As it happened: Attritional 2026 edition of Il Lombardia won with brilliant solo attack

The 20-year-old savours the moment and crosses the line with his hands in the air – the first ever monument win of his career!

Behind, Mas holds on for a very impressive and for many unexpected second place, continuing his superb end to this season, while Ciccone also manages to hang on to the final place on the podium.

Seixas flies under the flamme rouge, poised to take the biggest win of his fledgling career so far, with nobody within 45 seconds of him.

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The moment Seixas dropped Ciccone on Civiglio to go clear at the front of the race. He’s since grown his lead at the front to 50 seconds on Mas in second, with just 3km left to ride, while Ciccone is now at risk of losing a spot on the podium as a chase group being led by Pidcock bares down on him.

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Mas has attacked Ciccone on the climb, and dropped him. But it might be too little too late in term of the race win, as Seixas is now 43 seconds ahead.

Seixas might not have been so comfortable on the descent, but he sure was on the flat section, where he managed to increase his lead to Ciccone and Mas to 35 seconds. He’s now swung onto the final climb of the race – will he tire, or does he have enough in reserve to finish this off?

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This is far from over yet. Seixas doesn’t look overly confidant on the descent, while Ciccone is setting the pace behind with Mas in toe, and reducing the gap. It’s at about 20 seconds.

Seixas crests the Civiglio in the lead of the race, about 30 seconds ahead of Ciccone, who has been joined by Mas, and about 45 seconds ahead of Pidcock, who was dropped and has been joined by Zana.

Then comes a group containing McNulty, Healy, Widar and Onley, while Evenepoel and Del Toro are even further adrift, at over a minute.

Well, it’s not exactly an attack, but Seixas has ridden Pidcock and Ciccone off his wheel with his relentless pace and now leads the race by himself!

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Seixas is on the charge! Only two riders can keep up with him – Pidcock and Ciccone. Mas is fourth on the road chasing behind, and Del Toro further behind.

Seixas takes over at the front and has upped the pace, and has caught all the riders from the break.

He’s also reduced the group to about ten riders – and Evenepoel is one of those being dropped!

Jorgenson was dropped on the previous climb, but has made his way back into the peloton and leads it as they begin the climb of Civiglio, now just 40 seconds behind the 6 remaining riders from the break.

He doesn’t last long, however, and UAE take control from him.

Pellizzari has resumed control on the climb, and this time has Evenepoel right on his wheel. The other favourites have all massed towards the front to be near his wheel, attentive no doubt of a possible attack from the Belgian…

The break are just about to begin San Fermo della Battaglia for the first time, with a lead of 1:30 over the peloton – which, though still made up of dozens of riders, will surely be a lot smaller by the time they reach the top.

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It’s still been Pellizzari who has been leading the peloton, and he’s clearly tiring, with the break’s lead growing to 1:20. But as they enter the final circuit there’s a big fight for position as other teams come to the fore, notably Netcompany and Visma, the latter of which still looks very well-represented in the group with five riders.

It’s still Giulio Pellizzari who leads the peloton for Red Bull, but Evenepoel has reinforcements now as Roglič has made his way back into the group. He’s riding tempo for now, keeping the break at just under a minute, and discouraging any more attacks – but that’s likely to change when they hit the net climb, which will be a first ascent of San Fermo della Battaglia.

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The McNulty group has been caught by the peloton, Red Bull having successfully controlled it. That’s the first big test of the day passed by the team, but they are sure to come under more pressure as rivals don’t wait for Evenepoel to make his move.

We’re entering the finale of this race now, as they approach the finishing circuit, with just three climbs left. Simmons, McNulty, Jorgenson and Scaroni have rolled the dice and made their move, and are committed to it, Behind, Red Bull are chasing, and keeping them well in check, at 12 seconds. Meanwhile the seven riders remain from the day’s break are retaining a lead of 45 seconds over the chasers.

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The American-flavoured quarter have crested the climb, just 45 seconds after the breakaway group, and a handful of seconds ahead of the peloton, which is being led by Red Bull’s Pellizzari. Remco Evenepoel will be grateful that he still has teammates to help him now the attacks have come, although another, Primož Roglič, was struggling to hang on over the top.

We have our first attack from the peloton, and it’s Visma’s Jorgenson! He’s being marked by some of the same American compatriots who he worked so well with in Montreal, albeit now as rivals – Lidl’s Simmons and UAE’s McNulty, plus Italy and Astana’s Scaroni.

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O’Connor and Leonard have been joined again by 6 of the riders dropped earlier on the climb, as they come to 1.5km from the summit – Bennett, Leemreize, Moniquet, Masnada, Bernard and Vervaeke.

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EF are clearly in an ambitious mood today. They’ve put Juan Felipe Rodriguez at the front of the peloton, and is setting a fast pace enough to drop multiple rides – including the UAE domestiques Christen and Großschartner who had been leading the peloton.

And as we speak the pace is up again, as Red Bull take over from Rodriguez and EF with Giulio Pellizzari.

Race on! We’re on the famous Madonna del Ghisallo, and the tension is up in the peloton as they rise to what is one of the most important moments of the race. EF lead them onto the climb, just over two minutes after the break started it.

Will we see any attacks on it?

Cohesion is breaking down in the break, which has split into three different groups. Panic seems to have set in after the last climb saw their gap so reduced, although it has increased a little again, up to 2:30.

It appears as though the break will reform, but the action suggests hostilities will ignite come the upcoming climb – the famous Madonna del Ghisallo.

UAE are setting the pace in the peloton on the climb, with Sivakov setting a tough pace.

The gap has grown to over three minutes, but there’s an increase in the peloton as they fight for position going on to the fifth climb of the day, Giovenzana.

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Resplendent in his new European Champion jersey he won in Ljubljana last week, Evenepoel is the favourite for the win.

That victory suggests he’s in top form again, and over whatever ailed him at the Worlds road race in Montreal, and the fact he has placed second-place to Pogačar in each of the last two editions (and by a considerable margin, of over a minute ahead of the riders in third place) indicates that he stands to gain most from his absence.

The riders are currently travelling through a valley road, a rare section of flat on an otherwise up-and-down parcours, and the break is using it to increase their lead. It’s now up to 2:45, the highest it’s been all day.

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One team notable by their absence at the front of the peloton is Pinarello-Q36.5. In Tom Pidcock they have one of the favourites for the win today, and he acknowledged as much going into the race. But compared to the stellar line-ups of UAE, Red Bull and Decathlon, his Pinarello-Q36.5 support is notably weaker.

The riders are now descending Valpiana, their lead have decreased a little on it to 1:40. That’s four climbs done, but there are still five more to come, with as many kilometres still to ride as many entire races. This is a truly punishing race, that will seriously take its toll.

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Remco Evenepoel’s Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe team is also contributing to the pace-setting. Evenepoel was in bullish mood going into the race, sounding confidant of his chances of taking what would be a first Lombardia title, and is backing those words up with actions by having his team at the forefront of the race.

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Decathlon have taken responsibility for leading the peloton, for their leader Paul Seixas, and are being assisted by UAE. The latter have expressed some concerns regarding the fitness of their leader Isaac del Toro ahead of the race, but by contributing to the chase, appear to have confidence in his ability to win this race.

The riders are climbing again, but in a much calmer way than up the previous hill of Selvino. The peloton is holding the gap at two minutes, and are all together, after world champion Brandon McNulty made his way back into it following a mechanical.

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The race is far from settled yet, and there’s plenty in the peloton not happy with the situation. Visma-Lease a Bike wanted representation in it, and their man Campanaerts has joined it, along with Lidl’s Bernard. And the peloton is only ten seconds adrift, as they continue to descend.

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A group of chasers have joined the five riders at the front as tey go over the top of the climb, and some very strong riders are present in it – former Lombardia podium finisher Fausto Masnada, along with Tiberi, George Bennett, Leemreize, Martí and Moniquet.

That makes for a very strong breakaway group, and not one the peloton will necessarily be happy to let go. Let’s see if they try to chase them down on the descent.

Things had quietened down for a short while, but the attacking has recommenced now that they have started the Selvino climb. Multiple riders have used its lower slopes to try and go clear, but are being chased down by UAE.

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Covi has been caught, but his Jayco teammate Michael Matthews has immediately counter-attacked. That’s a surprising move, as the Australian’s stock in trade is staying in the peloton and surviving hills to sprint from reduced sprints at the finish – as he did at the World two weeks ago, to win the silver medal.

That ride proves he’s in great shape, but is this the best way to race for him to stand a chance of another high finish today? Perhaps not, and the Australian did not fully commit to the move, and has been caught by the peloton.

And they’re off! Bardiani’s Martin Marcellusi is the first man to attack, and he has a lead of ten seconds as no rider made an immediate response to follow him

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The riders have only recently set off from the unofficial start, which was delayed as the peloton staged a protest. Remco Evenepoel explained via microphone to the crowd that they were protesting about recent failures of organisers to protect their safety, in a series of incidents that have been especially shocking since the death of Finlay Tarling.

“We want to make the statement to show to the whole world that we cannot keep accepting the act that guys keep getting injured or literally dying”

On behalf of the peloton, Evenepoel said that his message to the organisers of this and future races was: !please make sure that we can race safely, and that we can just do what we like to do without being worried about cars and motorbikes…coming onto the course”