For part of the professional peloton, the 2025 season came to a close this Saturday in the streets of Bergamo. Il Lombardia, the fifth and final Monument of the season, saw Tadej Pogacar triumph for the fifth time in a row, while the Groupama-FDJ couldn’t compete for a top result in the Italian Classic. Rudy Molard was the first one to reach the finish line, in 30th place.
After Como last year, it was once again in Bergamo, as it was for Thibaut Pinot’s farewell in 2023, that the finish line of the Tour of Lombardy was located this Saturday. The famous climb of the Madonna del Ghisallo was therefore placed at the very beginning of the course, while the ascents of the Passo della Crocetta (11.7 km at 5.8%), Zambla Alta (2.5 km at 7%) and the Passo di Ganda (9.3 km at 7.1%) were expected to be the key moments of the final, before the last hill (1.3 km at 7.7%) in the streets of Bergamo. Given the menu and the competition, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team planned to anticipate the big fight by putting a man at the front. However, they were caught off guard. “The breakaway surprised us because it went at km 0,” confirmed Benoît Vaugrenard. “Fourteen riders immediately went clear, then it was a very classic scenario with UAE Team Emirates. For us, it became a waiting race, in which it was difficult to have an impact.” Due to the sustained pace set by the world champion’s teammates from the start, the peloton started to get smaller in the first hills at the halfway point.
“A disappointing day,” Benoît Vaugrenard
At the end of the ascent of the Passo della Crocetta, barely 80 riders were still present in the pack chasing the leading man, Quinn Simmons. “The guys weren’t having a great day, and with 80 kilometres to go, only Rudy was left up there,” Benoît added. “Clement was caught in a crash early on, and Guillaume is still getting back on track after his injury. It was a race for climbers, a very hard one, and we weren’t strong enough as a team today.” Although the experienced Frenchman was able to make it to the bottom of the decisive climb of the Passo di Ganda within the peloton, he quickly had to surrender after Tadej Pogacar’s early attack and the start of the big fight. The Slovenian achieved another solo raid to reach the finish line victoriously forty kilometres later, while Rudy Molard came seven minutes later and took thirtieth place. “It’s a disappointing day,” confessed Benoît. “We knew we weren’t the favorites at the start, and far from it, but we were hoping for better, we were aiming for a top 10 finish. It’s a day to forget.”
