Tadej Pogačar is targeting a second consecutive Il Lombardia win as he wraps up his 2022 road season in the Italian one-day Classics in early October.
UAE Team Emirates have named the Slovenian as team leader for Giro dell’Emilia on Saturday and then he will take aim at Il Lombardia on Saturday October 8.
Last year, Pogačar won Il Lombardia with a powerful solo attack, making him the first rider since Eddie Merckx to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Tour de France and the Italian classic in the same season.
This year Pogacar had a hugely successful spring campaign but finished second at the Tour de France and he remains hungry for some end of season success. He has just travelled home from the world championships in Australia, but will be in Bologna on Saturday for the hilltop finish of the Giro dell’Emilia.
“Last year was my first time doing this Italian block of races and it’s a period I really enjoyed. To win in Lombardia was the perfect end to the season and we are motivated to go back and try to repeat that,” Pogačar said in a statement released by UAE Team Emirates.
“The Giro dell’Emilia is a hard circuit race and an exciting one for the fans. I’ve been taking it easy since getting back home from Australia so we’ll see how the form is for Saturday. I’m looking forward to a good build-up to Lombardia, which is sure to be a special race to finish the year.”
Pogačar won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal with a strong ride and uphill sprint finish before travelling on to Australia. He finished sixth in the time trial and 19th in the road race after Remco Evenepoel attack from a big break and won alone.
The new world champion will show off his rainbow jersey at Binche-Chimay-Binche on Monday and not race in Italy but Pogačar will face Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), Vincenzo Nibali (Astana-Qazaqstan), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) at the Giro dell’Emilia. Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) will be a rival for Il Lombardia after he rides this week’s Cro Race in Croatia.
Pogačar will have the support of George Bennett, Alessandro Covi, Davide Formolo, Marc Hirschi, Rafal Majka and Diego Ulissi for the Giro dell’Emilia, with many of the same riders expected to form the UAE Team Emirates squad for Il Lombardia.
UAE Team Emirates will also be in action in Thursday's Coppa Agostoni north of Milan, Vegard Stake Laengen taking Pogačar’s place in the one-day race. Hirschi is back on form after a series of injuries and recently won the Giro della Toscana.
