Nibali uses his descending skills to win Giro of Lombardy

Vincenzo Nibali took advantage of his descending skills to win the Giro of Lombardy for the second time in three years on Saturday.

Like in his 2015 victory in the single-day classic, Nibali established his lead coming off the Civiglio climb.

Nibali attacked just before the summit to catch then-leader Thibaut Pinot, then dropped the Frenchman on the narrow and twisty descent.

Nibali, an Italian with BahrainMerida, clocked more than six hours over the undulating 247kilometer route from Bergamo to Como.

Julian Alaphilippe finished second, 28 seconds behind, and Gianni Moscon took a bunch sprint for third, 38 seconds back. Pinot crossed fourth. Nibali, one of six cyclists who have won all three Grand Tours (Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, Spanish Vuelta), finished second to Chris Froome in the Vuelta last month.

“This is a great cherry on top to conclude the season,” Nibali said. “I’ve trained a lot on these roads and I really know them. I really felt good and I played my cards well.”

Belgian rider Laurens De Plus crashed dramatically on the dangerous descent from Sormano and flew over the guardrail but escaped serious injury.