Ion Izagirre will take the start of Il Lombardia on Saturday despite the broken left wrist that appeared to have brought his professional career to a premature end, allowing the Cofidis rider to finish his 17-year career at the race he had chosen for his farewell.
The 37-year-old fractured his wrist in a training crash at the end of September and was initially ruled out for the remainder of the season. That meant Il Lombardia, which had long been planned as the final race of his career, appeared to have been taken away from him. Cofidis has now confirmed that Izagirre will start in Bergamo after all.
There is little expectation that he will be able to race the 239km Monument competitively with the injury. The significance is in taking the start and having Il Lombardia officially remain the last race of his professional career, even if his participation ends very early.
Il Lombardia farewell restored after wrist fracture
Izagirre had planned his retirement well in advance, with the 2026 season intended to provide a deliberate final year rather than an abrupt end caused by injury or the absence of a contract. Il Lombardia was chosen as the final stop, a race well suited to the climbing and descending qualities that have defined much of his career.
That plan seemed over when he crashed on a wet training descent near his home in the Basque Country and fractured his left wrist. The original medical assessment ruled him out of his remaining Italian races and led Cofidis to announce that his season had finished.
ProCyclingUK reported at the time that the injury had apparently ended Izagirre’s career before his planned Lombardia farewell. The decision to start on Saturday changes that ending, even if it does not amount to a normal return to racing.
A winning final season before the crash
The unusual farewell comes at the end of one of Izagirre’s strongest recent seasons. He won the GP Miguel Indurain for the third time in April and then took the 20th victory of his professional career at the Memorial Marco Pantani in September.
He also finished seventh overall at Paris-Nice, fourth at Itzulia Basque Country and seventh at La Flèche Wallonne, showing that his retirement was not being forced by a collapse in form.
His wider career includes stage wins in all three Grand Tours, overall victories at the Tour de Pologne and Itzulia Basque Country, and a long run as one of the most reliable Basque riders of his generation. One of his most memorable late-career wins came at the 2023 Tour de France, when Izagirre attacked clear to win in Belleville-en-Beaujolais.
Izagirre back on the Il Lombardia start list
Izagirre remains listed as rider 41 in the Il Lombardia 2026 start list. The 239km race runs from Bergamo to Como, with the decisive finale built around Civiglio and two ascents of San Fermo della Battaglia.
For Izagirre, none of that is likely to matter competitively. The aim is simply to roll away from the start line in Cofidis colours and let the final race number of his career be attached to Il Lombardia as originally planned.
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Photo Credit: Getty -
Photo Credit: Getty
