Ireland's Nicolas Roche was in the mix at the end of the Tour of Lombardy; the type of classic he may focus on more in the years ahead. But it was Vincenzo Nibali who had that extra gear into Como.
Nicolas Roche strong as Vincenzo Nibali wins Lombardy
Having both gone into the Tour of Lombardy hopeful of a big result Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin have been left disappointed.
Just the race really began to explode on the penultimate climb with 20km remaining, Martin drifted off the back of the peloton.
For his part, BMC’s Nicolas Roche would finish in a six-man group just behind those sprinting for 3rd. He would place 12th on the day, some 47 seconds behind winner Vincenzo Nibali.
Going into today’s race, Roche was fresh from his 4th place at Giro dell’Emilia last week.
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And while his form was clearly very good and he rode solidly today, he perhaps would have expected at least a top 10 today.
However, it was interesting to see him so intently focus on this race. And perhaps that is the first sign of a slight shift towards the classics for Nicolas Roche in the next few years.
Dan Martin (QuickStep) was 36th today, coming home in a small group 5:51 down.
He had placed 11th in Milano-Torino on Thursday. And while he was hopeful that ride may bring him on for today’s race, it simply wasn’t to be.
He had been forced into a six-week lay-off after his crash at the Tour de France. And he paid for that today.
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The bunch had been trimmed significant and the early attackers caught by the time Martin got into trouble.
On the climb of the Civiglio, and in the lead-in to it, FDJ did much of the driving.
And Ireland’s Martin, who clearly did not have the legs today, was distanced by what was still a very large group.
As the ascent progressed FDJ leader Thibaut Pinot put in a number of surges and what remained of the field fell apart.
The Frenchman was forced to attack several times before he got clear. And as he neared the top of the climb, Nibali (Bahrain Merida) jumped across to him.
Italian favourite Nibali sat on Pinot for a short period. And when Pinot took a bottle from the roadside Nibali put in a little dig.
His French rival scrambled to put his bidon back into its cage and get tight onto Nibali’s back wheel.
But when the descent started it was Nibali who did all the riding. And while Pinot held him for a long time, Nibali’s skill going fast down the climb was clear to see.
He would have a gap of just 6 seconds as the descent ended, but the race was over.
Nibali put the head down and continued to increase the gap on the lone chaser and a group of about 12 behind, which included Roche.
The lone leader never let up; blasting up and down the final climb and into the finish in Como for a clear victory.
Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step) would attack the chasers to come solo for 2nd; the gap to Nibali closing by about 20 seconds to 28 by the finish.
And 38 seconds after the winner crossed the line Gianni Moscon (Team Sky) took a sprint from a group of seven for 3rd with Pinot 5th.
Sat Oct 7: Tour of Lombardy (247km)
1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 6:15:29
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:28
3 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:38
4 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ
6 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
8 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:00:40
9 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:42
10 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:00:47
11 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
12 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team
36 Dan Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:05:51
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