Paul Seixas dominated Il Lombardia, but his climbing numbers reveal a twist

Topping out with only 17.5 kilometers to go, the Civiglio was the perfect launchpad for a lightweight climber. After hours of pacing and multiple attacks from UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike, those two teams disappeared from the front at the base of the penultimate ascent. Tom Pidcock made a desperate acceleration to move towards the front, while Remco Evenepoel was already sliding down the order.

With more than 2km to go to the top of the Civiglio, Seixas came to the front and started setting his own pace. It wasn't even an attack, Pidcock said after the race. Seixas simply started riding at a tempo that no one else could sustain. Giulio Ciccone and Enric Mas were among the few riders able to respond to the initial acceleration, but even they eventually succumbed to Seixas' brutal pace.

By the top of the Civiglio, Seixas was out of sight, and he continued to increase his lead on the descent and flatter roads with 10km to go. Mas dropped Ciccone on the final ascent, but by that point, Seixas was nearly a minute ahead and cruising to victory. Pre-race favorites Pidcock and Evenepoel were left fighting for the minor places, while Isaac Del Toro was more than four minutes behind.

Paul Seixas soloed to victory, becoming the youngest-ever winner of Il Lombardia and the first rider in the history of Decathlon CMA CGM Team to win a Monument. The 20-year-old made it look so easy, but the massive caveat was that Tadej Pogačar wasn't on the start line. How impressive was Seixas' climbing performance on the Civiglio? Let's take a look.

Seixas - Civiglio

Time: 11:59
Estimated Power: ~7.1w/kg
VAM: 2,003 Vm/h

While 7.1 W/kg is certainly impressive, it is actually far from Seixas' best. That might sound surprising considering how his rivals described the effort. Ciccone admitted that Seixas was "on another level," while Pidcock said he went "into the red" trying to follow the Frenchman.

But it seems this year's Lombardia was raced on tired legs, with many contenders having recently returned from the World Championships in North America. Fatigue often takes its toll at this point in the season. Seixas' performance was significantly less impressive than his win at the Faun-Ardèche Classic in February, where he averaged nearly 7.5 W/kg for 16 minutes.

This doesn't take anything away from Seixas' win. In truth, he dropped multiple World Champions, Monument winners, and Grand Tour champions on his way to victory at Il Lombardia. 

But in terms of pure climbing performance, this wasn't even the best Paul Seixas we've ever seen.