2012 Il Lombardia: Results

Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Katusha), who finished second in the Giro this year, became the first Spanish rider to win the Il Lombardia (formerly Giro di Lombardia). Rodriguez finished in 6:36:27 with an average speed of 37.987 km/h. Finishing 2nd and 3rd were Spaniard Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel Euskadi) at 9 seconds and Colombian Rigoberto Uran Uran (Sky Procycling) also at 9 seconds.

On an autumn day with rain slicked roads and pouring rain in the final kilometers Rodriguez, who made the selection on the Muro di Sormano, was able to dispatch any of the remaining contenders on the climb of Villa Vergano and then cross the finish line in Lecco with his arms raised and by himself.

"I was overjoyed when I crossed the line", said Rodriguez. "Il Lombardia is a race that I have always dreamed of winning. I crossed the finish line and threw my water bottle in the air, it's a gesture of good luck and I like to do it when I win."

Rodriguez continued, "I really don't like the rain especially when descending because it's dangerous but in fact when it rains I go well. I am very pleased with my results this year (note: won Fleche-Wallonne, second in the Giro d'Italia, third in the Vuelta a Espana). I was fighting for a double goal today, to win this prestigious competition and to take the lead in the UCI World Tour rankings, and I managed both. So I'm really happy. As for 2013, I am looking forward to seeing the presentation tomorrow of the 2013 Giro d'Italia."

The rain and slick roads caused Philippe Gilbert to crash out of the race, and there were a number of other crashes including that of Vincenzo Nibali who has now crashed in the last two editions at key moments.

The last Italian to win Il Lombardia is Damiano Cunego, in 2008. 

Video summary:


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Buongiorno Il Lombardia

Newly crowned world champion Philippe Gilbert at the sign-in:

Felice Gimondi, celebrating his 70th birthday, starts the race of 197 riders from 25 teams:

Race favorites: World Champion Philippe Gilbert; Vuelta and Milano-Torino winner Alberto Contador;  Giro d’Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal; Joaquin Rodriguez (a specialist in steep climbs);  Vincenzo Nibali (splendid protagonist last year),  winner of Gran Piemonte Rigoberto Uran Uran; Samuel Sanchez, Ivan Basso, Damiano Cunego (three time winner of Il Lombardia-2004, 2007, 2008); Franco Pelizzotti (Italian Champion), Diego Ulissi and winner of last edition Oliver Zaugg who will start with No. 1.

The course:

Live streaming of the race by the Gazzetta dello Sport begins at 2:30 PM (Italy time), in Italian of course, here.

A time zone convertor you can use: www.timeanddate.com

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Muro di Sormano, Video by Jered Gruber

Well known cycling photographer Jered Gruber chose the Muro di Sormano to undertake his first video:
Muro di Sormano from Jered Gruber on Vimeo.

One of Jered's photos was used for the 2012 Giro d'Italia poster:

More of Jered's photography at www.jeredgruber.com

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome.

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Giro di Lombardia Moving to September in 2012

The Giro di Lombardia is moving to the month of September in 2012. The race, one of the five "monuments" of the one day classics, is also known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves" ("classica delle foglie morte") as it is normally held in October (it is this Saturday, Otcober 15th).

The announcement from the the UCI:

"10.10.2011

The Professional Cycling Council has approved a change to the 2012 UCI WorldTour calendar, which sees the Il Lombardia (formerly Giro di Lombardia) event in Italy brought forward to the weekend following the UCI Road World Championships.

As the Il Lombardia will normally be scheduled on the first Saturday after the Road World Championships, in 2012 the Il Lombardia will be held on Saturday September 29. The next day is expected to feature a presentation of the following season’s Giro d’Italia event.

The change, which allows athletes to directly benefit from their World Championship form on the WorldTour circuit, comes further to discussions held during the recent meeting of the Professional Cycling Council which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark last month."

Photos: © Philip van der Ploeg, used with permission

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,100 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.