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Pogačar clashes with Vingegaard as Nibali and Valverde bow out at Il Lombardia - Preview
10 riders to watch at Il Lombardia
Race notes
253km through the hills from Bergamo to Como
Final races for Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde
Favourites include Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Enric Mas, Adam Yates
Breakaway caught at 70km
Jonas Vingegaard said he wanted a hard race and Jumbo-Visma are trying to make it one.
7.5km from the top of the climb.
Four men for Jumbo-Visma, six men for UAE Team Emirates.
68km to go
Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates driving the pace on the front.
Riders out of the rear of the peloton already, Tobias Foss surprisingly included, as the gradient and pace bite.
8.6km at 6.2% – here we go!
Ineos Grenadiers at the front of the peloton now pushing on towards the climb.
And now it's over for the breakaway, a massive 70km from the finish!
77km to go
The riders are racing alongside Lake Como at the moment as they head north towards the climb.
7km to go until the start of the climb and there's just 25 seconds between break and peloton.
The break will be caught before the Madonna del Ghisallo at this rate.
After going back up on the descent, the gap to the peloton is only coming down again now as the big teams speed up and control the race.
The break has 1:25 right now.
91km to go
Around 30km left to run until the riders hit the Madonna del Ghisallo.
2:30 for the breakaway now as the riders race along the flat run.
Craddock and Tesfatsion come back to the group after a brief spell off the back.
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105km to go
UAE, Jumbo, and Movistar continue to lead the way in the peloton. Three minutes to the break.
110km to go
The gap from break to peloton is 3:15 now and still edging out. They're on the long, flat run to the south-east 'leg' of Lake Como and the next climb of Madonna del Ghisallo now.
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115km to go
Jonas Vingegaard is back at the Jumbo-Visma car for some assistance as the break takes a three-minute lead.
Lorenzo Fortunato was the Eolo-Kometa rider caught in the Nieve crash. The pair of Giro d'Italia stage winners have both been forced to abandon.
A natural break for the peloton and the gap goes back out to 2:35 and counting.
No major climbs for 50km now. The next one is the Madonna del Ghisallo.
120km to go
Despite the travails of Elissonde and Tolio, the breakaway 10 are all still together as they hit the flats.
Elissonde once again struggling on the way down the descent.
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132km to go
Two minutes back to the peloton.
Tolio is struggling at the rear of the breakaway.
The Colle di Berbenno now for the riders as they climb once again. It's 4.4km at 6.3%.
135km to go
Pozzovivo is out of the race following that crash.
Pozzovivo had big tears to the front of his jersey and shorts after going down on the descent off Forcella di Bura. He was on his feet but holding his right elbow.
Domenico Pozzovivo has crashed! The Italian has a badly torn jersey and shorts.
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No change in situation on the climb with Movistar leading the peloton at 2:15 down on the breakaway.
150km to go
2:25 between break and peloton.
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Tadej Pogačar defends his title at the final Monument of the season
Mikel Nieve was the Caja Rural rider who crashed. The Spaniard was riding the final race of his career today but he's abandoned following the fall.
A crash in the peloton as the riders tackle the quick, short descent to the start of the Forcella di Bura. Riders from Eolo-Kometa and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA were on the ground.
A look at the peloton taking on the hills of Lombardy.
160km to go
3:30 between the breakaway and peloton at the moment.
They're climbing again now to the village of Olda now, then a short descent before the climb to the Forcella di Bura.
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165km to go
The break's advantage has gone up a little on the flat. They have 3:30 now as UAE, Jumbo and Movistar control the pace in the peloton.
A rare moment of flat road for the riders now but they'll be heading back uphill soon on the way to the climb of Forcella di Bura.
The peloton holding the gap to the break at just 2:50 now.
174km to go
Elissonde having a bit of trouble keeping in touch with the break around some of these corners but the break remains all together.
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2:50 for the breakaway as they race down the descent.
181km to go
A look at the breakaway.
The breakaway are cruising to the top of Dossena, 3:30 up on the peloton.
Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert also up front in the peloton alongside the big three squads of Movistar, UAE Team Emirates, and Jumbo-Visma.
A quiet period in the race now after the establishment of the breakaway.
190km to go
The breakaway all together on the descent. Małecki and Barceló the only riders from the attack who aren't in there having been dropped earlier.
The riders approach Dossena now. The climb is 5.5km long at an average of 4.9%.
Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates also working in the peloton along with Movistar.
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195km to go
4:45 for the breakaway.
Movistar are leading the way in the peloton. The Spanish squad have two candidates for victory in Valverde and Enric Mas.
And the riders pass the 200km to go marker.
Now onto the descent. Not much downhill before the riders hit the climb of Dossena followed by a longer descent.
203km to go
The breakaway riders near the top of the Passo di Ganda now. 5:20 back to the peloton.
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205km to go
2km from the top for the break.
Ben Tulett (Ineos Grenadiers) off the rear of the peloton as several riders drop away.
4:35 between the break and peloton now as the riders continue up the climb.
Here's what 2019 winner Bauke Mollema had to say at the start...
"To win will be really diff. It's hard to say if I have the legs again like two years ago but I'm feeling good this last week. Training went well and Tre Valli Varesine went well.
"I hope to be up there in the final. I like this course to Como so we'll see.
"It'll be a hard race with so much climbing. The first 100km are already really hard. Then it's a bit more flat to Madonna del Ghisallo and the speed might be even harder. Then Civiglio is so hard and the best climbers will automatically be in front there."
208km to go
Four minutes back to the peloton now on the Passo di Ganda.
Paret-Peintre makes it across to the breakaway. 10 men up front now.
A 42.8kph average speed so far.
210km to go
3:30 between the break and the peloton. Paret-Peintre is 40 seconds down now – he's making some headway.
The riders reach the Passo di Ganda (9.2km at 7.3%).
Paret-Peintre is going to have a big task on his hands if he's to make it across. Meanwhile the peloton has knocked it off with the gap to the break reaching three minutes.
214km to go
The full breakaway...
Luca Covili, Alex Tolio (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Natnael Tesfatsion, Simone Ravanelli (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli), Davide Bais (Eolo-Kometa), Alessandro De Marchi (Israel-Premier Tech), Lawson Craddock (BikeExchange-Jayco), Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo), Cristian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan)
The gap continues to grow to two minutes. Paret-Peintre is a minute behind.
The breakaway is established now as they have 1:40 on the peloton. Paret-Peintre continues to plug away in between the groups.
Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën) has attacked from the peloton.
219km to go
A look at the retiring pair of Nibali and Valverde from the start today.
9km to go until the riders hit the Passo di Ganda, the longest climb of the race. That was the penultimate climb last year.
On the way down the other side of the climb now and it's 43 seconds for the attack group.
UAE Team Emirates, Jumbo-Visma, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, Movistar, Bora-Hansgrohe all with riders at the head of the peloton.
224km to go
30 seconds is the gap.
Barceló and Małecki struggling to hold on to the attacking group on the climb now.
The group is all together at the front now but the riders are only 25 seconds up on the peloton.
The leading trio. The chase group are right behind them now.
Filippo Conca (Lotto Soudal) is out of the race. He was at his team car not so long ago.
The riders are on the Forcellino di Bianzano now.
227km to go
That group is 20 seconds down on the leaders and 30 up on the peloton.
Małecki is joined by Luca Covili (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Fernando Barceló (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Natnael Tesfatsion (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli), Davide Bais (Eolo-Kometa), Alessandro De Marchi (Israel-Premier Tech), Lawson Craddock (BikeExchange-Jayco), and Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo).
5km to go until the first climb of the day, the Forcellino di Bianzano.
Several more riders have clipped off the front of the peloton behind Małecki.
230km to go
40 seconds to the peloton for the three leaders. Małecki is 25 seconds down.
And now Kamil Małecki (Lotto Soudal) tries.
Sergio Martin (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Santiago Umba (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli) among the riders now attacking.
233km to go
23 seconds between the attacking trio and the peloton at the moment.
A 50kph average speed during these opening kilometres.
236km to go
Nobody has joined the trio of Italians in the lead just yet.
Scaroni, Ravanelli and Tolio continue to push on out front, meanwhile.
Meanwhile, more attacks fly at the front of the peloton.
Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal) with an early mechanical problem and he gets a bike change.
Cristian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan), Simone Ravanelli (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli), Alex Tolio (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) now have a gap on the peloton.
242km to go
Still no breakaway just yet as numerous riders push on at the head of the peloton.
A shot of the retiring Valverde and Nibali riding to the start.
247km to go
Gesbert still hangs off the front with a few seconds on the peloton. Nobody else has jumped away with him yet.
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Elie Gesbert (Arkéa-Samsic) gets a small gap.
250km to go
Astana, BikeExchange-Jayco, Movistar also with men towards the front.
Lotto Soudal, Israel-Premier Tech also up front, though it's the Italian ProTeam who have the most representation towards the head of the peloton.
And now they start after a kilometre of racing. Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli kick off the attacking.
No attacks just yet.
253km to go
The flag is dropped and the racing is officially underway!
The peloton rolling out of Bergamo currently.
And here we go! A 2.7km neutral zone to start.
We're moments away from the start now.
Those two and 173 others are lined up at the start. 48 of them are starting the race for the first time.
Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli's Santiago Umba is the youngest of them at 19 years old. At 42, Valverde is the oldest, of course, three years older than anyone else.
Something of a guard of honour for Nibali and Valverde as they ride arm in arm to the front of the peloton at the start in Bergamo.
Here's what Vingegaard had to say ahead of the start today...
"I think I'm ready. The shape is good, I hope. I guess we'll see by the end of today how everything is going to turn out.
"It's nice. He's the best rider in the world so of course he's the man to beat. I'll try to do my best. He's better at one-day racing so far. I've never won a Monument and he's won two so that explains it.
"A hard race is in my favour, I think. I'll just have to do my best."
Four past winners on the start line today with Vincenzo Nibali, Bauke Mollema, Jakob Fuglsang, and Tadej Pogačar.
Here's a refresher on last year's result when Pogačar escaped with Fausto Masnada before beating the Italian in the final sprint. Check out our report here.
Just a few minutes to go until the start of the race!
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The Shark of Messina looks back on his career before his farewell at Il Lombardia
Today brings the final races of two huge figures in the sport as Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde draw their careers to a close.
A handshake between two of the favourites – Pogačar and Vingegaard – ahead of the start.
This year's race has more climbing metres than any edition since 2016, though, at 4,852. That's almost 200 more than last year.
Nine major hills on the route today, though the tough Muro di Sormano is missing for the second year in a row.
We're around 23 minutes away from the start of the race. This is what the riders will be taking on today.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Il Lombardia, the final Monument of 2022.