Every year it's a more or less well-kept secret until shortly before the start: What will the route look like at the last big one-day classic of the season? The surprise was not particularly great when the race organiser RCS published the route. The route of the 119th edition of the Tour of Lombardy (Il Lombardia) will lead from the start in Como to Bergamo on 11 October. In previous years, the start and finish had been swapped between the two cities in Lombardy. "The alternation between Como and Bergamo has become a tradition, it guarantees spectacular races at the highest level. For this edition, we have decided to bring back the 2023 route," says Race Director Stefano Allocchio. "Il Lombardia" is the toughest one-day race on the pro calendar in terms of metres in altitude, ahead of the spring classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
The organiser speaks of a great weekend for all cyclists. "That's what makes Il Lombardia so unique: it succeeds in bringing together the entire cycling community - from professionals to amateurs - in an internationally recognised festival," adds Paolo Bellino, CEO of RCS Sport, about the upcoming edition. The day after the professionals, there will be a Granfondo, an amateur race. However, the organiser has not yet succeeded in creating a starting opportunity for the professionals in the women's race, which, for example, Italian Giro winner Elisa Longo Borghini will be taking part in. TOUR interview had wished for. This year, after a long break, RCS once again added a women's race to the second major Italian cycling classic Milan-San Remo.
Route of the Tour of Lombardy 2025
The route in the professional race is topographically demanding. The race starts in Como, before climbing from the small town of Asso to Madonna del Ghisallo, followed by a descent to Lake Como near Bellagio. The route continues along the lakeshore to Lecco. This is followed shortly afterwards by a dense series of climbs with almost no flat sections. At Valico di Valpiana, the gradient reaches a maximum of 17 per cent. After the descent from the Passo di Ganda over 19 hairpin bends, the only flatter section follows on the way to Bergamo. There, the up to 12 per cent steep, 200 metre cobbled ascent to Porta Garibaldi in the "Città alta", the upper town, offers opportunities for final attacks before the short descent to the finish. In total, the professional cyclists have to climb around 4400 metres in altitude on the 241-kilometre route.
Tadej Pogačar as top favourite
For Tadej Pogačarthe currently strongest professional cyclist, the "Race of the Falling Leaves" has recently been a must-attend event. The 27-year-old wants to be there again this year - despite the important highlights of the World Championships in Rwanda and the European Championships in France shortly beforehand. The Slovenian has recently won the most difficult classic in terms of altitude metres four times in a row. With another victory, the professional cyclist from UAE Team Emirates - XRG catch up with Fausto Coppi as the record winner. This year's route should suit "Pogi" particularly well - because there are a lot of long climbs to tackle in the final in the hinterland of Bergamo.
The following 25 teams will be at the start with a maximum of seven riders each: The 18 World Teams are automatically included: Alpecin - Deceuninck (Belgium), Arkéa - B&B Hotels (France), Bahrain - Victourious (Bahrain), Cofidis (France), Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team (France), EF Education - EasyPost (USA), Groupama - FDJ (France), INEOS Grenadiers (Great Britain), Intermarché - Wanty (Belgium), Lidl-Trek (USA), Movistar Team (Spain), Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe (Germany), Soudal Quick-Step (Belgium), Team Jayco AlUla (Australia), Team Picnic PostNL (Netherlands), Team Visma | Lease a Bike (Netherlands), UAE Team Emirates - XRG (UAE) and XDS Astana Team (Kazakhstan). In addition, the three racing teams Israel - Premier Tech (Israel), Lotto (Belgium) and Uno-X Mobility (Norway) have qualified on the basis of the UCI rankings. The four teams Q36.5 Cycling Team (Switzerland), Team Polti-Visit Malta (Italy), Tudor Pro Cycling Team (Switzerland) and VF Group Bardiani CSF-Faizanè (Italy) have been invited by the organiser (wildcard).
TV broadcast & live stream Tour of Lombardy 2025
In Germany, Il Lombardia will be broadcast on Saturday on Eurosport 1 from 14:20-17:15 and on Eurosport 2 from 10:30-17:15. Discovery Plus offers a paid live stream from 10:30-17:25.
The Sormano Wall - exclusively for everyone
This year, the professional peloton skips the Sormano wall, a tarmac road with a gradient of up to 27 per cent leading to the Colma di Sormano. The descent from there to Lago di Como is technically very demanding and treacherous. Many racers have crashed badly on the downhill in the past, including Remco Evenepoel. The Olympic champion from Belgium fell off a bridge there in 2020 and later said: "I could have bled to death or been paralysed." It turned out well for him with a fractured pelvis. After that, the "wall" was no longer part of the race route. Last year, the climb to the Colma di Sormano was contested in the opposite direction - but with a descent on the much flatter main road. However, the climbing stage on the Sormano wall, where even professional cyclists have bent their legs, is part of the course of the Granfondo Il Lombardia amateur race the day after the professional race.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
