Il Lombardia - 8th October 2022 **spoilers**

andyp

Thought it was timely to create a spoiler thread ahead of the final monument of the season.

This year the race switches the start and finish towns from last year, starting in Bergamo and finishing in Como after 253 kms of climbs and lake views through the best of the Lombardia countryside.





The final has changed from previous editions, with two ascents of the San Fermo Della Battaglia climb, the first after 225 kms, followed by the ascent up to Civiglio, then the second peaking out at 247 kms, followed by a fast and twisty descent down to finish on the Lungo Lario between Como and the lake that bears the same name.

Most pundits expect a showdown between Tour de France winner, Jonas Vingegaard, who prepared with two stages win and second on GC in the recent Cro Race, and the Tour runner-up and defending champion, Tadej Pogačar, whose preparation has been more high profile with wins at the GP Montreal and Tre Valle Varesine in recent weeks.

Other contenders include former winners Bauke Mollema, Jakob Fuglsang and Vincenzo Nibali, plus Enric Mas, who won last Saturday's Giro dell'Emilia ahead of Pogačar, Romain Bardet, Adam Yates, Dani Martinez, Sergio Higuita, Aleksandr Vlasov and Julian Alaphilippe.

This race will be the final race for both Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde, two of the biggest names of the sport over the past fifteen years.

andyp

Simon Yates is a non-starter, he withdrew earlier the week due to injuries sustained in a crash at last weekend's Giro dell'Emilia.

No_Ta_Doctor

Michael Nieve's career ends with a bad crash 😢

Pozzovivo also down hard and abandons

ddraver

A lot of people about to fall into the old Italian Classics are on Saturday trap.

Me included...🙈

Mad_Malx

Just turned in. Bit dull I take it?

kingstongraham

It's very pretty

poweredbyidris

Has allowed Hatch to warble on every 5 mins about Valverde and Nibs retiring

gsk82

Mad_Malx said:

Just turned in. Bit dull I take it?

I've always struggled to be interested in it. Maybe I find it dull because I'm not bothered

seanoconn

Great effort by Mas. Looked a lot closer head on.

hanshotfirst

"Planet Pog" 😒

r0bh

Is this the fewest posts for a monument ever?

No_Ta_Doctor

Worst sprint ever by Mas. Goes while Pog is looking straight at him, doesn't even get level.

No_Ta_Doctor

Race was fairly dull but very pretty. Background cycling

Pross

Felt like a much stronger field than usual. Caught the last 11km and thought there might be a bit of jeopardy for the front 3 when the two chasers came out of the group behind but they never got close. It should be a really good race but just suffers from its position in the calendar.

blazing_saddles

Just got back after an extended stay in Mallorca.
I guess I will have a lot of races to catch up on as the curtain comes down on the season.

rick_chasey

Totally out of action this afternoon, what did I miss?

TheBigBean

JV made the race hard enough that only Pogacar and Landa could stay with Mas. Landa struggled to stay with them. Pog won the two up sprint as you would expect.

Valverde won the sprint for 6th and waved goodbye.

bm5

Poor Nieve. Rubbish way to end his career. I have been a fan for many years. I always found his years at orica interesting as he seemed so unlike the others.

dish_dash

Pog scored big for almost everyone!

Player Pick Points
m.r.m. Pogacar 50
red.rider Pogacar 50
Dorset_Boy Pogacar 50
takethehighroad Pogacar 50
Dialatron Pogacar 50
dish_dash Pogacar 50
TheBigBean Pogacar 50
ducknumber1 Pogacar 50
orraloon Pogacar 50
twotoebenny Pogacar 50
gregster04 Pogacar 50
carbonclem Pogacar 50
singleton Mas 40
archieboy Mas 40
JimD666 Martinez 0
ocdupalais Mohoric 0