Young star Paul Seixas has made history by becoming the youngest ever winner of the Tour of Lombardy. The 20-year-old Frenchman claimed victory solo after 239 kilometres in the 120th edition of the autumn classic. At the age of 20 years and 16 days, Seixas surpassed the Italian Giovanni Gerbi, who was 20 years and 161 days old when he won in 1905. In fact, only three riders have ever been younger when winning one of cycling’s five Monuments.
Vuelta winner Enric Mas of Spain and the Italian Giulio Ciccone crossed the finish line in Como in second and third place respectively. Meanwhile, the hot favourite Remco Evenepoel was dropped on the penultimate climb and eventually finished fourth.
Pogacar’s winning streak comes to an end
Seixas, who had finished fourth in his Tour de France debut, thus brought an end to superstar Tadej Pogacar’s winning streak. The Slovenian, who had won the race five times in a row, had ended his season early following a broken collarbone sustained at the Vuelta.
For Seixas, this was already his eighth win of the season. He had previously won the semi-classic Flèche Wallonne and the Tour of the Basque Country. He also finished third in the time trial at the World Championships.
The race was decided 18 kilometres from the finish, when Seixas shook off the entire field on the steep Civiglio climb and was subsequently unable to be caught.
Drivers’ protest before the start
Before the peloton set off from Bergamo, the riders staged a five-minute protest in response to a recent spate of safety incidents. Evenepoel acted as the riders’ spokesperson during the protest.
“This week alone, there have been several incidents in which vehicles ended up on the racecourse. Two riders crashed following a collision with a motorbike that was travelling in the opposite direction on the track,” wrote Adam Hansen, speaking on behalf of the riders’ association, the CPA. “Tragically, one person lost their life this summer as a result of precisely this kind of negligence (note: Finlay Tarling). We will no longer tolerate this.”
Tarlings’ father, Michael, expressed his gratitude for the campaign. “Changes are needed, and no other family should ever have to receive the call we received on 14 August. We sincerely hope that the UCI (International Cycling Union) will listen and that changes will be implemented,” he wrote on X.
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