Paul Seixas rode into Monument history on the shores of Lake Como, winning Il Lombardia 2026 with a solo attack that made the 20-year-old the youngest champion in the race's 120 editions.
A searing acceleration on the Civiglio
The decisive moment came with 19 kilometres remaining. On the steep slopes of the Civiglio climb, Seixas launched a seated acceleration that only Tom Pidcock and Giulio Ciccone could initially follow. He kept pressing until both had lost contact, while Remco Evenepoel and Isaac del Toro were already distanced further down the climb.
By the summit, Seixas had carved out a 20-second gap. The race of the falling leaves had found its protagonist.
48 seconds that end an era
Seixas carried a 35-second lead onto the final climb of San Fermo della Battaglia and extended it to 50 seconds by the summit. Enric Mas had pulled clear of Ciccone in pursuit, but the gap was insurmountable. Descending carefully into Como, the young Frenchman crossed the line in 5:49:28 after 239 kilometres, 48 seconds ahead of Mas, with Ciccone third at 1:05.
The victory delivered Decathlon CMA CGM its first Monument and ended Tadej Pogacar's five-edition grip on the race. At 20 years and 16 days, Seixas shattered Giovanni Gerbi's mark from the 1905 inaugural edition by 145 days. He is the youngest post-war Monument winner and the first French victor since Thibaut Pinot in 2018.
"It's crazy. I think I don't realise for now," Seixas told reporters afterwards. "Everything went perfect. The teammates did a great, awesome job."
Twelve months earlier, he had finished seventh here as the youngest top-ten Monument finisher in over a century. Now, barely two weeks after cramping out of the World Championship road race lead group in Montreal, he stood alone at the head of cycling's fifth Monument — a rebound as steep as the trajectory his young career continues to trace.
