Michael Woods (EF Education First) rode into Lombardia in high spirits after winning Milan-Torino earlier in the week, but the Canadian, who turned 33 on Saturday, was heavily marked in the finale and was unable to celebrate his birthday on the podium.

Woods finished fifth in his third attempt at the "Race of the Fallen Leaves" as Trek-Segafredo's Bauke Mollema broke away from the lead group on the final climb and successfully held off the rest of the field.

"I don't have a gift for anyone, but especially today," Woods told Cycling News on the finish straight in Como. 'I think a lot of the guys were counting on me after the good run I had earlier in the week. Even Primo Roglic didn't want to work with me. As a result, I had to sprint for fifth place instead of the podium."

Once Morema was gone, a group of favorites that included Woods, Jumbovisma's Roglic, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Egan Bernal (Team Ineos), and Jacob Fuglsang (Astana), made a run that allowed the Dutchman to escape. The race unfolded.

Bernal, Fuglsang, and Valverde battled for the last podium spot, with Valverde taking second and Bernal third.

"Morema made a great move and had a very good tactical run," Woods said. Morema made some great moves and had a very good tactical run," Woods said. His deftness made it very difficult to beat him today."

"He took advantage of me a little bit on that downhill. Some guys attacked and I went with them, but then someone else attacked again, and at the end no one was cooperating."

The podium would have been an ideal end-of-season birthday present for Woods, but he told Cycling News he was not too disappointed to finish fifth at Il Lombardia for the third time.

"I wanted to do well here, but I'm not too disappointed with fifth. I really had the legs today and it was great to win in Milan-Torino. It's a very positive way to end the season."

After starting the season on the Tour Down Under in January, Woods is not yet ready to take a season-ending break; he will next fly to Japan to compete in the Japan Cup on October 20. He will also use the trip to preview the road race course for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"Unfortunately my flight was cancelled, so I'm going to go a little later now and scout the Olympic course after the race.