Pinot goes solo, down in Como
Neither protagonist in Il Lombardia, Thibaut Pinot nor Vincenzo Nibali, could be said to have had a destitute season. Nibali won Milan-San Remo and Pinot had two Vuelta a España stages, but both had also suffered their fair share of frustration. Pinot’s Giro d’Italia was derailed by pneumonia while in sight of the podium in Rome; Nibali exited the Tour with a vertebra fracture having collided with a fan on Alpe d’Huez.
So when the pair rode clear of Primož Roglic and Egan Bernal on the lower slopes of the Civiglio, one of them was about to put a thoroughly positive spin on their year. In the end, the strongest rider – Pinot – won handsomely. But the 32-second winning margin belied a close-fought and absorbing battle on the Civiglio. It was a contest to be savoured because they share the same conception of what attractive, attacking cycling looks like.
If the race was frozen halfway up the Civiglio, the situation looked good for Nibali. He had comfortably joined the race-defining attack on the short, very steep Muro di Sormano at more than 50km to go, which also included Roglic, Bernal and Pinot. Behind him a group of leaders were forced to do their own chasing. The pursuers included Dan Martin, Tim Wellens, Rafa¯ Majka, and the EF-Drapac pairing of Michael Woods and Rigoberto Urán. When leaders are forced to chase, it’s a good sign for the escape: cohesion in the pursuit is often lacking. Additionally, this group was well hindered by two Bahrain-Merida team-mates and the gap was stable at just over 40 seconds. And now, here on the Civiglio, Nibali had countered two of Pinot’s attacks.
Rules of physical condition dictated that the first finish line was the summit of the Civiglio. Pinot, in what looks to be careerbest condition, wanted to crest the finish alone and then press on solo. Not only was his form better, prior experience came into play. Last year, this pair went over the over the Civiglio together. Nibali put Pinot under pressure by delivering an aggressive descent and a short way down he ditched the Frenchman and won the race.
This year the scenario was slightly different. Nibali had been chasing form since coming back from the Tour crash. Instead of wanting to ditch Pinot he needed him for as long as possible to get some recovery.
Nibali employed every trick he could to contain Pinot on the Civiglio. After each Pinot attack, Nibali rode back up in a monstrous gear, perhaps to ward off cramp – he explained afterwards he had struggled to eat and drink in the finale – and moved right into Pinot’s eye line. He even launched an attack of his own, but Pinot easily had the measure of him.
Nibali’s psychological ploys beat helplessly against Pinot’s knowledge that he was the stronger rider, however. On his fourth attack
– and the last one before he ran out of hill – Nibali’s head sank and the road opened up for the Frenchman’s 15km solo to the line. Pinot took jerky lines around a few descending corners, but such was his physical dominance, Nibali could not get back on level terms.
There was an epilogue. Nibali was caught by the chasers on the run-in to Como. But just as the group behind stalled, he opened the taps and had enough left to take a highly commendable second place. It was a consolation prize of sorts. Dylan Teuns won the sprint for third and took his first podium in a monument.
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