2015 Il Lombardia

March 2015 2015 Il Lombardia 2015 UCI World Tour 28 28 Il_Lombardia-2015.jpg Official event poster 260 4 October 2015http://www.uci.ch/road/calendar/detail#date=20150401&view=list&categ=257&country=0&classc=0 2015 UCI Calendar 4 January 2015 UCI 1 245 km 6h 16' 28" Vincenzo Nibali AST 2015 ITA Daniel Moreno KAT 2015 ESP Thibaut Pinot FDJ 2015 FRA 2014 2016 The 2015 Il Lombardia (also known as the Giro di Lombardia or the Tour of LombardyTour of Lombardy http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/tag/tour-of-lombardy Cycling Weekly Time Inc. UK 19 October 2015 The Tour of Lombardy, or the Giro di Lombardia, or just Il Lombardia https://web.archive.org/web/20151006000551/http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/tag/tour-of-lombardy 6 October 2015 dead dmy-all) was a one-day cycling classic that took place around Lake Como in Lombardy in northern Italy on 4 October 2015. It was the 109th edition of the Il Lombardia one-day cycling race and was the final cycling monument of the 2015 season, as well as being the final race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The race was organised by RCS Sport, who also organise the Giro d'Italia. The course was difficult, taking in several hard climbs over the 245 km on route, including the famous Madonna del Ghisallo climb. It started in Bergamo and reached the coast of Lake Como about halfway through the race. The final 75 km contained most of the climbing, with the final climb coming in the last 10 km. This was followed by a descent to the finish line in Como itself. thumb|300px|Profile of the route There was aggressive racing from the climb of the Madonna del Ghisallo and the very difficult Muro di Sormano that followed it. A small group came to the final climbs together. Vincenzo Nibali (AST 2015), who had targeted the race following his expulsion from the Vuelta a España, attacked on the penultimate descent. Despite losing some time to the chasers on the final climb, he came to the finish line alone to take his first ever Monument victory. Daniel Moreno (KAT 2015) was second, with Thibaut Pinot (FDJ 2015) third. Background Il Lombardia was the final race in the 2015 UCI World Tour. This was a change from recent years, when the Tour of Beijing was the final race.http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-confirm-worldtour-calendar-2015 UCI confirm WorldTour Calendar 2015 4 January 2015 Cycling News The individual victory in the World Tour had already been won by Alejandro Valverde (MOV 2015). Valverde had won two of the one-day classics that took place early in the season (La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège) and took top ten places in both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. KAT 2015 were leading the team rankings ahead of Movistar and SKY 2015, while Spain were leading the country rankings ahead of Colombia and Great Britain.Wynn Nigel Alejandro Valverde ‘wins’ 2015 UCI WorldTour http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/alejandro-valverde-wins-2015-uci-worldtour-191463 1 October 2015 Cycling Weekly 14 September 2015 Il Lombardia was also the last of a series of Italian classics. The most important of these came in two groups of three. The first three races formed the Trittico Lombardo: these were the Coppa Ugo Agostoni, the Coppa Bernocchi and the Tre Valli Varesine. Vincenzo Nibali (AST 2015) came second to Davide Rebellin (CCC 2015) in the Coppa Ugo Agostoni, then won the remaining two races.Tre Valli Varesine e Trittico, Nibali fa doppietta http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/30-09-2015/tre-valli-varesine-vince-nibali-trittico-lombardo-130327282723.shtml 1 October 2015 La Gazzetta dello Sport 30 September 2015 it Si è aggiudicato la 95esima edizione della Tre Valli Varesine, 198, 5 km, da Busto Arsizio a Varese e il Trittico Lombardo grazie alla vittoria della Coppa Bernocchi e al secondo posto alla Agostoni. Tre Valli Varesine and the Trittico: Nibali does the double The second group was the Trittico di Autunno: these were the Milano–Torino, the Gran Piemonte and Il Lombardia itself, which was the only one of the races to be part of the World Tour.Wynn Nigel Stars turn out for 2015 Milano-Torino: start list http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/stars-turn-out-for-2015-milano-torino-start-list-193843 1 October 2015 Cycling Weekly 1 October 2015 Diego Rosa, Nibali's teammate, won the Milano–Torino.Rosa wins Milan-Turin http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/test-race-2015/results/ 1 October 2015 Cyclingnews.com 1 October 2015 Immediate Media Company https://web.archive.org/web/20151002192220/http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/test-race-2015/results/ 2 October 2015 dead dmy-all Teams The seventeen UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited and obliged to attend the race.http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/Rulesandregulation/16/82/39/2-ROA-20150619-E_English.pdf UCI Cycling Regulations: Part 2: Road Races page 110 article 2.15.127 Union Cycliste Internationale 20 August 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150702030045/http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/Rulesandregulation/16/82/39/2-ROA-20150619-E_English.pdf 2 July 2015 The race organisers, RCS Sport, also invited eight UCI Professional Continental teams to take part as wildcard entries. These included the five wildcard teams from the Giro d'Italia, four of which were Italian-based. UHC 2015 and COL 2015 received entries after being rejected for the Giro, with BOH 2015 receiving the final place.Brown Gregor Giro announces five wildcard teams; four Italian squads included http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/01/news/giro-announces-five-wildcard-teams-four-italian-squads-included_358594 30 September 2015 Velonews 19 January 2015 2 October 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151002071916/http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/01/news/giro-announces-five-wildcard-teams-four-italian-squads-included_358594 dead Each team was expected to enter eight riders.RCS 2015 32 Two riders failed to start the race, so the peloton initially comprised 198 riders. 99 riders finished the race. The teams entering the race were:Il Lombardia 2015 - Classic http://procyclingstats.com/race.php?id=150010&c=3 ProCyclingStats 30 September 2015 2015 World Tour teams ALM AST BMC TCG EQS FDJ TGA IAM KAT LAM TLJ LTS MOV OGE SKY TTS TFR 2015 Professional Continental teams NRI AND 2015b CSF VFN CCC UHC COL BOH Route The route for the 2015 Il Lombardia was announced on 11 September 2015, a little over three weeks before the race took place, with numerous changes from the previous year's route. The race took place in Lombardy in northern Italy on 4 October over a course that was 245 km in length, with most of the difficult hills coming in the second half.Como finale announced for 2015 Tour of Lombardy http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/como-finale-announced-for-2015-tour-of-lombardy/ 30 September 2015 Cyclingnews.com Immediate Media Company 11 September 2015 left|thumb|Bellagio on the shore of Lake Como The route began in Bergamo, where the 2014 race had finished, on the Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII. There was a neutral zone that took the riders south and out of the city, before the racing started on the Via San Bernardino. After first heading south, the route turned to the east and then to the north. After 43.6 km the riders reached Entratico, where they joined the main valley road heading north-east. The roads up to this point were almost entirely flat. 6 km after joining the valley road, however, the route turned to the west to cross the first climb of the day, the Colle Gallo (7.4 km at an average gradient of 6%). After the descent from the climb, the route continued west and returned to the outskirts of Bergamo. By this point the riders had completed 79 km of racing.RCS 2015 12–27 The route left Bergamo again, this time to the north-west, and went past Valbrembo. After this the course turned west to come to the second climb of the day, the Colle Brianza. This was a moderate climb (approximately 3.9 km at 4%) and the descent was followed by more flat roads that took the riders north towards Pescate, where they came to the shore of Lake Como for the first time. Here the course turned gradually back to the south, to pass along the eastern coast of the Lago di Annone and around its southern tip. This was approximately the half-way point in the race. The roads travelled north again, through Onno and to Bellagio, again riding along the coast of Lake Como. By this point the riders had covered 172 km. The remaining 73 km were by far the hilliest and most difficult of the race.RCS 2015 12–27 thumb|The view over Como from the top of the penultimate climb, the Civiglio. The final climb is in the background, while the finish line is on the shore of the lake. The first climb was the Madonna del Ghisallo. This is an 8.6 km on climb, with an average gradient of 6.2%. The middle 3 km of the climb are flat, however, so the remaining 5.6 km had an average gradient of over 9% and sections as steep as 14%. Immediately after the descent, the riders faced the Colma di Sormano. The first 5 km of the climb had an average gradient of 6.6%. After this came the Muro di Sormano (the "wall of Sormano"), which was a 1.9 km on section of road with an average gradient of 15.8% and sections of almost 30%. At the top of the climb there were 50.4 km to the finish line.RCS 2015 12–27 After the descent back to the shores of Lake Como, there were around 16 km of flat roads that took the riders south-west into Como itself. The riders only got as far as the eastern outskirts, however, before they turned to the east for the day's penultimate climb. This was the Civiglio (4.2 km at 9.7%), the summit of which came with 16.6 km to the finish. The riders then descended back into Como, which they reached with 10 km remaining. The route left the town to the west and climbed the San Fermo della Battaglia (2.7 km at 7.2%). The summit came with 5.3 km remaining. There was then a descent back into town. The descent ended as the riders went under the flamme rouge with 1 km remaining. There was a final corner with 600 m -1 to the finish line, which was on the Lungo Lario Trento on the shore of the lake.RCS 2015 12–27 Pre-race favourites thumbnail|upright|Alejandro Valverde (MOV 2015), photographed celebrating his victory in the 2015 Liège–Bastogne–Liège, was the favourite for victory in Il Lombardia. The defending champion in the race was Dan Martin (TCG 2015), who won the 2014 edition with a late attack. He had crashed during the Vuelta a España, however, and had been forced to retire from the race due to injury. After recovering from the injury, he had raced just once since the crash: he finished in 14th place in Milano–Torino. His form before the race was therefore unclear, especially as Il Lombardia is both longer and more difficult than Milano–Torino. Il Lombardia was the final race of Martin's season and also his final race for the Cannondale-Garmin team.Benson Daniel Dan Martin leads Cannondale for the last time at Lombardy http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dan-martin-leads-cannondale-for-the-last-time-at-lombardy/ 6 October 2015 Cyclingnews.com Immediate Media Company 3 October 2015 With Martin's form uncertain, the favourite for the race was Alejandro Valverde. As well as performing strongly in the early-season hilly classics in the 2015 season, he had been close to success in Il Lombardia in the past: he finished second in both 2013 and 2014. Max Sciandri, a directeur sportif for the BMC 2015, said that the increased difficulty of the 2015 edition suited Valverde: "now it suits the climbers and good descenders rather the Classics riders ... [Valverde] can climb, can descend and is even fast in a sprint finish."Farrand Stephen Valverde tipped as favourite for Tour of Lombardy http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/valverde-tipped-as-favourite-for-tour-of-lombardy/ 6 October 2015 Cyclingnews.com Immediate Media Company 3 October 2015 Cycling Weekly suggested that Valverde's ability to recover from the Vuelta in time for Il Lombardia would work in his favour.Puddicombe Stephen Il Lombardia 2015 preview http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/il-lombardia-2015-preview-193690 6 October 2015 Cycling Weekly Time Inc. UK 2 October 2015 Joaquim Rodríguez (KAT 2015 y) would also have been a strong favourite for the race: he won the 2012 and 2013 editions and had come second in the Vuelta. However, he injured his knee when he hit a sign post while training and was forced to withdraw from the race.Knee injury forces Rodriguez out of Lombardy http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/knee-injury-forces-rodriguez-out-of-lombardy/ 6 October 2015 Cyclingnews.com Immediate Media Company 3 October 2015 Vincenzo Nibali was also cited as a potential winner of the race, following a difficult season. He had struggled during the Tour de France and was subsequently thrown out of the Vuelta for holding on to a team car.Farrand Stephen Astana hoping to control the Tour of Lombardy to set up Nibali http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/astana-hoping-to-control-the-tour-of-lombardy-to-set-up-nibali/ 6 October 2015 Cyclingnews.com Immediate Media Company 4 October 2015 He had therefore made Il Lombardia a significant target. Nibali had performed strongly in the other late-season Italian classics, while his team had shown its strength in supporting Diego Rosa to victory in Milano–Torino. Fabio Aru, who had won the Vuelta, was not present: he was riding the Tour of Almaty instead. With Rodríguez absent, two other former champions started the race: these were Philippe Gilbert (BMC), the winner in 2009 and 2010, and Damiano Cunego (VFN 2015), who won in 2007 and 2008. Gilbert in particular was considered a potential winner of the race. Other favourites for the race victory included Thibaut Pinot (FDJ 2015), Rui Costa and Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida), Simon Gerrans (OGE 2015), Rafał Majka (TTS 2015), Robert Gesink (TLJ 2015), Warren Barguil (TGA 2015), Domenico Pozzovivo and Romain Bardet (ALM 2015), Michał Kwiatkowski (EQS 2015) and Tim Wellens (LTS 2015). Race report The race began in Bergamo with grey skies and rain falling. The race began with a succession of attacks; eventually an eleven-rider group escaped to form the day's principal breakaway. These were Stefan Schumacher (CCC 2015 y), Enrico Barbin (CSF 2015), Jan Polanc (Lampre-Merida), Matteo Busato (NRI 2015), Dennis van Winden (LottoNL-Jumbo), Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin), Pierpaolo De Negri (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Marco Canola (UHC 2015 y), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Argon 18), Jérôme Coppel (IAM 2015) and Oscar Gatto (AND 2015b). The break had a lead that extended to over eight minutes after the Colle Brianza, while the peloton was controlled principally by Astana, with some assistance from Movistar and Team Sky. By the foot of the Madonna del Ghisallo, the lead had been cut to just two and a half minutes.O'Shea Sadhbh Nibali wins Il Lombardia http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/il-lombardia-2015/results/ 6 October 2015 Cyclingnews.com Immediate Media Company 4 October 2015Stokes Shane Vincenzo Nibali wins Il Lombardia with stunning downhill attack http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/10/vincenzo-nibali-wins-il-lombardia-with-stunning-downhill-attack/ 6 October 2015 Cyclingtips.com.au Wallace Media Pty Ltd 5 October 2015 The Madonna del Ghisallo was the location for several attacks. In the breakaway, Benedetti, Canola, van Winden and Barbin broke away from the other riders. Michał Kwiatkowski was the first to attack from the peloton: he was then joined by Matteo Trentin, Carlos Verona, Łukasz Wiśniowski (all Etixx-Quick Step), Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale-Garmin), Jon Izagirre (Movistar), Robert Gesink, Timo Roosen (Lotto NL-Jumbo), Giacomo Nizzolo (TFR 2015) and Tim Wellens. After this climb came the Muro di Sormano. Benedetti and Canola led at the beginning of the climb, but they were soon passed by Kwiatkowski and Wellens. Wellens had to struggle to keep up with Kwiatkowski. Meanwhile, Astana rode hard in the main peloton, reducing it to around 20 riders. Philippe Gilbert and Dan Martin were among the riders unable to stay with the group and, despite Gilbert's efforts, they were unable to regain contact. thumb|left|Vincenzo Nibali (AST 2015), photographed during the 2015 Tour de France, attacked on the penultimate descent and won his first Monument. On the descent from the Sormano, Kwiatkowski and Wellens led, while Diego Rosa led the peloton on behalf of Nibali. The leading pair's advantage was reduced on the descent and then further on the flat section leading towards Como. As the climb of the Civiglio started with approximately 20 km remaining, Kwiatkowski attacked alone; he was caught, however, by the peloton just 0.5 km -1 later. Astana continued to lead the peloton; their pace reduced the front group to just seven riders. Rosa was among the riders to be dropped, but he worked with Sergio Henao (Sky) to return to the group. He was then one of several riders to attack towards the top of the Civiglio, along with Mikel Nieve (Sky), Nibali and Pinot. None of the attacks were successful, as Daniel Moreno (Katusha) brought the other riders back to the leaders, and the group came to the top of the climb together.Farrand Stephen Rosa shows his talent while supporting Nibali at Il Lombardia http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rosa-shows-his-talent-while-supporting-nibali-at-il-lombardia/ 6 October 2015 Cyclingnews.com Immediate Media Company 5 October 2015 Nibali attacked again just after the summit and rode alone down the descent. Despite almost colliding with a race motorbike at one point, he used his strong descending skills to gain an advantage over the rest of the group. He used the whole width of the road and coming very close to the crash barriers at various moments. Rosa, meanwhile, came to the head of the group in an attempt to slow the chase down. Nibali's lead at the foot of the descent was around 40 seconds.Wynn Nigel Watch: Vincenzo Nibali’s amazing descending in Il Lombardia http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/watch-vincenzo-nibalis-amazing-descending-in-il-lombardia-video-194136 6 October 2015 Cycling Weekly Time Inc. UK 4 October 2015 5 October 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151005204358/http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/watch-vincenzo-nibalis-amazing-descending-in-il-lombardia-video-194136 dead As the final climb began with 7.5 km remaining, Nibali was still over 40 seconds ahead of the group behind. Pinot attacked but was soon caught and passed by Moreno, who set off alone in pursuit of Nibali. Moreno made up some time during the ascent, but was unable to catch him. On the descent towards the finish line in Como, Nibali's superior skill at descending allowed him to stay ahead of Moreno and he reached the finish line alone to take the victory. Moreno finished 21 seconds later, with Pinot a further 11 seconds behind. Valverde won the sprint for fourth ahead of Rosa and Nieve. Result Result (1-10) 1 Vincenzo Nibali ITA AST 2015 6hr 16' 28" 2 Daniel Moreno ESP KAT 2015 + 21" 3 Thibaut Pinot FRA FDJ 2015 + 32" 4 Alejandro Valverde ESP MOV 2015 + 46" 5 Diego Rosa ITA AST 2015 + 46" 6 Mikel Nieve ESP SKY 2015 + 46" 7 Tony Gallopin FRA LTB 2015 + 56" 8 Esteban Chaves COL OGE 2015 + 56" 9 Sergio Henao COL SKY 2015 + 56" 10 Gianluca Brambilla ITA EQS 2015 + 1' 10" ProCyclingStats Post-race analysis thumbnail|upright|Thibaut Pinot (FDJ 2015), photographed during the 2015 Tour de France, finished third, securing his first top ten placing in a monument. Reactions Nibali said after the race that his victory in Il Lombardia made his expulsion from the Vuelta a "good thing" as it helped him find some anger. He went on to say that his success had got his season back on track, particularly as he was the first Italian to win one of the Monuments in a long time.Farrand Stephen Nibali proud of Il Lombardia victory http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nibali-proud-of-il-lombardia-victory/ 6 October 2015 Cyclingnews.com Immediate Media Company 6 October 2015 The last Italian to win any of the cycling Monuments was Damiano Cunego in the 2008 Giro di Lombardia.Giro di Lombardia, fantastico show di Nibali: vola in discesa e trionfa http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/04-10-2015/giro-lombardia-fantastico-show-nibali-vola-discesa-trionfa-130373708213.shtml 6 October 2015 La Gazzetta dello Sport RCS MediaGroup 4 October 2015 it Dopo sette anni, l'Italia torna a vincere una classica Monumento: l'ultimo era stato Cunego nel Lombardia 2008 Giro di Lombardia: A fantastic show from Nibali: he flew downhill and triumphed Nibali described the victory as being as good as a win in Liège–Bastogne–Liège; he said also that, despite the risks he took on the descent from the Civiglio, Peter Sagan was "crazier" than him when descending. Pinot described himself as "proud" at the end of the race, as Il Lombardia had been a major goal for him. He described Nibali as "the strongest, the smartest and the sneakiest" rider in the race.Farrand Stephen Il Lombardia: Pinot satisfied with podium place in season's toughest Classic http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/il-lombardia-pinot-satisfied-with-podium-place-in-seasons-toughest-classic/ 6 October 2015 Cyclingnews.com Immediate Media Company 5 October 2015 It was the first time Pinot had finished in the top ten of a Monument.Thibaut Pinot http://www.procyclingstats.com/rider.php?id=140628&c=3&statistic=classics ProCyclingStats 6 October 2015 Dan Martin, who had been unable to follow the leading riders on the Muro di Sormano, finished the race in order to repay his team's faith in him following his injury earlier in the season. He finished 52nd, nearly ten minutes behind Nibali, and said that he had not been strong enough to follow the attacks on the climb.Farrand Stephen Dan Martin finishes Il Lombardia to salute Cannondale-Garmin http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dan-martin-finishes-il-lombardia-to-salute-cannondale-garmin/ 6 October 2015 Cyclingnews.com Immediate Media Company 6 October 2015 UCI World Tour rankings Despite the points won by Moreno's second-place finish, Katusha were not able to win enough points to win the UCI World Tour rankings. The 60 points that Valverde won were enough to secure the overall victory in the team's competition, as well as increasing his own margin of victory in the individual classification.Valverde helps Movistar seal third WorldTour team victory http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/valverde-helps-movistar-seal-third-worldtour-team-victory/ 6 October 2015 Cyclingnews.com Immediate Media Company 5 October 2015 Pinot's third-place finish earned him 70 points and moved him up to tenth place in the World Tour rankings, while the success of the Italian riders moved Italy ahead of both Colombia and Great Britain to finish second behind Spain in the national rankings.UCI Individual – WorldTour 2015 http://www.procyclingstats.com/rankings/UCI_Individual_2015_10_05_WorldTour ProCyclingStats 6 October 2015 5 October 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151007005330/http://www.procyclingstats.com/rankings/UCI_Individual_2015_10_05_WorldTour 7 October 2015 dead dmy-allUCI Nations – WorldTour 2015 http://www.procyclingstats.com/rankings/UCI_Nations_2015_10_05_WorldTour ProCyclingStats 6 October 2015 5 October 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151007005219/http://www.procyclingstats.com/rankings/UCI_Nations_2015_10_05_WorldTour 7 October 2015 dead dmy-all References 30em Sources Il Lombardia (roadbook) http://ilombardia.it/Speciali/GiroLombardia/2010/it/download/Lombardia2015.pdf RCS Sport 30 September 2015 RCS 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151001182112/http://ilombardia.it/Speciali/GiroLombardia/2010/it/download/Lombardia2015.pdf 1 October 2015 dead dmy-all External links Category:Giro di Lombardia Il Lombardia Il Lombardia