© Il Lombardia
Il Lombardia: Pogacar gets his hattrick
Unstoppable! Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) won Il Lombardia for the third time in a row, the final monument of the season.
After a 2023 season already rich in successes, including wins at the Tour of Flanders, Paris – Nice, the Amstel Gold Race, the Flèche Wallonne and podiums on the Tour de France and the world championships, the Slovenian rider showed the extent of his talent by achieving another prestigious victory.
Pogacar took off 30 kilometers from the finish and despite cramps in the final 13 kilometers, he managed to open up a sufficient gap to be able to celebrate his 63rd professional success.
Andrea Bagioli (Soudal – Quick Step) beat Primoz Roglic (Jumbo – Visma) to take second place, 52 seconds later in the streets of Bergamo.
“It is a dream. Three victories in three participations,” Tadej Pogacar explained. “I wanted to win solo, so once I managed to open up a small gap, I pushed as hard as I could on the pedals. It was incredible.”
The results: 1. Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) ; 2. Bagioli (Soudal – Quick Step) ; 3. Roglic (Jumbo – Visma)…
*****
Coppa Bernocchi: Van Aert finishes off the Jumbo – Visma masterclass
The Belgian Wout Van Aert (Jumbo – Visma) won the 104th edition of the Coppa Bernocchi in Legnano (Lombardy), thus posting the fifth success of his season. Escaping with eight other riders, the winner of Milan-San Remo in 2020 won in the sprint ahead of the Italians Vincenzo Albanese (Eolo-Kometa) and Andrea Bagioli (Soudal – Quick Step) at the end of the 186.65 km course.
Perfectly launched by his compatriot Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo – Visma), the 29-year-old rider was also able to count on the good work of his Slovenian teammate Jan Tratnik (Jumbo – Visma). He succeeds on the list of winners another Belgian, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal – Quick Step), who won in 2021, and the Italian Davide Ballerini (Soudal – Quick Step), who won last year. “It’s nice to win, especially after my season where I missed a lot of chances to win,” explained Van Aert, who took 2nd notably at the World Championships. “It feels good to raise my arms again, especially after the amazing team performance.”
The results: 1. Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) ; 2. Albanese (Eolo-Kometa) ; 3. Bagioli (Soudal – Quick Step)…
*****
Sparkassen Münsterland Giro: the surprise triumph of Hagenes
Per Strand Hagenes (Jumbo-Visma) won the 18th edition of the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro. With the rain and the wind, the race was brutal. A group of 30 riders, including Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin- Deceuninck), managed to escape from the main peloton. The main favorites like Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin- Deceuninck) and Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) as a result found themselves caught out. Two kilometers from the finish, Per Strand Hagenes took advantage of the numerical superiority of the Jumbo-Visma to escape. At 20 years old, the Norwegian secured the third victory of his career… but did not raise his arms, thinking that there was still one lap to complete. Kaden Groves and Mads Pedersen completed the podium. “The teamwork was still good after the climb and we were confident of being able to win,” recalled Hagenes, the hero of the day. “In the last kilometers, Christophe told me that I had to try something. I only realized I had won when I saw the staff applauding. I’m already looking forward to next season. The classics should suit me, and these are the races where I can progress. I hope to race a lot, but above all, I hope to learn a lot.”
The results: 1. Hagenes (Jumbo-Visma) ; 2. Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) ; 3. Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)…
*****
Tre Valli Varesine: Van Wilder surprises the favorites
Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-Quick Step) surprised the favorites to win the Tre Valli Varesine which takes place between Busto Arsizio and Varese. The Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) took 2nd place ahead of the Russian Alexandre Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe), 3rd, to complete the podium.
Eight riders spent the day in front but the peloton, once the chase started, made the catch 30 kilometers from the finish.
The Dutchman Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma), the Frenchman Warren Barguil (Arkéa Samsic) and the Italian Walter Calzoni (Q36.5) then tried to escape from the peloton. The trio remained ahead for around twenty kilometers.
The last climb of 2.5 km (5%), although costly in energy, was not enough to make the ultimate selection. The favorites, including Pogacar, Roglic, Carapaz, showed themselves to be the strongest. The rivalry between the big names then benefited Van Wilder who managed to drop everyone, adding a third victory to his record after his success at the Deutschland Tour, where he won the first stage and the overall in August.
The results: 1. Van Wilder (Soudal-Quick Step) ; 2. Carapaz (EF Education-Easy Post) ; 3. Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe)…
*****
Gran Piemonte: Bagioli keeps Soudal – Quick Step’s momentum rolling
After Ilan Van Wilder’s (Soudal – Quick Step) victory at the Tre Valli Varesine, Andrea Bagioli (Soudal – Quick Step) won two days later at the Gran Piemonte, thus bringing home the 55th bouquet of the season for the Belgian team.
Bagioli broke away 17km from the finish with his fellow escapees and got the better of his opponents in a four-man sprint to beat Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) and Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) at the end of the 152km race.
Between Borgofranco d’Ivrea and Favria, the Italian rider scored his third success since July.
“I wanted to end my story with the team by taking a victory in one of these final races of the season,” explained Andrea Bagioli. “I was very wary of my opponents in the final because I knew they were fast. Finally, I gave everything in the last 200 meters and managed to get ahead of them. As a team, we want to give everything until the end of the season and these two consecutive successes do us a lot of good.”
The results: 1. Bagioli (Soudal – Quick Step) ; 2. Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) ; Aranburu (Movistar Team)…
*****
Paris – Bourges: Démare wins again
Arnaud Démare (Arkéa Samsic) liberated himself by raising his arms during the Tour de Vendée, his first victory with his new team Arkéa – Samsic.
A few days later, the Frenchman did it again at the Paris – Bourges by winning with a very strong sprint ahead of another in-form rider, Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny). Jordi Meeus (Bora – hansgrohe), who recently won the final Tour de France sprint on the Champs-Élysées, took third.
With this new success, Arnaud Démare notched up his 95th win among professionals. It was the first time he had won this particular French race, after having taken second place three times.
“I have had many podiums here in Paris-Bourges, it really makes me happy to be able to add this race to my list of achievements. All my teammates did a great job. There was strong competition. I knew it was going to be difficult, but I succeeded and I’m very happy for the team,” said the 32-year-old rider.
The results: 1. Démare (Arkéa Samsic) ; 2. De Lie (Lotto Dstny) ; 3. Meeus (Bora – hansgrohe)…
*****
Paris – Tours: a successful internship for Sheehan
What a feeling! Riley Sheehan (Israel – Premier Tech) has been a stagiaire for the Israel – Premier Tech team since August 1st and quickly scored a magnificent victory in this UCI Pro Series event.
The 23-year-old American slipped away from the peloton 23 kilometers from the finish in the company of three other riders. Over the last difficulty, the escapees joined Lewis Askey (Groupama – FDJ), the only remaining survivor of the morning breakaway.
In the streets of Tours, it came down to a sprint between the five men and Sheehan proved to be the fastest ahead of Askey and the Norwegian Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team).
With this victory, Riley Sheehan showed that he deserved his place among the professionals. It was certainly a successful Sunday.
The results: 1. Sheehan (Israël – Premier Tech) ; 2. Askey (Groupama – FDJ) ; 3. Johannessen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team)…
*****
Upcoming races:
15 October: Chrono des Nations, https://chronodesnations.com
