Tadej Pogačar won his fourth consecutive Il Lombardia, showcasing his greatness with another long solo after attacking early on the Colma di Sormano with 48.5 km to go.
With Pogačar being an overwhelming favourite to win the race, the teams challenged UAE by forming a huge breakaway with Eddie Dunbar, Thymen Arensman, Dani Martinez, Wilco Kelderman, Kevin Vermaerke, Tiesj Benoot, and other elite riders. That was the only way to beat Pogačar, but UAE Emirates had brought a strong supporting cast with Fisher-Black, Christen, Majka, Hirschi, Yates, and Sivakov, who controlled the gap to the breakaway that was not cooperating perfectly when Colma di Sormano (10.1 km, 7.16%) approached. Xandro Meurisse was the best from the early breakaway, losing almost 5 minutes to Pogačar and finishing 10th.
Pavel Sivakov, before the decisive climb, had spent 5009 kilojoules over 4:46 hours at 15.16 kj/kg/h. It was an intense, high-expenditure day as it is a monument, and the peloton was not big when Adam Yates started pulling on Sormano. Sivakov remained as the last UAE rider for Pogačar. When Pogačar attacked with 48.5 km to go, no one even tried to follow him as he was far better than Remco Evenepoel, Enric Mas, and Lennert Van Eetvelt, who were riding in the second group.
Pogačar delivered a strong performance by his Autumn standards, pushing 6.74 ᵉW/Kg for 24:16 minutes in the first 10.1 km of the climb, as the last 3 kilometers were irregular. Pogačar did not need to go full gas as there were still 48 kilometers of racing left and he very likely could have done higher watts. No one could challenge him as Remco Evenepoel and others in the last part of the season were nowhere close to their best shape due to a tiring season. The same with Pogačar, who cannot replicate his Tour de France performances outside of the biggest race of the year, but he does not need to, as in Lombardia or other races, his competition cannot challenge him. Evenepoel did 6.48 ᵉW/Kg for 25:05 minutes, which would have been a good performance in the 2010s before the invention of sugar.
Pogačar took his 88th career win, dominating the whole 2024 season, making this the most impressive season in cycling history in terms of palmares and w/kg. But that does not mean he cannot show his greatness in the next seasons as he keeps improving, getting more professional coaches, with the rest of the peloton continuing to add watts in 2024 and reaching new heights no one in cycling history has reached.
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