In Merckx spheres

Pogacar celebrates 4th Lombardy Tour victory in a row

Tadej Pogacar(Bild: AFP)

The Slovenian Tadej Pogacar has rounded off his outstanding season with his 4th Tour of Lombardy victory in a row!

The world champion from the UAE team won the 118th edition over 255 kilometers from Bergamo to Como on Saturday after another solo ride over almost 50 kilometers ahead of Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian Olympic champion was more than three minutes behind. Two weeks after his triumph at the World Championships in Zurich, Pogacar celebrated his 25th victory of the season.

Such dominance has not been seen for decades
This year, the 26-year-old dominated the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France with six stage wins each, and before the Lombardia he was also ahead in several other major one-day races such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Such dominance on various terrains has not been seen for decades, reaching back to the glorious times of the Belgian Eddy Merckx (who tested positive for doping several times) in the 1960s and 70s.

Coppi still holds the record with five Lombardia victories
Pogacar also won in Lombardia on his fourth participation. This time he attacked 48.4 kilometers before the finish in the Sormano climb and finished unchallenged after another long solo ride, as he has done so many times before. Only the legendary Italian Fausto Coppi from 1946 to 1949 had previously managed four consecutive victories in the traditional Classics season finale. However, Coppi still holds the record with a total of five Lombardia victories.

Pogacar took the annual tally of his UAE team, which was just as dominant as the other racing teams, to 82 victories. In the few remaining races, his teammates may yet break the record of 85 victories set by the Columbia team in 2009. One of the UAE victories to date is by Felix Großschartner, who will be competing in the Guangxi Tour in China next week.