Pogacar seals rare Tour de France-Giro di Lombardia double

Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar matched a feat achieved by three of cycling's greatest competitors as he triumphed at the Giro di Lombardia on Saturday.

Pogacar cruised to a title defence at Le Tour in July and the 23-year-old clinched his second Classic crown of the season with success in the final Monument race of the year.

The Slovenian, making his Giro di Lombardia debut, is the first rider in 42 years to have won both the Tour de France and Giro di Lombardia in the same season.

He joins an illustrious list of riders to have done the double – Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault.

UAE Team Emirates rider Pogacar finished ahead of Fausto Masnada in the final sprint at the culmination of the 239km race from Como to Bergamo, with Adam Yates taking third place.

Pogacar previously won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race in April.

"I'm speechless, it's crazy to be here to celebrate this success at the end of a season like this," he said.

"Every victory is important to me, being at the start of Lombardia alongside the best cyclists in the world was a dream, and now winning on my debut was incredible."

What an attack, What a finale! @TamauPogi wins the 115th edition of #ILombardia!#UAETeamEmirates #RideTogether pic.twitter.com/0jdL0PtRvG

— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) October 9, 2021