Today’s World Tour one-day race, Giro di Lombardi covering 254 kilometers in the highly undulating terrain between Como and Bergamo was won by Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp). Tinkoff-Saxo’s Sergio Paulinho made his mark on the race with a long-lasting breakaway.

Tinkoff-Saxo’s Sergio Paulinho was in today’s long-lasting breakaway while his teammates could stay behind without taking turns on the front. But inside the final 30 kilometers, he was joined and passed by new escapees from the pack. The attacks kept coming from the penultimate climb, down the long descent and on to the final and steep slope before the finish in Bergamo.

Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge), Ben Hermans (BMC) and Leopold Konig (NetApp) formed a powerful trio before hitting the final ascent while several teams joined forces in the pack to reel them in. Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador, Chris Anker Sørensen and Roman Kreuziger were both in the vastly reduced group of riders chasing the front group who was now down to only two riders.

Hitting the foot of the final climb, the duo was caught and Tim Wellens (Lotto-Belisol) opened a promising gap with 8 other riders without Tinkoff-Saxo participation. And on the final kilometer, Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) drifted away from his rivals who seemed to hesitate and he made it all the way to the finish line to take the win.

The Giro di Lombardia concluded in a hectic finale. Tinkoff-Saxo’s race was unfortunately affected by a late crash that brought down team leader Alberto Contador in the final corner.

“Following the last climb, I was in a group chasing the front group on the descent towards the finishing straight. In the final corner, someone crashed right in front of me and I didn’t have time to react. I went down and several riders came from behind and crashed into me. There was simply nothing I could do," commented Alberto Contador after the race and added:

“Unfortunately, I didn’t escape unharmed. I’ve sustained an injury to my left knee, which is the same one I hurt in the Tour and I also have some bruises on my elbow. It’s unlucky that it was the knee again but I think it’s not too serious. I’ll put some ice on it and hopefully I’ll be ready to go."

Alberto Contador was able to get back on the bike and finish the race as 34th. After crossing the finish line, a hematoma had developed on the left knee as a result of the impact. It’s not a complicated injury, but it might affect his participation in Tour of Beijing starting next weekend.