The Japan Times - Pogacar caps stunning season with fifth straight Il Lombardia triumph

Slovenian superstar Pogacar crossed the line first in Bergamo after a trademark attack on the key Passo di Ganda climb to blitz the rest of the field and become the first man since Eddy Merckx in 1975 to win three Monuments in a single season.

From the moment Pogacar was left to attack by his powerful UAE teammates with around 38 kilometres remaining of the 241km race there was no doubt of the final result, with only early breakaway artist Quinn Simmons out on his own one minute and 10 seconds up the road.

Pogacar finished nearly two minutes ahead of Remco Evenepoel, who again ended up second behind cycling's dominant force as he did at the recent world and European championships.

"To win five times in a row... every time I start it feels like this race is suited to me, but also at the same time that with such a good team around me we can pull it off," said Pogacar.

"I always say, seven years in a row this is my best season, and again I can say this is the best season so far."

At 27 years old Pogacar has now won 10 of the sport's Monuments -- the five toughest and longest one-day races of the year -- nine shy of a career tally set by Merckx, who won three in 1969, 1971, 1972 and 1975.

His fifth straight victory in the "Race of the Falling Leaves" is another record to add to a growing list as Italian great Coppi strung four consecutive wins between 1946 and 1949, with his fifth coming in 1954.

- History maker -

Pogacar is used to making history as this year he became the first man to win both the Tour de France and world championship two seasons in a row.

And he is now also the first to finish on the podium of all five Monuments in the same season.

In April, Pogacar won both the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, victories which go alongside third place in Milan-San Remo and second in Paris-Roubaix which were both won by Mathieu van der Poel.

Backed by a star-studded team which included the likes of Isaac del Toro and Adam Yates, Pogacar plugged away in the peloton for much of the race as a breakaway containing Simmons pushed ahead early on.

American Simmons attacked from the break on the Passo della Crocetta climb and was 50 seconds in front of the chasers -- and over three minutes ahead of the peloton -- by the time he hit the crest of that ascent with over 70km remaining.

That gap to Pogacar and company held steady while the original break was slowly brought back into the main group, and by the time the bulk of the race reached the Passo di Ganda Simmons' lead had been cut by a minute.

Pogacar finally made his move on that climb, exactly as he did two years ago, once the peloton crumbled in the face of the punishing pace set by his teammate Jay Vine with Del Toro holding off the competition.

From there Pogacar slashed at Simmons' lead and caught him some way before the summit, and from there it was a one-man procession to a historic win.

T.Kobayashi--JT