Victory "wasn't possible" - Higuita flies Colombian flag into fourth at Il Lombardia

Sergio Higuita led BORA - hansgrohe at Il Lombardia in search of results, and he got away with a strong fourth place. A result however that was unlikely to be improved taking into consideration the distance behind the podium.

"It was a tough and pretty fast day, with some of the best riders in the world," Higuita said in a post-race interview. "I had several teammates still up front when the field began to thin out and we rode confidently." The Colombian was in a chasing group as Tadej Pogacar and Enric Mas stormed up Civiglio.

"When I was in the small chasing group behind Pogacar, Mas and Landa, I felt increasingly better, and so I decided to break free from the chase group with Rodriguez. We tried to bridge the gap to Landa, and we seemed to be making good progress, but in the end it just wasn't possible," he said.

Higuita rode consistently alongside the Spanish champion, and managed to hold off the rest of the group that had ridden alongside him before. He sprinted to fourth place, 52 seconds behind the winning duo, and 42 behind Mikel Landa who closed out the podium. A strong result for Higuita to close out a strong season that included five wins - three at World Tour level, including the GC at the Volta a Catalunya.

"However, I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with fourth place in this Monument," he admitted. "This is really one of the most beautiful races on the calendar, and hopefully over the next few years as I continue to develop as a rider I can improve on my fourth place and perhaps even take the win one day."