Il Lombardia
Saturday 11 October
241km
Start time: 10:55 CET
Il Lombardia, also known as the Tour of Lombardy, is the fifth of the five Monuments in men’s cycling, and is traditionally the one-day race which wraps up the season. This year’s will be the 119th edition of the race, which takes place around Lake Como in Italy.
3. Route finding
The route for Il Lombardia generally flits between starting at Como and finishing in Bergamo and vice versa, so there is no set parcours as such. This year sees the Bergamo finish back in place. It comes at the end of a mountainous 241km featuring six classified climbs and a short, spiky ascent just before the finish too. Featuring the climb of the famous Madonna di Ghisallo among others, this is exactly the same route that Pogačar won on in 2023.
Remco Evenepoel and team training in the run-up to the 114th Il Lombardia race in 2020
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Riders to watch
Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
It is hard to see past the Slovenian at this point, who will undoubtedly begin the race as the outright favourite. The imperious manner in which he won the Tour de France and more recently the World Championships places him well above his rivals.
CW rating: 5 stars
Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
The Soudal-Quick Step rider has unfinished business here after finishing ninth in 2023 and second last year, behind another Pogačar rampage. The Belgian is clearly in good shape after wins in the Worlds and European time trials.
CW rating: 4 stars
Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Q36.5
Having moved to Q36.5 for this season the Brit has refound his mojo, and used it to record some solid results throughout the year – including an eyebrow-raising third place on GC at the Vuelta a España last month. He was a somewhat disappointed 10th at what he called an “absolutely brutal” Worlds, and will hope to improve on that on his debut Lombardia.
CW rating: 3 stars
Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
The talented Spaniard’s past few months have not been plain sailing, with a war of words breaking out between him and his team during the Vuelta culminating in him announcing he would move to Lidl-Trek for 2026. How that will affect his performance at Lombardia remains to be seen, but on paper he can vie for a podium place in what is his first start here.
CW rating: 3 stars
Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost
Eighth here in 2023, the mercurial Ecuadorian is never an easy one to read. While most of his biggest victories are a few years old now, he seems to pull at least one memorable win out of the bag each season. This year he’s already had a Giro stage win, perhaps he’s teeing up Lombardia for number two.
CW rating: 2 stars
