Nibali Wins Giro di Lombardia
Giro di Lombardia - the fifth and last of the great monuments of the professional road cycling season - was won by Bahrain-Merida's Vincenzo Nibali following a courageous solo attack.
199 riders lined up for the start of Giro di Lombardia 2017 in Bergamo, Italy. Weather conditions were mild and the riders started the race under the Lombardian sun in 15 degrees Celsius.
The 247 kilometer route would take the peloton along a beautiful route to sunny Como, birth town of physicist and father of voltage, Alessandro Volta (1745-1827). Como is also the birthplace of Pliny the Elder, author, natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, who perished during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, and his nephew Pliny the Younger, author and magistrate.
The hostilities started early. The race was dominated by a variety of attacks from riders from many teams, fighting for late-season success for their respective teams, for contract renewals, or to secure advantageous positions in current negotiations with new teams.
As the action of the day reached the Colma/Muro di Sormano climb, AG2R-La Mondiale's Mikael Cherel was alone in front, with QuickStep's Laurens De Plus chasing behind. Spectators and viewers, however, would hold their breath when De Plus went over the guardrail on the dangerous descent that followed. Ambulances and doctors were rushed to the scene and his team later reported De Plus' condition as fairly ok given the circumstances.
Meanwhile De Plus' teammate Philippe Gilbert had attacked together with BMC Racing Team's Alessandro Di Marchi. With 20 kilometers to go Team Sky's Gianni Moscon attacked for Team Sky on the Civiglo climb that followed Muro di Sormano.
17.2 kilometers from the finish Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr) once again showed great late-season form when he attacked on the climb. AG2R's Domenico Pozzovivo attacked and Bahrain-Merida's Vincenzo "The Shark" Nibali followed, passed Pozzovivo and joined forces with Pinot, who let Nibali take the lead on the way down from the mountain.
While Nibali and Pinot continued their role as front duo, Pozzovivo, Moscon, Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb), Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac), Nairo Quintana (Movistar) formed a group that would join forces in the chase.
Ten kilometers from the finish Nibali had left Pinot behind and held a seven second lead on the frenchman, while Uran and Moscon were chasing 43 seconds further back.
Pinot eagerly attempted to reel in Nibali, but Nibali disappeared on the horizon and initiated his battle versus the final climb in solo fashion and kept increasing his lead. Further back, Uran and Moscon were caught and Uran faltered. It was arrivederci Uran, winner of Wednesday's Milano-Torino.
Italian national champion Fabio Aru attacked for Team Astana on the final climb, hoping to bridge the gap to Pinot who was struggling 36 seconds behind race leader Nibali.
Frenchman Julien Alaphilippe (Team Quickstep) attacked, passed Aru and caught Pinot, whose energy reserves appeared empty.
Nibali crossed the finish line in solo fashion as winner of Il Lombardia 2017. Alaphilippe was chasing behind for second place. Moscon won the group sprint for third place, closely followed by Pinot and Pozzovivo.
"I finally bagged a great victory so I couldn't ask for more," race winner Nibali explained.
"It wasn't easy to reproduce what I did two years ago. It was even more difficult this time around because everyone viewed me as the favorite. To win a monument is always a huge achievement. I wanted this race to cap off a season with a lot of good results, I'm delighted I managed to do it in this magnificent race."
Discover great deals on bikes, components, accessories and clothing in our bike shop and subscribe to our training tracker service to plan, track and analyze your cycling training. Pro cyclists from Cannondale-Drapac, Orica-Scott and Dimension Data use our training tracker to win professional races: Sign up now.
2017 Il Lombardia Results:
1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 06:15:29
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:28
3 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky Pro Cycling 0:00:38
4 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ
6 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
8 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky Pro Cycling 0:00:40
9 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:42
10 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:00:47
11 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
12 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team
13 Egan Bernal (Col) Androni Giocattoli
14 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
15 Davide Villella (Ita) Team Cannondale - Drapac 0:01:12
16 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky Pro Cycling
18 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
19 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:26
20 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
21 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:20
22 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Team Cannondale - Drapac
23 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:56
24 Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:03:00
25 Rudy Molard (Fra) FDJ 0:03:41
26 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
27 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
28 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Lotto NL - Jumbo
29 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
30 Yonder Godoy (Ven) Wilier Triestina 0:04:45
31 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:18
32 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Orica-Scott
33 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
34 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb 0:05:51
35 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
36 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
37 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
38 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky Pro Cycling 0:08:08
39 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
40 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Lotto NL - Jumbo
41 Mathias Leturnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
42 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ 0:09:23
43 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:09:39
44 David Gaudu (Fra) FDJ
45 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie
46 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team
47 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:11:05
48 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team Lotto NL - Jumbo
49 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
50 Simone Velasco (Ita) Bardiani CSF
51 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Lotto NL - Jumbo
52 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
53 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini
54 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
55 Cristian Rodriguez (Spa) Wilier Triestina
56 Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Wilier Triestina
57 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
58 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
59 Rodolfo Torres (Col) Androni Giocattoli
60 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team Lotto NL - Jumbo
61 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team Cannondale - Drapac
62 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
63 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
64 Carlos Verona (Spa) Orica-Scott
65 Pierre Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
66 Jérémy Maison (Fra) FDJ
67 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates
68 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team
69 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb
70 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Katusha-Alpecin
71 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb
72 Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
73 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky Pro Cycling 0:11:10
74 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:11:24
75 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:12:36
76 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
77 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
78 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Lotto NL - Jumbo 0:14:33
79 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:14:49
80 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:15:21
81 Jan Bárta (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe
82 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Orica-Scott
83 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
84 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data 0:15:45
85 Brendan Canty (Aus) Team Cannondale - Drapac
86 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
87 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
88 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
89 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:16:37
90 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:17:09
91 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
92 Daan Olivier (Ned) Team Lotto NL - Jumbo 0:17:45
93 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini 0:20:18
94 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini
95 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini
96 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini
97 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-Scott 0:21:25
98 Nuno Bico (Por) Movistar Team
99 Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott
100 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-Scott
DNF Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
DNF Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
DNF Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
DNF Martin Elmiger (Swi) BMC Racing Team
DNF Amael Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
DNF Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
DNF Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team
DNF Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF José Mendes (Por) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Hugh Carthy (GBr) Team Cannondale - Drapac
DNF Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Team Cannondale - Drapac
DNF Davide Formolo (Ita) Team Cannondale - Drapac
DNF Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Team Cannondale - Drapac
DNF Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ
DNF Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ
DNF Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ
DNF Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Dmitriy Kozontchuk (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
DNF Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
DNF Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
DNF Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini
DNF Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini
DNF Marino Kobayashi (Jpn) Nippo - Vini Fantini
DNF Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
DNF Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data
DNF Omar Fraile (Spa) Dimension Data
DNF Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Ben King (USA) Dimension Data
DNF Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
DNF Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Alberto Losada (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Stef Clement (Ned) Team Lotto NL - Jumbo
DNF Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky Pro Cycling
DNF Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky Pro Cycling
DNF Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky Pro Cycling
DNF Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
DNF Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Alberto Cecchin (Ita) Wilier Triestina
DNF Miguel Eduardo Florez (Col) Wilier Triestina
DNF Daniel Martinez (Col) Wilier Triestina
DNF Alex Turrin (Ita) Wilier Triestina