Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver tops the UCI World Tour Individual Rankings
With the 2012 season approaching its demise, the Tour of Lombardy was the last race everyone had their eyes one.
The race of falling leaves is known for its fascinating landscapes as it takes the cyclists through the most beautiful sights of the country.
One of the steepest climbs, Muro di Sormano marked its return to the race after an absence of 50 years and was positioned right after the Madonna del Ghisallo climb.
The reigning World Champion, Philippe Gilbert crashed during the Muro di Sormano which ended his hopes to have a successful debut with the rainbow jersey.
Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver of Team Katusha proved his strengths during the race and his dominance during the 1.9 kilometre climb was the major recipe that helped him with a much needed victory to end the season on a high note.
He took a total time of 6 hours, 36 minutes and 27 seconds to complete the 251 kilometre chase to Lecco and overcame Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez of Team Euskaltel-Euskadi with a margin of 9 seconds.
Rigoberto Uran Uran of Team Sky Procycling finished third with Mauro Santambrogio of Team BMC and Sergio Lui Henao Montoya of Team Sky Procycling occupying the fourth and the fifth positions in the respective order.
“For me, winning Lombardy in itself would have been a great win, but obviously when there are more strong riders, it adds value to the win,” Rodriguez said afterwards.
“Alberto was very strong at the Worlds last week and in Milan-Turin, but it wasn’t just him, there were also riders like Nibali and Gilbert in the race”
“It’s hard to know if I was the strongest rider over the course of the year, and Wiggins was certainly the best stage race rider”.
Bradley Wiggins was leading the UCI Road World Championships with a gap of 9 points but Rodriguez’s win in Italy earned him a 100 more UCI points and a top UCI World Tour spot.
Wiggins is dropped down to the second position with a deficit of 91 points while Tom Boonen, Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde claimed the third, fourth and the fifth positions in the respective order.
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