When Ion Izagirre crossed the line first in Cesenatico on 12 September, outkicking a four-rider group to take his 20th career win at the Memorial Marco Pantani, the script was still intact. The Basque veteran would ride out the Italian end-of-season races and sign off at Il Lombardia on 10 October.
That plan is gone. On Wednesday, Izagirre fell on a training ride near his home in the Basque Country and broke his left wrist. His team, Cofidis, announced that he would miss the rest of the season.
“After informing the medical team, he received first aid and will miss the rest of the season,” Cofidis said in a statement.
The team spelled out what the fracture had cost him.
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“Ion was due to take part in the end-of-season races in Italy and finish with the Tour of Lombardy. This race, for which he had high hopes, was to be the last of his career.”
A career written across all three Grand Tours
Izagirre’s 16 seasons in the WorldTour peloton ran through Euskaltel-Euskadi, Movistar, Bahrain, Astana and finally Cofidis, where he landed in 2022. He picked up stage wins at all three Grand Tours along the way: the Giro d’Italia in 2012, the Tour de France at Morzine in 2016 and at Belleville-en-Beaujolais in 2023, and the Vuelta a España in 2020. That Vuelta stage made him the 100th male rider to score a stage in every Grand Tour.
His one-week stage racing was just as productive. He won the overall at the Itzulia Basque Country in 2019 on home roads, and this April claimed the GP Miguel Indurain for the third time, matching the race record.
Il Lombardia goes on without him
The 120th edition of Il Lombardia runs on Saturday, 10 October 2026, the last of the five cycling monuments and the race Izagirre had marked as his finish line. He will not be on the start sheet. His career closes, instead, on a win in Cesenatico on 12 September, the 20th and last entry on his professional record.
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