cycling: Il Lombardia 2017: Nibali triumphs for the second time

Cycling: Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) has won the Tour of Lombardy for the second time. The Sicilian broke away on the penultimate climb alongside Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), leaving the Frenchman on the descent. Second was Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) ahead of Gianni Moscon (Sky).

Il Lombardia: The Race of the Falling Leaves

The Lombardy Tour has been the grand finale of the road bike season for years. While there are still races taking place in the coming weeks, Il Lombardia is one of the big five monuments and is traditionally the last of the year. And not only that, because that "Race of the Falling Leaves" is also the monument with the heaviest profile. The focus here is on the climbers. Against an excellent backdrop, the pros have to cover 245 kilometers from Bergamo to Como. It goes up and down all the time. No wonder the drivers had to set off at 10:30 am.

#iLombardy è cominciato!
Segui il live: https://t.co/JcdKGAWoUz

Il Lombardia has started!
Follow the live: https://t.co/JcdKGAWoUz pic.twitter.com/AmT74ZAYkF

— Il Lombardia (@Il_Lombardia) 7 October 2017

Laurens De Plus with horror fall

The first breakaway of the day was made up of six pros: Jaques Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Davide Ballerini (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), Pier Paolo De Negri (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Lennard Hofstede (Sunweb), Matthias Le Tournament (Cofidis) and Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani-CSF) were able to break away from the peloton. At first the pace in the field was controlled, but some teams seemed unhappy. This kept the distance small and finally the fugitives were caught. A new group, including Alessandro de Marchi (BMC), Laurens De Plus (Quick-Step Floors) and Mickael Cherel (Ag2r), broke up. Then a moment of horror: 22-year-old Belgian De Plus fell on a descent. He flew in a curve directly over the crash barrier deep into the abyss. However, the all-clear was given during the race: the team announced that De Plus was not seriously injured.

#iLombardy | On attending toujours des nouvelles de Laurens De Plus après sa chute incroyable … pic.twitter.com/EUaHU6H0qH

— Dorian Vidal (@DVidalBreak) October 7, 2017

Vincenzo Nibali completely sovereign

When it went into the Civiglio, all the drivers were together again. It came to the first attacks of well-known professionals. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) pulled away together uphill. As expected, Pinot lost touch on the downhill. Behind them, ten kilometers from the finish, Gianni Moscon (Sky) and Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) fought to catch up. On the final climb, Nibali increased his lead and left no doubt about his victory. Pinot, on the other hand, was sent off while Uran was even passed through. Shortly before the finish, Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) broke away and secured second place ahead of Gianni Moscon.

Enormous Lo Squalo! Segundo #iLombardy consecutive! 🍂🍁🍃pic.twitter.com/mIK9m51WHY

— Maillot Arcoiris (@MaillotArcoiris) 7 October 2017

Result Il Lombardia 2017