Thibaut Pinot takes maiden Monument

Frenchman puts Vincenzo Nibali to the sword in Il Lombardia, reports Alex Ballinger

Thibaut Pinot won his first Monument at Il Lombardia on Saturday after dropping rival Vincenzo Nibali and riding solo to the line.

The Frenchman was the strongest man in northern Italy and instigated the decisive move with almost 50km to ride. Eventually it was left with just him and Nibali on the penultimate Civiglio climb and after multiple accelerations Pinot (Groupamafdj) took a long look at the Bahrain-merida rider and cracked him with a final attack.

Nibali came in second with a gap over a chasing group and Dylan Teuns (BMC) won the small group sprint for third.

Pinot’s victory was enough to knock football off the front of French daily sports paper L’equipe on Sunday. “Sacred Pinot,” ran the headline.

“Among the Monuments, Il Lombardia is the nicest in my mind,” Pinot said. “I’m in the best shape of my career but to win ahead of Nibali is something very special.

“I’m a stage race rider, but this is like a stage race. I’ve raced hard from the Giro dell’emilia until Il Lombardia and consider this Italian week as the best moment of the year. It’s clear I’m in the best form of my life, so winning Milano-torino and then following it with Il Lombardia has made it a special week. I’ve loved every minute.”

Pinot has a good record in the Italian Monument. He finished on the podium in 2015, and was fifth last year.

Il Lombardia is the biggest win of his career in what has been an especially strong season. He also won the Tour of the Alps against a strong field including Chris Froome (Team Sky) and was sat in a podium position at the Giro d’italia before falling ill. He recovered to bag a top-10 finish at the Vuelta a España before winning Milan-torino last week.

Always characterised by its climbing, this year’s 241km edition kicked off with the first serious climb, Colle Gallo, inside the opening 50km.

“Il Lombardia is the biggest win of the Frenchman’s career”

The surprise flop of the race was recently crowned world champion Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). The Spaniard was unusually short of his best form, riding a withdrawn race and being dropped on the Civiglio, before ultimately finishing 11th in a group behind the main chasers.