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Tadej Pogacar's absence following his fall in the Vuelta a España was linked to a series of victories by other riders. Brandon McNulty and Remco Evenepoel took champion jerseys previously held by Pogacar, while Enric Mas won his first major stage race and Paul Seixas his first monument. The succession of winners was presented as evidence that, without Pogacar, the autumn's racing became less predictable and more open.
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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.
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Brandon McNulty, the new world champion, was named leader of UAE Team Emirates for Saturday’s Tour of Lombardy, according to the published starting list. His teammate Tadej Pogačar, who won the Italian classic in the previous five editions, was still recovering from a crash in the Vuelta.
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Davide Piganzoli of Visma–Lease a Bike won the one-day Tour of Emilia from Ferrara to Bologna. He benefited from the team’s strong presence in the leading group, which also included Ben Tulett in fourth and Matteo Jorgenson in fifth. Brandon McNulty, wearing the rainbow jersey for the first time after his world title in Montreal a week earlier, finished tenth. The American remained among the contenders until the final 20 kilometers and attacked several times before being dropped after Piganzoli’s acceleration. The decisive attacks came during the fourth passage of the San Luca climb, which was tackled five times in the closing phase.
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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.