COMO: Tadej Pogacar retained his Il Lombardia crown on Saturday as cycling icons Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde both ended their careers in the final monument race of the season. UAE rider Pogacar held off Enric Mas in a two-man duel to the line after a 253-kilometre run between Bergamo and Como to gain revenge for his recent loss to the Spaniard in the Giro dell’Emilia. The win was the two-time Tour de France champion’s seventh of the season and closed off a season which Pogacar described to Italian broadcaster RAI as “almost perfect”. There was no dream finish for Nibali, one of just seven riders to have won all three of cycling’s Grand Tours and also a two-time winner of Il Lombardia. The “Shark of Messina” finished back in 24th place after falling by the wayside on the Civiglo climb towards the end of the race. Valverde closed out a career which brought one Grand Tour — the 2009 Vuelta a Espana — and a host of one-day titles including the 2018 world championship, with a sixth place finish, over a minute behind Pogacar.
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