Tour of Lombardy: Pogacar repeats last year's victory

At the farewell of the two old stars Alejandro Valverde and Vincenzo Nibali, the two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar won the Tour of Lombardy as he did last year.

Click through: The career highlights of Vincenzo Nibali

Pogacar wins ahead of Mas & Landa

The Slovenian took victory on Saturday after 253 kilometres from Bergamo to Como ahead of the two Spaniards Enric Mas and Mikel Landa. The 42-year-old Valverde (Spain), who like Nibali (Italy) ended his successful career in the autumn classic, finished a respectable sixth place, 1:24 minutes behind. Nibali finished in 24th place.

Pogacar gave Mas no chance in the final sprint. The young star had already dominated the race beforehand. On the Civiglio, the penultimate climb, Pogacar increased the pace 19 kilometres before the finish to such an extent that only Mas was able to follow. The four-kilometre climb with an average gradient of ten per cent was also too steep for Nibali and Valverde. As a result, Pogacar was the first rider to win the cycling monument in both of his first two participations.

"It's great to come back and win again. To win the last race of the season - just great, unimaginable," said Pogacar: "I felt better and better after the World Championship. Everything went perfectly."

Valverde and Nibali celebrated

Before the race started, Valverde and Nibali were celebrated at the start. The Spaniard and the Italian appeared together to cheers from the cycling fans at the start. Former world champion Valverde is ending his career after 21 professional years at the age of 42. In addition to his world championship title, the man from Murcia had won the spring classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège four times, the Flèche Wallonne five times, the Vuelta once (2009) and numerous stages at the Tour and the Vuelta. However, he was also involved in the scandal surrounding doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.

Nibali with an extraordinary career

Nibali, now 37 years old, is one of the few riders to have won all three Grand Tours (Tour, Giro, Vuelta). The Italian has also triumphed twice at the Tour of Lombardy and once at Milan-Sanremo.

"I'm sad to leave the peloton, but I enjoyed it. I'm happy to have ridden at such a high level. I'm happy that I was able to ride for 21 years. I've achieved great things, now it's time for the young guys," said Valverde.

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