Paul Seixas wins Tour de Lombardy solo, his first Monument at 20
The 20-year-old Frenchman attacked on the Civiglio, dropped Remco Evenepoel and Isaac del Toro, and finished alone between Bergamo and Como on Saturday.
Solo finish on the Civiglio
The 246 km race ran from Bergamo to Como on Saturday 10 October, the last of the season's five Monuments. As the final climb began, 20 km from the finish, Pidcock, Del Toro, Evenepoel, Seixas and Ciccone were together at the front of the peloton. Seixas accelerated 18 km from the line and dropped Del Toro and Evenepoel. Pidcock and Ciccone tried to follow but cracked quickly against his power. AD.nl put the attack at 19 km from the finish. Seixas then bridged to the breakaway riders and rode on alone.
- Favourites are together at the front as the final climb begins
- Seixas accelerates and drops Del Toro and Evenepoel
- Seixas wins alone
Predecessor and record
Sources differ on whom Seixas succeeded. 20minutes says he followed Tadej Pogacar, a five-time winner, while Franceinfo and Le Figaro say he succeeded Thibaut Pinot, the last French winner, in 2018. According to 20minutes, Seixas became the youngest winner in the history of the Tour de Lombardy. AD.nl reported that Pogacar was absent through injury and had won the previous five editions.
Build-up and the world championships
Before Lombardy, Seixas had finished second at Liege-Bastogne-Liege and won the Fleche Wallonne, according to 20minutes. AD.nl reported that he skipped the European Championships in Slovenia the week before to prepare for Lombardy. At the world championships in Montreal he took bronze in the time trial, behind Remco Evenepoel and Filippo Ganna. In the road race he suffered cramp in the final kilometres and finished 15th. Franceinfo described the Lombardy win as a response to those world championships, which had been held two weeks earlier.
Mollema's final race
Bauke Mollema, 39, from Groningen, rode the Tour of Lombardy for the eighteenth and last time as a professional. He won the race in 2019 and told AD.nl that finishing his career there was no coincidence.
I have always had this in mind. A race I love enormously. That does something to me.
Mollema called his 2019 Lombardy victory the best win of his career, ahead of two Tour de France stage wins, a Vuelta stage and the Clasica San Sebastian.
That I was allowed to win a monument feels like something magical. A monument, that really speaks to you. That still ranks higher than winning two Tour stages.
Seixas's win ends a run of Pogacar and Pinot era results in which only one Frenchman had won the race since 2018.
