“It’s just incredible to win it after all the bad luck this year,” said Martin. “The team believed in me all the way. To win this is just, ah, incredible.
“I actually planned to attack on the last climb but I couldn’t get through. There were too many people. I needed to try something and the opportunity happened. I just had to go as hard as I could and not crash in the last corner, as I did at Liège.”
Martin wins Il Lombardia - Valverde second and Costa third
Garmin-Sharp's Dan Martin timed his attack to perfection to win the Tour of Lombardia. The Irishman was part of a stellar break that formed on the descent of the Bergamo Alta and attacked inside the final kilometre to win ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and former world champion Rui Costa (Lampre Merida).
For Martin, who had crashed out of a number of major races this year, and even took a tumble in Lombardia 12 months ago, it was a moment to savour, with the Irishman building up enough time to lift his arms in celebration as he crossed the line.
The win signified Martin’s second Monument, adding to his Liège-Bastogne-Liège title in 2013. His win in Lombardia was just as clinical and he once again owed much to his teammates – notably Ryder Hesjedal - who buried himself in the final of the race as the peloton sought to bring back a dangerous pairing of Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge) and Ben Hermans (BMC Racing).
The duo were caught on the slopes of the final climb with the main contenders vying for position at the front of the bunch. It was Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol) who took the early initiative with a daring move but he was quickly caught by a rampaging Philippe Gilbert (BMC), who led across a group that initially didn’t contain Martin.
The Irishman was, however, able to bridge to the leaders on the descent and as Gilbert’s teammate Samuel Sanchez led the group that contained Valverde, Costa, Fabio Aru (Astana), Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) and defending champion Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Martin ghosted to the back of the group.
Sanchez’s pace setting briefly eased as he checked back to catch Gilbert’s position, and the moment of hesitation was all Martin needed as he kicked clear.
Valverde and Gilbert exchanged glances with neither willing to sacrifice their chances. It was all Martin needed, his only obstacles remaining, the final corners before the line.
“I love this race, it’s one of my favourite races,” Martin said at the line. “To get second and crash in the last corner last year, it’s incredible to win it after all the bad luck this year. Last week I felt good and I crashed again. I believed, and the team believed, in me all the way, that the luck would change and we would get the big victory.”
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