"He shouldn't have raced Piemonte" - Nibali blames UAE directors for "wasting" Del Toro's energy prior to Lombardia

After five long years, Il Lombardia has a new champion. And quite fittingly, it is the man deemed as Tadej Pogacar's successor by many; Paul Seixas . The Frenchman stayed in control the entire day, and then dropped his rivals with a relative ease when he decided it was time to bring down the curtain on the race . There was only one asterisk to Seixas' run-up; the World Championships in Montréal. Seixas was one of the protagonists of the race alongside Isaac del Toro , but ultimately cramped out of the group of favourites during final lap, and finished 15th. But rather than dwell on what could've been, the failure seems to have motivated the Frenchman to leave no room for doubts as he reached his first Monument victory. "He arrived at Il Lombardia in fantastic form after the World Championships. He had said himself that he was a bit disappointed, but in my opinion he put in a great performance in Canada too; I think he rode really well at the Worlds," Nibali told quibicisport about the French winner. "At 20 years old, you're allowed to make mistakes." Masterclass performance Seixas allowed rival teams to control much of the race, keeping his cards close. But when the decisive climb Civiglio came, Seixas made it quickly clear who is the strongest rider in the race. "Seixas radiated great confidence; he attacked on the Civiglio climb from the very bottom to the top, only getting out of the saddle once - so it shows he’s very sure of himself. He set his own pace, went solo, and then claimed this very prestigious victory - becoming the youngest winner in the history of Il Lombardia since [Giovanni] Gerbi in 1905. So, this is what a changing cycling landscape looks like," the winner of 2015 and 2017 editions sighs. Evenepoel returned to his Montréal shadow While Seixas shined, not all of his pre-race rivals have had as good of a day. Remco Evenepoel put his teammates to work with seemingly confidence, but when push came to shove, he was on the shorter end of the rope, fighting merely to survive rather than place a decisive attack himself. In the end, he still sprinted to a solid result, but was way too far from a victory. "We probably all expected a little bit more from him, but he still finished fourth," Nibali assesses. "It’s understandable that he wasn't at 100% today; after all, he won the European Championship - beating Giulio Ciccone , among others - just a week ago." Remco Evenepoel in action at Il Lombardia 2026 Ciccone wraps up amazing autumn Evenepoel's rival made quite the contrary showing. He was the last rider to try and follow Paul Seixas, and although a strong Enric Mas eventually caught up and passed the Italian, he still concluded a strong autumn with a podium finish. "Giulio hadn't fully recovered from his efforts at the European Championships, yet he still put in a fantastic performance," Nibali points out. "Perhaps the surprise - if you could call it that - was Mas; we hadn't really seen him since the Vuelta, but he delivered a great performance here at Lombardia." Pogacar's successor... not yet A lot of attention prior to the race remained with UAE Team Emirates - XRG team bus - even in the absence of Tadej Pogacar. Besides world champion Brandon McNulty making an appearance (and a strong one - he finished 5th!), Isaac del Toro was touted as a top-3 favourite. However the Mexican struggled, and eventually had to give up his winning ambitions with what seemed a knee pain. "Maybe racing the Gran Piemonte - just two days before Il Lombardia - wasn't the best choice; he probably wasn't at 100% today. Plus, he was dealing with a lingering knee issue," Nibali adds, noting that he is not afraid that this should be a cause of concern for Del Toro into future. Subscribe to our Newsletter After you click “Subscribe,” you’ll receive an email from us right away. In some cases, it may end up in your spam folder, so be sure to check there as well to confirm. Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events. Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing. Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. See author's posts