Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) got his revenge for the near-miss in last Sunday's world championships road race when he won the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia, for the second year in a row. The Spaniard attacked on the steepest section of the final climb and held off archrival Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) on the subsequent descent to take another beautiful solo win in Lombardy.

One week ago, Joaquim Rodriguez experienced the biggest disappointment of his entire career when he missed out on the Worlds title by getting caught by Rui Costa inside the final kilometre of the battle for the rainbow stripes. Today his emotions were completely opposite when he defended his title in the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia.

Having asked his teammates to chase down all breaks throughout the day, Rodriguez was well-placed when the final escapee Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) was caught on the final Villa Vergano climb with less than 15km to go. All eyes were on the Spaniard to launch one of his trademark attacks on the steepest section when a small group had gone clear following an acceleration from Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r).

Rodrigue did what was expected but was simply too strong for his rivals to respond. He easily rode away from his chasers and crested the summit with a big gap.

Behind, a 3-rider chase group with Alejandro Valverde, Rafal Majka (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Daniel Martin (Garmin) had formed and those three riders tried desperately to get back on with Valverde doing all the work on the descent. The Movistar leader was riding so fast that he got clear on his own and the race developed into a fierce pursuit between the two Spanish stars.

However, there was no one catching Rodriguez who took a comfortable solo win 17 seconds ahead of Valverde. Martin was unfortunate to crash in the final turn and so Majka could roll across the line to take the final spot on the podium.

With the win, Rodriguez not only doubled his tally in the Italian autumn classic. He also added 100 points to his WorldTour tally and so disposed Chris Froome (Sky) from the overall lead. With none of the main contenders expected to travel to China for the Tour of Beijing, Rodriguez has locked up a second consecutive overall win in the season-long series.

A route for climbers

The 242km course for the 107th Il Lombardia took the riders from Bergamo to Lecco on the shores of Lake Como. Along the way, the riders had to tackle the Valico di Valcava, Colle Brianza, Colma di Sormano, Madonna del Ghisallo and Villa Vergano climbs. The top of the latter was located just 9,4km from the finish and was followed by a fast descent and 2,8km of flat roads that led to the finish line.

The race was off to a really fast start and it took very long time for a break to be established. Early on, a 16-rider group escaped but it was deemed to dangerous and reeled in after a short while.

A break is formed

Finally, a break was established when Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Carlos Quintero (Colombia), Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Euskaltel), and Jay Robert Thomson (MTN) escaped while a 6-rider chase group containing Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Fabio Felline (Androni) set off in pursuit.

Things were turned upside down on the Valcava climb when riders got dropped and new riders attacked from the peloton. Some way up the climb, a 6-rider lead group was formed containing Aleesandro De Marchi (Cannondale), Reto Hollenstein (IAM), Quintero, Willem Wauters (Vacansoleil), Albasini and Felline. The latter two both lost contact and were picked up by the peloton, leaving just a 4-rider group up the road.

Sagan abandons

Those 4 riders have never got a big gap and were never more than 2 minutes ahead of the peloton. Meanwhile, one of the day's favourites Peter Sagan (Cannondale) abandoned the race while Andy Schleck (Radioshack) also threw in the towel. A little later Michele Scarponi (Lampre) gave up due to illness.

On the Colle Brianza, the peloton accelerated fiercely and a 21-rider group slipped away. While Wauters and Quintero were both caught, Hollenstein and De Marchi got into the move alongside Angel Vicioso (Katusha), Diego Rosa (Androni), Francesco Gavazzi (Astana), Stef Clement (Belkin), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Paolo Longo Borghini (Cannondale), Juan Pablo Valencia (Colombia), Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Benat Intxausti (Movistar), Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEDGE), Jan Bakelants (Radioshack), Georg Preidler (Argos-Shimano), Bjorn Thurau (Europcar), Sergio Paulinho (Saxo-Tinkoff), Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff), Cesare Benedetti (NetApp), Maurits Lammertink (Vacansoleil) and Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil). Those riders hit the Colma di Sormano with a slight gap over the peloton which was being led by Saxo-Tinkoff.

Nibali crashes

Just before the climb, a crash brought down Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Rigoberto Uran (Sky). While the latter could continue for a little while before stepping into his team car, the Italian hero had to throw in the towel, obviously in big pain. The peloton momentarily slowed down before once again riding hard.

Rosa attacked on the lower slopes and was joined by Preidler but the duo was quickly brought back. With the peloton breathing down the escapees' necks, Gavazzi, Bakelants and Thurau accelerated off the front and they were joined by Rosa and Marcato. The latter fell off the pace and was replaced by Van Avermaet but the quintet was short-lived with Roche bringing things back together for Saxo-Tinkoff.

Saxo-Tinkoff whittle down the peloton

The Irishman set a fierce pace in the peloton and severely whittled down the size of the peloton. He was replaced by teammates Michael Rogers when they hit the steep top section known as the Muro di Sormano with its 27% gradient. The peloton crumbled under Rogers' pressure and things only got worse when Nairo Quintana (Movistar) further upped the pace near the top.

Several riders had fallen off the pace, among those Philippe Gilbert (BMC), Carlos Betancur (Ag2r), Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff), Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Sergio Henao (Sky) and world champion Rui Costa (Movistar). Quintana attacked over the top and was joined by team leader Valverde on the descent.

More riders join from behind

Enrico Gaparotto (Astana) bridged across and a little later, Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) and Ivan Santaromita (BMC) also joined the front group. When they finished the descent, nobody was really willing to commit themselves and so the aggressive peloton got close.

Voeckler had rejoined the peloton on the descent and refused to saw his chance to bridge across. He quickly made the junction before continuing on his own. The Valverde quartet was absorbed by the peloton which almost came to a standstill, allowing several riders to rejoin the main group, Gilbert and Costa being two of those.

Unfortunate day for Wyss

Marcel Wyss (IAM) set off in pursuit of Voeckler but was unfortunate to crash on a small descent. When he has to stop to repair his bike, his time off the front was brought to an end.

When Voeckler hit the legendary Madonna del Ghisallo climb, he was already 2.30 ahead of the peloton. Saxo-Tinkoff upped the pace with Matti Breschel and when he finished his job, it was Katusha who showed Rodriguez' intentions Yury Trofimov and Angel Vicioso did a massive job all the way up the climb to send several riders out the backdoor, among those Gilbert and Contador.

Voeckler extends his gap

Impressively, Voeckler crested the summit with a gap of more than 3 minutes and so he had extended his lead on the climb. Vicioso led the peloton all the way down the descent and managed to stabilize Voeckler's advantage.

On the flat run-in to the Villa Vergano, Movistar, Katusha and Saxo-Tinkoff committed themselves to the chase and so Costa, Caruso and Rogers started to chase hard. When Voeckler hit the climb, he was only 35 seconds ahead of the main group which Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r) had joined after a crash a little earlier.

Visconti ups the pace

Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) set the pace on the lower slopes before being replaced by Greg Van Avermaet (BMC). It wasn't, however, until Mickael Cherel (Ag2r) that riders started to really lose contact with the main group.

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) kicked off the action when he accelerated with 10km to go. Pozzovivo brought it back together and the Italian made two hard counterattacks that severely reduced the size of the main group. Suddenly, only Pozzovivo, Rodriguez, Majka, Valverde, Martin, Ivan Basso (Cannondale), Pieter Serry (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Daniel Moreno (Katusha) and Quintana remained in contention.

That was when Rodriguez launched his attack and nobody could respond to the strong Spaniard. Martin, Majka, Valverde, Pozzovivo and Basso made up a chase group, with the latter two falling off the pace a little later. Rodriguez crested the summit with an 8-second gap over his chasing trio and from then on the dramatic pursuit ensued that saw Rodriguez being crowned Lombardy champion for the second year in a row.

Result:

1. Joaquim Rodriguez 6.10.18

2. Alejandro Valverde +0.17

3. Rafal Majka +0.23

4. Daniel Martin +0.45

5. Enrico Gasparotto

6. Daniel Moreno +0.55

7. Pieter Serry

8. Franco Pellizotti

9. Ivan Santaromita

10. Robert Gesink