Oct 10 (Reuters) - French prodigy Paul Seixas rode solo to claim the first Monument victory of his career at the Giro di Lombardia on Saturday, ahead of Spain's Enric Mas and Italy's Giulio Ciccone.
The 20-year-old attacked 19 km from the finish in Como (Italy) to claim the title won by Tadej Pogacar for the last five years. The Slovenian missed the race after crashing at the Vuelta a Espana two months ago.
Seixas won his first Monument — one of the five most prestigious one-day races in professional cycling — in his third appearance. He finished seventh in this race last year and second behind Pogacar at the last Liege–Bastogne–Liege.
"It's crazy, it feels like a dream," Seixas said. "Everything went perfect. I had amazing legs, I had the feeling that today was a great day and I managed to make the difference at the moment I choose."
Seixas, who finished fourth in this year's Tour de France, pulled clear on the Civiglio climb with 19 km to go. Britain's Tom Pidcock andCiccone were the only riders able to follow his wheel.
The Frenchman dropped both rivals a few hundred metres later and rode alone over the final 18 km to become the youngest Monument winner since 1944 and youngest ever winnerof the Giro di Lombardia.
SEIXAS ENDS FRENCH WAIT
The Decathlon–CMA CGM rider is the first Frenchman to win a Monument since Julian Alaphilippe at Milan–San Remo in 2019, and the first to triumph at the Giro di Lombardia sinceThibaut Pinot in 2018.
The victory came two weeks after a huge disappointment for Seixas at the World Championships, where he finished 15th after starting among the favourites.
"After the championship, I moved on to other things; I trained hard to get here," Seixas said. "It’s incredible."
The 239 km ride from Bergamo to Como began with a five-minute protest in the peloton to highlight growing safety concerns following a series of incidents involving race vehicles.
After organisers completed the start countdown, the peloton remained stationary, before double Olympic championRemco Evenepoel stepped forward to explain the riders' action.
The protest came days after riders Thomas Gloag and Marcel Camprubi were struck by a police motorcycle during Tre Valli Varesine. Britain's Finlay Tarling was killed in a collision with a vehicle during the Tour of Portugal in August.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron, editing by Ed Osmond)
