Il Lombardia 2024: The last major one-day race of the men’s road cycling 2024 UCI World Tour season will take place this weekend with the 118th edition of the Giro di Lombardia on October 12.
Known as the ‘Classic of the Falling Leaves’, a reference to the race’s schedule during fall, Il Lombardia is the fifth and final Monument classic of the season. This edition will see some 175 cyclists – 25 teams of seven – glide through the 252km (156mile) trek from Bergamo to Como.
Slovenia’s newly crowned world champion Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates is the three-time defending champion and will hope to become just the third man to win the race four times. He can also become the first rider since the legendary Fausto Coppi (1946–1949) to win the race four years in a row.
The cyclists will traverse over 4,800m of altitude gain before they arrive into Como, which has served as the finish town for 13 of the past 20 years since 2004.
Il Lombardia 2024 race route and key tests
The peloton will commence their race from Bergamo, serving as the starting town for the ninth time in history, to Como.
The Passo di Ganda (9.2km at 7.3 per cent) will be the first major test on the course around 50km into the race which is marked by eight categorised climbs on the route.
This will be followed by the Colma di Sormano, around 40km from the finish, which is a 12.9km-long climb at 6.4 per cent, but reaches maximum gradients of 13 per cent with the last 900m of the climb averaging a 9.1 pe cent gradient.
However, that won’t even be the last test, as right before the finish in Como, there is a short but sharp ascent of the San Fermo della Battaglia (2.7km at 7.2 per cent), with the descent leading to the finish line.
Il Lombardia 2024: Key Players
Pogacar is undisputedly the hot-favourite on the back of a dominant win at the Giro d’Emilia. However, he will face tough competitions from Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel and the two-time mountain bike gold medallist Tom Pidcock. Pogacar’s fellow Slovenian and Vuelta a España champion Primoz Roglic is also possibly a threat.
Other regular stage-race climbing specialists, such as Enric Mas or Matteo Jorgenson could be part of the field.
Il Lombardia 2024: Full Schedule
All times Central European Summer Time (UTC +2 hours), with average speed set at 42km/h.
The following schedule estimates the time the peloton is expected at each of the eight classified climbs, as well as the finish line.
12 October 2024
- 10:40 – Race start, Bergamo
- 11:21 – Forcelino di Bianzano
- 11:56 – Passo di Ganda
- 12:41 – Colle di Berbenno
- 13:14 – Valpiana
- 14:29 – Sella di Osigo
- 14:46 – Madonna del Ghisallo
- 15:46 – Colma di Sormano
- 16:32 – San Fermo della Battaglia
- 16:37 – Estimated race finish, Como
Also Read: 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Series: Key Players, Schedule
Il Lombardia 2024: How to watch
Fans can watch Il Lombardia 2024 on live TV and streaming on Eurosport and Warner Bros. Discovery networks in Europe, including the UK, while RAI will also have broadcast rights in Italy. In the USA and Canada the Giro di Lombardia will be available on FloBikes.
