Pogacar Helps Himself To Il Lombardia History

History was made this weekend in the world of cycling as Tadej Pogacar finally achieved his fifth straight Il Lombardia to draw himself level with Fausto Coppi's record of total wins in the race, and as many cycling fans had been expecting he did it in some style, overcoming his rivals with a phenomenal attack on the climb in the season ending Monument event.    

It caps a stunning season for the 27 year old Slovenian rider who is now probably very used to making history and entering the record books as earlier in the year he became the first man to win the Tour de France and world championship for two consecutive seasons, and his latest achievement sees him become the first rider in history to win the Monument five times in a row, and the first man to finish on the podium of all five Monuments in the same season.

For those cycling fans who enjoy europa league betting odds, they would have been looking at their options when it came to Pogacar given his consistency, as it is an incredible achievement for the man who has already won the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege during the calendar, so he now also becomes the first man since Belgian legend Eddy Merckx in 1975 to win three Monuments, the Tour de France and the world title in a single year.

His success was achieved after accelerating clear of a select group of favourites with 38km to go, and having caught Quinn Simmons, he soloed to his incredible win. He made his move on the Passo di Ganda climb and eventually crossed the line almost two minutes ahead of Belgium's Remco Evenepoel, with Australia's Michael Storer way back in third place. Great Britain pair Tom Pidcock and Adam Yates finished sixth and eleventh respectively.

Speaking after the race, Pogacar explained that he had received a 'really cool' telephone call with the Belgian great following his win, but that he was also now tired of constantly being compared to Merckx as he feels that riders should be judged on their own merits and not always compared to other. He was naturally though, very pleased with the 2025 that he has again enjoyed building on his success in previous years.

"To win five times in a row...every time I start it feels like this race is suited to me, but also at the same time that with such a good team around me we can pull it off. I always say, seven years in a row now, this is my best season, and again I can say this is the best season so far."

Il Lombardia general classification Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 5hrs 45mins 53secs Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +1min 48secs Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +3min 14secs Quinn Simmons (US/Lidl-Trek) +3min 39secs Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +4min 16secs Tom Pidcock (GB/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) same time Paul Seixas (Fra/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) same time Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) same time Jay Vine (Aus/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +4min 18secs Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel/Team Visma - Lease A Bike) +4min 30secs Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +4min 49secs    

Undoubtedly the comparisons will continue though as with ten career Monument wins to his name, he remains nine short of Merckx's career tally.