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Vincenzo Nibali wins Il Lombardia

Vincenzo Nibali (Italy/Astana) capped a mixed 2015 season by winning Il Lombardia, his first Classic Monument title, on Sunday. Nibali attacked on the descent of the penultimate climb and soloed to victory in Como, Italy, finishing 21-seconds ahead of Dani Moreno.

October 4, 2015
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Vincenzo Nibali (Italy/Astana) capped a mixed 2015 season by winning Il Lombardia, his first Classic Monument title, on Sunday. Nibali attacked on the descent of the penultimate climb and soloed to victory in Como, Italy, finishing 21-seconds ahead of Dani Moreno (Spain/Katusha). The Shark of Messina also took top honours at the Tre Valli Varesine on Wednesday.

The day’s 11-man breakaway enjoyed a maximum of eight minutes, but by the foot of the famous Ghisallo climb at the 172-km mark it had been reduced to 2:30, with Astana doing most of the work in the peloton. At that point two of the fugitives, Argon-18’s Cesare Benedetti (Italy) and compatriot Marco Canola of the American UnitedHealthcare squad, flew away from the others. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland/Etixx-QuickStep) led a chase group out of the peloton.

The terribly steep Colma Di Sormano was up next and here Kwiatkowski and Tim Wellens (Belgium/Lotto-Soudal) separated themselves from the other and passed the two Italians up front. Astana’s work whittled the favourites group down to 20 by the top of the Sormano. The long, technical descent brought Nibali’s bunch closer to the Polish-Belgian alliance and by the foot of the penultimate ascent, the Civiglio, the duo had been caught.

Nibali attacked several times on the Civiglio and his teammate Diego Rosa, winner of Thursday’s Milano-Torino, was active as well. Rosa led a strong sextet over the top of the Civiglio and then Nibali’s launched his sublime descent. The move gave the Italian champion a gap to defend over the last climb and into Como. Moreno tried in vain to reel him in, but the Spaniard’s runner-up spot is still the greatest Monument result of his career. Thibaut Pinot (France/FDJ) placed third, his best Monument finish as well. The Italian and Frenchman have stood together on a podium before.

Nibali, who could only come fourth in defending his 2014 Tour de France title and was thrown out of the Vuelta a España for holding onto a team car, will feel redeemed by the win. After the race he said, “For sure what happened at the Vuelta was a serious mistake, even if it was not only my mistake. But it actually was a chance to start all over again. I can now say that being expelled from the Vuelta was a good thing, it helped me find some anger.”

2015 Giro di Lombardia
1) Vincenzo Nibali (Italy/Astana) 6:16:28
2) Dani Moreno (Spain/Katusha) +0:21
3) Thibaut Pinot (France/FDJ) +0:32
76) Christian Meier (Canada/Orica-GreenEdge) 19:49