lombardy, his final race after 19 seasons. The 39-year-old Dutch rider, who won the Italian classic in 2019, finished 114th and last among the classified finishers in the 239-kilometre race from Bergamo to Como. He was 21 minutes and 16 seconds behind winner Paul Seixas, according to one report. Mollema said after the race that he was exhausted and glad it was over. He became emotional during his farewell. Before the start, he and four other retiring riders—Pello Bilbao, Rudy Mollard, Odd Christian Eiking and Ion Izagirre—were honoured with a guard of honour and a framed picture. Mollema said he does not yet know what he will do after cycling and wants to spend time with his family and enjoy life.
2 sources
Reports described an autumn cycling season in which Tadej Pogacar was absent after a crash in the Vuelta a España, leaving races less predictable. Brandon McNulty and Remco Evenepoel took over champion jerseys, Enric Mas won his first Grand Tour and Paul Seixas won his first Monument.
6 sources
Remco Evenepoel won the European road cycling title in Slovenia after beating Giulio Ciccone in a two-man sprint decided by a photo finish. Christian Scaroni finished third, about a minute behind. The reported margin between Evenepoel and Ciccone was 0.0028 seconds. Ciccone later questioned the clarity and validity of the photo-finish result. The European cycling union, UEC, defended the system, describing it as extremely precise. Evenepoel remains the official European champion.
3 sources
Spanish cyclist Ion Izagirre is set to ride Saturday's Tour of Lombardy despite a fractured wrist sustained in a training accident more than a week earlier. The 37-year-old had initially appeared likely to miss the race because of the injury. The Italian classic is due to be the final race of Izagirre's 17-year professional career. He said he did not want to end his career because of the injury and plans to start in Lombardy.