BERGAMO, Italy (AP) — Tadej Pogačar crossed the finish line first at the Tour of Lombardy and held up his open hand, each finger representing the record-equaling five times he was won the Italian classic.
It capped an incredible season, which includes a fourth Tour de France title, with a successful defense of the world road race crown as he matched Fausto Coppi’s five wins at the Italian race on Saturday.
Pogačar’s winning streak has come in consecutive years, while Coppi won the Lombardy event in 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1954.
The Slovenian cycling star completed the 241-kilometer (150-mile) race, which included six climbs, in 5 hours, 45 minutes. Top challenger Remco Evenepoel was second, 1 minute, 48 seconds behind. Michael Storer finished third, more than three minutes behind.
Pogačar has won three of the five one-day “monument” races this season, after also prevailing in the Tour de Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He is the first rider to do that since Eddy Merckx in 1969, 1971, 1972 and 1975.
