Como, 8 October - Slovenia's star rider Tadej Pogačar won Il Lombardia, the last of the cycling season's five one-day races known as Monuments, on Saturday to defend last year's victory at the event.

In the sprint finish of the 253-kilometre race between Bergamo and Como in Italy's Lombardy region, the UAE Team Emirates rider beat Enrico Mas, the Spanish Movistar rider. Mas's compatriot Mikel Landa, riding for Bahrain-Victorious, finished third.

At the age of 24, Pogačar became the first rider in almost ten years to win the race known as the classic of the falling leaves for two years in a row after Spaniard Joaquin Rodriguez last managed the feat in 2012 and 2013.

"It's really amazing to come back and repeat the victory. I tried to attack on Civiglio but Mas was clearly on the same level as me. I was still confident that I would beat him in the sprint. At Giro dell'Emilia, I was still suffering from the trip back from Australia, but I have felt better and better since. This victory makes it an almost perfect 2022 season for me," said Pogačar for the race organiser.

The victory means Pogačar will finish the season on top of the UCI World Ranking for the second year running.

This is the 46 career victory for Pogačar, and the 16th this season. He has won three Monument races so far, Il Lombardia twice and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege last year.