Talent Seixas shines in Lombardy round, beats Mas and Ciccone

While the veterans of the Italian classic struggled with pace and crashes, the 20‑year‑old French talent Paul Seixas of Decathlon‑CMA CGM dominated the race and left the Spaniard Enric Mas and the Italian Giulio Ciccone behind. His victory in the 120th edition of the Tour of Lombardy marks a striking contrast between youthful fearlessness and the fatigue of experienced riders.

Young winner ends French drought

Seixas claimed the 240 kilometre race from Bergamo to Como, securing the thirteenth French victory in the history of the Tour of Lombardy. The last French winner was Thibaut Pinot in 2019, who at twenty years and sixteen days became the youngest winner ever.

Experienced riders miss chances

Bauke Mollema, who won the race in 2019, became the first of the nineteen‑year‑younger Seixas to capture the title. The Dutch former rider could not keep up when the pace surged early in the race, causing him to miss his chance to become a third Dutch rider on the winners' list.

The Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, who had won the past five editions of the Tour of Lombardy, was absent after a heavy crash in the Tour of Spain. His teammates Isaac del Toro and Brian Mcnulty, both representatives of the world's richest cycling team, could not catch the French rider when he seized an acceleration opportunity on the Civiglio with 18 kilometres to go.

Seixas, from Lyon, tested his body in the descents during the final kilometre, but maintained his lead to the finish in Como. His victory is the cherry on top of a strong autumn, in which he earlier at the World Championships in Montreal surprisingly took third in the individual time trial.

In the road race of those same championships he could not live up to the high expectations; cramps forced him to finish in fifteenth place, a result that quickly faded into the streets of Como.