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."

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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