OFFICIAL | Tadej Pogacar adds Italian classic inbetween European Championships and Il Lombardia

For the past few months it wouldn't have been a question in the head of many, but for the organizers of Tre Valli Varesine it meant everything. Tadej Pogacar, the reigning World Champion, will be present in the Italian autumn classic after the race was cancelled last year due to bad weather. It is believed that the two are heavily connected.

The Slovenian has won this race in the past in the year 2022 and throughout most seasons he's used this as a launchpad race for Il Lombardia, which he has now been winning for several years in a row. It's a winning formula, but this year after the Canadian classics, World Championships and European Championships that will take place this Sunday, it makes for a very heavy travelling schedule. Hence racing on Tuesday, in an event that is not particularly ideal for his abilities, was not a certainty.

However he and the team have made the decision, very likely with a great deal of influence on last year's outcome. With the likes of Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Tom Pidcock at the start, it promised to be a memorable edition but the heavy rain made it impossible. At the time the start was delayed, then the course cut short a few laps, and lastly the race was stopped with 110 kilometers to go due to bad weather conditions. It was impossible to resume the race as there were no signs of improvement.

At the time Pogacar said that "we are sad for the race to not continue, but it's like this. Luckily everybody was reasonable. I could see how heavy it was for the boss of the organisation. There were tears in the eyes. This race means a lot to them, but when you can't race you can't. They understood that immediately. I'm really thankful for that." However, it had been said that Pogacar promised to return the following year to compensate for the heartbreak that had happened.

If Pogacar is to win in France this weekend, he will do his first race as a World and European championship holder. Ahead of Il Lombardia, he will also want to test his legs on Italian roads before his final big goal of the season. "Kigali was an amazing experience and obviously I’m thrilled with the result and the performance of the team. It’s an honour to wear the rainbow jersey and I’ll continue to wear it with pride," he said in a press release issued by the team. 

"It’s been an amazing season for me personally and the whole UAE team, so we can say that anything that comes after this is a bonus. After the Europeans, Il Lombardia will be the last target of the season, and we decided to also do Tre Valli Varesine as a warm-up. As we all know, it was unfortunately cancelled last year so it will be nice to come back and honour the race.”

Alessandro Covi

Rafal Majka

Tadej Pogacar

Pablo Torres

Enea Sambinello