MILAN:

Tadej Pogacar is red-hot favourite to match a feat only ever achieved by cycling icon Eddy Merckx as the Slovenian superstar bids to win the Tour of Lombardy for the fifth consecutive year.

No-one but Merckx has ever won three Monument races in the same season but world champion Pogacar is on course to cap another remarkable year by equalling that record at the “Race of the Falling Leaves” on Saturday.

In April, the Team UAE rider won both the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege having also finished second at Paris-Roubaix, while a month earlier he was third at Milan-San Remo, meaning he has finished on the podium of all four Monument races so far this season.

Merckx managed a trio of Monument victories four times in his career and has a record 19 wins in the prestigious one-day classics.

Cycling’s Monuments are tougher than the regular one-day classics mainly due to their length, and the route for the 2025 Giro di Lombardia is a hefty 238km from Como to Bergamo.

Pogacar will face formidable opposition with double-Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel in his last race for one-day specialists Soudal-Quick Step before joining Red Bull.

“If anyone can tell me how to beat Tadej please do,” Evenepoel joked last week after coming second at the World and European championships to Pogacar.

At just 19, French tyro Paul Seixas will be one to watch after his third place at the recent European road race.

Mavericks Tom Pidcock and Julian Alaphilippe can be counted on to bid to try and upset the order, while Ireland’s Ben Healy should feature in any shake-up.

‘Best season’ 

But 27-year-old Pogacar is on-form, recently retaining the world crown and adding the European road race title to his long list of honours, which includes four Tour de France triumphs.

“Every year I say to myself it’s my best season so far, but then next year comes and it’s a better season. But soon enough, there will be a moment where I won’t be able to top it off,” Pogacar said after claiming the European crown.

“I’m over the moon with every season I’ve done, and this year is no exception. I realise that I’m lucky to be able to win all these races.”

Pogacar is used to breaking records — this year he became the first man to win both the Tour and world championship two seasons in a row — and he also has another of the sport’s greats in his sights.

Only Fausto Coppi has won the season-ending Il Lombardia five times, and no-one has ever strung together five consecutive victories, with the Italian great winning four on the bounce between 1946 and 1949.

The race has been Pogacar’s personal playground since he first won it in 2021, the route so often perfect for a rider who loves to attack early and burn off the competition.

The last time it finished in Bergamo, two years ago, Pogacar made his move on the decisive Passo di Ganda climb that is also on this year’s gruelling route, which features a series of steep climbs.

Israel-Premier Tech and race organisers came to a mutual agreement that the team would not take part, after having been targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters at several recent races.