Sunday 5 October 2014 18:34, UK
Ireland’s Dan Martin claimed the second one-day Monument victory of his career by winning Il Lombardia in Italy with an opportunistic late attack.
The Garmin-Sharp rider formed part of an elite nine-man lead group over the top of the day’s final climb but then sprang clear on his own with a superbly judged acceleration 600m from the finish line in Bergamo.
The other eight riders had been preparing for a sprint but by the time they reacted it was already too late. Alejandro Valverde crossed the line one second behind Martin in second place, while Rui Costa took third.
It was Martin’s first win of the season and came 18 months after he took victory in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, another of cycling's five Monuments.
“I just love this race," Martin, who was second in 2011 and fourth last year, said afterwards. "It’s one of my favourite races. It’s just incredible to win it.
“I actually planned to attack on the last climb but I couldn’t get through because there were too many people and the guys were going so hard anyway.
“I saw [Philippe] Gilbert and [Michael] Albasini – they are really fast - and Alejandro [Valverde] as well, so I needed to try something and the opportunity happened. Once I got the gap, it was so close to the line I just had to go as hard as I could and not crash on the last corner.”
After Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Il Lombardia is the fifth and final Monument of the season and this year it took the riders on a 254km route from Como to Bergamo containing eight climbs.
The last climb, up Bergamo Alta, was just over 1km long but looked set to prove pivotal given that it carried a maximum gradient of 12 per cent and reached its summit just 3.4km from the finish.
An initial 11-man breakaway moved clear early in the day and built up a lead of over eight minutes, but they were all caught and passed when riders began surging out of the peloton around 40km from home as the race came to life.
Ben Hermans (BMC Racing) and Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge) proved the strongest of the counter-attackers and took a slender lead on to the foot of the final climb, only to be swallowed up almost immediately following an attack by Warren Barguil (Giant-Shimano).
Barguil also faded, but then Gilbert (BMC Racing) produced a far more purposeful burst that led to the formation of the elite nine-man group, which also contained the winner of the last two editions of the race, Joaquim Rodriguez.
The nine entered the final 1km all together and Martin looked to be hanging on as he sat at the back of the group, but he then conjured an unstoppable surge just as the pace began to slow and could not be caught.
Il Lombardia result
1 Dan Martin (Ire) Garmin-Sharp, 6:25:33
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar, +1sec
3 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida, same time
4 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol, st
5 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing, st
6 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge, st
7 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing, st
8 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha, st
9 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, st
10 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale, +14
