Tadej Pogačar concluded another dominant year as he claimed an all-out victory at the last Monument race of the season on Saturday, cementing his position as cycling’s world number one.
Il Lombardia – one of the sport’s most gruelling one-day races – capped off the 2025 cycling season with a brutal 241-kilometre route from Como to Bergamo in Italy that featured a string of climbs and almost no flats.
Riders from across the peloton tried to deliver for one final test of endurance and speed, but it was UAE Team Emirates XRG’s Pogačar who emerged victorious to grab his fifth-straight win at the “Classic of the Falling Leaves.”
Pogačar marks history, again
Lidl-Trek’s Quinn Simmons immediately upped the tempo right at the start of the race, forcing some riders to break away from the peloton.
The gap between the breakaway and the peloton stretched to more than three minutes at most with Simmons at the front, then Pogačar attacked on the Passo di Ganda with 38km to go with the help of his teammates Jay Vine with Isaac Del Toro, who had set a vicious pace that left the peloton scrambling.
Soudal Quick-Step’s Remco Evenepoel was quick to attach to his wheel. However, the Belgian could not hold onto the pace, paving the way for Pogačar to cruise to another trademark solo win.
Evenepoel finished second while Tudor Pro Cycling Team’s Michael Storer completed the podium.
“To win Il Lombardia five times in a row, every time I started, it feels like this race really suits me,” Pogačar told reporters, according to a race press release.
“But at the same time, I have such a good team around me, we could pull it and I owe a big thank you to my team-mates.
“Domen (Novak) did a fantastic job, then Pavel (Sivakov) was also really impressive today in the chase and all the guys protecting me in the final climb, it was a top-class work, just impressive from all my team-mates.
“Seven years in a row I’ve said this is my best season so far and I can say it again today”.
Pogačar’s victory is phenomenal, having won his third Monument race, the Tour de France and the world title in the same season. He claimed the top spot in the Tour of Flanders and the Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April.
He matches the likes of Belgian great Eddy Merckx, who last won in the same fashion in 1975.
He is also the first rider wearing the rainbow jersey to win the Il Lombardia twice.
This latest achievement brings his Monument race victories to 10.
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Evenepoel promises improvement
The race showcased another intense duel between Evenepoel and Pogačar, with the Belgian rider coming second yet again.
It was the same result in the World and European road races just weeks prior.
“When Pogačar accelerates, he always manages to make the difference. But for me, it’s a motivation to improve”, Evenepoel was quoted as saying by FloBikes.
But Evenepoel didn’t just conclude his 2025 season – he also closed a chapter of his career as part of the Soudal-QuickStep team.
Come 2026, he is set to join Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, forming a superteam that boasts Pogačar’s compatriot and former Visma – Lease-a-Bike leader Primož Roglič.
While Evenepoel praised his time together with Soudal Quick-Step in the last seven years, he also showed a hopeful anticipation for what lies ahead in his career.
“But I think now it’s time to start something new.”
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Rafał Majka, others wave goodbye to pro cycling
The last Monument race of the season also saw a number of athletes say goodbye to the world of professional cycling.
Among them is Polish rider Rafał Majka from the UAE team, who is considered one of the most respected domestiques in modern cycling.
He had been instrumental in some of Pogačar’s major victories.
Pogačar told Cycling Pro Net it was “such an honour to ride with him”, calling Majka his “big brother” and “mentor.”
“We’ve been through so much together. He helped me to become what I’ve become and I will miss him so much after today”, he said.
Other retiring riders at the end of the season include Pieter Serry of Soudal-QuickStep, Salvatore Puccio of Ineos Grenadiers, and Simone Petilli and Louis Meintjes of Intermarché-Wanty, CyclingNews reported.
All riders were given earnest send-offs before the start of the race on Saturday, with the peloton lining up to make a tunnel of bikes for a traditional guard of honour.
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