‘Almost perfect’ – Tadej Pogacar rates 2022 season after defending Il Lombardia title with stunning win

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) considers his season to have gone “almost” perfectly, as he finishes 2022 with a second victory in Il Lombardia

“It’s really amazing to come back and repeat the victory,” said Pogacar after ending his racing season with a successful defence of his Il Lombardia title.

It makes him not only the first rider since Joaquim Rodríguez to defend the title, but the first rider ever to win the race from his first two appearances.

Pogacar paid tribute to his team-mates. Alessandro Covi and Diego Ulissi enjoyed long spells on the front of the peloton in the first half of the race, while Rafa Majka, Davide Formolo, Marc Hirschi and Joao Almeida were all very visible when it entered its final phase and took on the decisive climbs around Lake Como.

“The teamwork today,” said Pogacar, “I cannot say how grateful I am. They did such an amazing job.

“The race went just how we wanted,” he continued.

His colleagues’ jobs completed on the famous road up to the Madonna del Ghisallo, and the first ascent of San Fermo Della Battaglia, Pogacar himself took it up on the longer Civiglio climb where he was able to distance all but a few of his rivals.

“I tried to attack on Civiglio,” he said, “but Mas was clearly on the same level as me on the climb, so we tried to cooperate until the finale.”

Mas tried a repeat of the move that allowed him to ride clear of the Slovenian a week ago at Giro dell’Emilia but Pogacar’s legs had a week’s more recovery in them and could easily follow every acceleration.

“At the Giro dell’Emilia I was straight from [the World Championships in] Australia,” he said. “I’ve felt every day better since then. In Tre Valli Varesine I felt really great, so I knew that today should be good legs.”

A modest assessment from the rider who finished second at the Tour de France, the only result that could be considered a blot on a season that saw him take 15 individual race wins, as well as the overall titles at Tirreno-Adriatico, the UAE Tour and his home Tour of Slovenia.

Pogacar’s famously fast finish did not let him down at the finish in Como, as he outsprinted Mas to win by several bike lengths.

“This victory makes my 2022 almost perfect,” Pogacar concluded.