On 10 October, Paul Seixas won the Giro di Lombardia after a solo attack on the Civiglio climb, while the race began five minutes late when the peloton staged a safety protest over recent vehicle incidents in cycling. The 20-year-old French rider finished 48 seconds ahead of Spain’s Enric Mas, with Italy’s Giulio Ciccone third, to take his first Monument title in only his third appearance in one of cycling’s five Monuments.
Seixas made the decisive move with around 19km of the 239km race remaining, according to the Guardian and BBC Sport. He attacked on Civiglio and quickly distanced the remaining contenders, including Remco Evenepoel, Isaac del Toro and world champion Brandon McNulty. BBC Sport reported that Seixas then rode solo for more than 18km to reach Como alone.
The result made Seixas the youngest winner in Giro di Lombardia history and the youngest rider to win a Monument since 1944, BBC Sport reported. It also ended a run of five successive Lombardia victories by Tadej Pogačar, who was absent because of a season-ending injury sustained at the Vuelta a España.
Seixas turns a late attack into a first Monument
The race had already been heavily reduced by the time it reached Civiglio. The Guardian reported that Seixas’s acceleration with roughly 19km left proved immediately decisive: Evenepoel was the first leading rival unable to follow, before Del Toro and McNulty also lost contact.
Mas emerged as Seixas’s nearest challenger but finished 48 seconds down. Ciccone completed the podium just over a minute behind the winner, according to the Guardian. Lidl-Trek said Ciccone had suffered on the penultimate climb but recovered sufficiently to secure his second Lombardia podium and his third Monument podium.
Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock was dropped shortly after Seixas attacked and finished sixth, BBC Sport reported.
The winning margin is useful context for the finale. Seixas did not merely out-sprint a select group in Como: he created a decisive separation on Civiglio and maintained it for virtually the whole closing 19km. Mas’s 48-second deficit also shows that the attack delivered a substantial advantage rather than a narrowly defended lead.
Seixas had already finished fourth in the Tour de France in his debut Grand Tour season, as well as second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, according to the Guardian. Lombardia was only his third Monument start, following seventh place in the race last year and second at Liège this season. The victory adds a major one-day title to a season that included fourth place at the Tour de France and second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Peloton sends a safety message before the start
The sporting contest followed an unusual opening in Bergamo. Riders remained stationary after organisers had completed the initial start countdown, delaying the race by five minutes. BBC Sport and the Guardian reported that the action was intended to draw attention to safety concerns following several recent incidents involving vehicles on race routes.
Evenepoel addressed the crowd before the restarted race, saying that riders wanted stronger action after crashes and injuries involving vehicles. The CPA riders’ union said in a statement reposted by riders including Evenepoel and Pidcock that cyclists depended on the UCI and race organisers to secure roads, and argued that responsibility was not being met.
The protest specifically followed the death of Tarling after a collision with a vehicle at the Volta a Portugal in August, according to BBC Sport. It also came days after British rider Thomas Gloag and Marcel Camprubí were struck by a police motorcycle travelling in the opposite direction at Tre Valli Varesine.
The riders then started the race. BBC Sport’s analysis said the protest underlined that riders wanted change now rather than later.
Elsewhere, Bahrain Victorious reported that Pello Bilbao finished seventh in the final race of his 15-year professional career. The Spanish rider was 1min 20sec behind Seixas, illustrating the scale of the winning margin by the finish.
For Seixas, the day ended with his first Monument victory. For the peloton, the five-minute delay ensured that the race’s safety concerns remained visible alongside an emphatic performance by a new Monument winner.