Paul Seixas has pulled down one of the oldest records in cycling. The Decathlon CMA CGM rider crossed the line alone on the Como lakefront on 10 October to win Il Lombardia aged 20 years and 16 days, erasing a youngest-winner mark Giovanni Gerbi had held since 1905.
The decisive move came with 19 kilometres to go on the Civiglio, a 4.2-kilometre climb averaging 9.7 per cent. Seixas lifted the pace until Tom Pidcock and Giulio Ciccone could no longer hold his wheel, crested the summit around 30 seconds clear and never gave the gap back on the roads down to Como.
Enric Mas, who was not in the front group at the base of Civiglio, came back strongly on the final ramp to San Fermo della Battaglia and caught Ciccone for second. The Movistar rider still finished 48 seconds adrift. Ciccone was third at 1:05, Remco Evenepoel fourth at 1:20, with Brandon McNulty fifth and Pidcock sixth.
Youngest since 1905
Only Gerbi, who was 20 years and five months old when he won the race in 1905, had worn the leaves at a younger age. Seixas had turned 20 just 16 days before Saturday’s start in Bergamo.
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After the finish he said he “had a feeling it was going to be a great day.”
“I was able to make a difference right when I wanted to,” he told reporters at the line.
Pogacar’s absence opened the door
The 2026 edition opened up when Tadej Pogacar, winner of the last five editions of the race, missed the start through injury. His omission from the roster in Bergamo turned a Monument he had usually dictated into a wide open contest between Evenepoel, Isaac Del Toro, Seixas and the Grand Tour and Giro legs of Mas and Ciccone.
Seixas is in the middle of a breakout season. Il Lombardia closes out a 2026 that already included wins at the Itzulia Basque Country and Flèche Wallonne, and it stands as his first Monument.
He covered the 239 kilometres from Bergamo to Como in 5:49:28, at an average of 41.033 km/h.
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