French prodigy Paul Seixas ended his breakout season as a history-making Monument winner with a "dream" victory at Il Lombardia 2026 on Saturday.
At 20 years and 16 days, Seixas became the youngest winner in the history of the Classic of the Falling Leaves and the fourth-youngest winner of a Monument.
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"It's crazy, I don't think I realize it," said a delighted Seixas. "Everything went perfect. My teammates did a great, awesome job. They all pushed more than what they had to do.
"I had amazing legs, and I had the feeling today was a great day. I managed to make the difference at the moment I wanted to."
And he added, "it was a dream" to win this race.
Vuelta a España 2026 champion Enric Mas took second place, 48 seconds back, with Italian Giulio Ciccone rounding out the podium just over a minute behind the winner.
Seixas launched a devastating attack on the Civiglio climb with around 19 kilometers of the 239-kilometer one-day classic remaining, and within a kilometer, he had dropped all of his remaining challengers.
Olympic and European champion Remco Evenepoel was the first to flounder, followed shortly by pre-race favorite Isaac del Toro and then world champion Brandon McNulty.
Evenepoel and McNulty eventually came home in fourth and fifth.
With cycling superstar Tadej Pogacar, the winner of the last five editions of Lombardia, missing due to injury, Seixas took his chance to end an incredible season as a Monument winner.
It was only the third Monument of his career - one of the five most prestigious one-day classics on the calendar - having finished seventh at Lombardia last year and second at Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2026 in April.
Pogacar had won both of those.
This success completes a remarkable first full season in the professional ranks for Seixas.
He was fourth at the Tour de France 2026 - his debut Grand Tour - in July, having won the 2026 Itzulia Basque Country and Fleche Wallonne 2026 earlier in the year.
He had also impressed in second-place finishes at Strade Bianche, Liege and the Montreal GP.
But he endured a disappointing 2026 UCI Road World Championships last month, cramping up in the final stages and finishing 15th, although a week earlier, he had won the time-trial bronze medal behind specialists Evenepoel and Filippo Ganna.
No Looking Back For Paul Seixas At Il Lombardia 2026
The race started five minutes behind schedule, as the riders staged a brief protest to draw attention to safety concerns following a series of incidents involving vehicles on race routes.
With the dominant Pogacar missing, it promised to be a thrilling race.
Inside the final 60 kilometers, American Matteo Jorgenson and McNulty led a dangerous counterattack behind the day's breakaway.
Evenepoel's Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe team-mate Giulio Pellizzari led the chase and controlled the gap, ensuring the five counter-attackers were brought back 15 kilometers later.
With 20 kilometers left, the breakaway riders had around 30 seconds on the peloton, now driven by McNulty's UAE Emirates XRG teammate Adam Yates.
Seixas then upped the pace and soon passed the remaining breakaway riders, while dropping Evenepoel and Del Toro.
With 2 kilometers to go to the top of the Civiglio climb, only Tom Pidcock and Ciccone were able to follow Seixas.
But within another 500 meters, and still 18 kilometers to ride, he was alone.
Seixas had around 30 seconds over Ciccone and Mas over the top, with the likes of Evenepoel, Del Toro and McNulty more than a minute adrift.
And from there, he never looked back.
Pidcock came home sixth, with Spanish veteran Pello Bilbao taking an impressive seventh place in his final race.
Il Lombardia 2026 Results – Top 25
- Paul Seixas (France) – 5:49:28
- Enric Mas (Spain) – 5:50:16
- Giulio Ciccone (Italy) – 5:50:33
- Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) – 5:50:48
- Brandon McNulty (United States) – 5:49:28
- Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) – 5:49:28
- Pello Bilbao (Spain) – 5:49:28
- Christian Scaroni (Italy) – 5:49:28
- Filippo Zana (Italy) – 5:49:28
- Mathys Rondel (France) – 5:49:28
- Ramses Debruyne (Belgium) – 5:49:28
- Ben Healy (Ireland) – 5:49:28
- Jarno Widar (Belgium) – 5:51:34
- Oscar Onley (Great Britain) – 5:51:34
- Clément Berthet (France) – 5:51:34
- Davide Piganzoli (Italy) – 5:51:34
- Mikel Landa (Spain) – 5:51:57
- Ben Tulett (Great Britain) – 5:52:19
- Alessandro Fancellu (Italy) – 5:52:19
- Sam Maisonobe (France) – 5:52:19
- Michael Storer (Australia) – 5:53:20
- Michael Leonard (Canada) – 5:53:21
- Matteo Jorgenson (United States) – 5:53:51
- Sylvain Moniquet (Belgium) – 5:53:55
- Ben O’Connor (Australia) – 5:54:01
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