The traditional Il Lombardia race has been held since 1905 and is taking place for the 117th time this year. The route normally leads from Bergamo to Como. However, a reversal of the start and finish is also a regular occurrence - as was the case this year. The fixed point of the race is the climb to Madonna del Ghisallo, which is located near Lake Como. Due to the high climbs, the race is not only suitable for classic specialists, but also for mountain bikers who can also count themselves in with a chance of winning. The special feature of the cycling monument is its temporal separation from the other monuments: It takes place at the end of the cycling year, which is why it is known as the "race of the falling leaves". The record winner is Italian cycling legend Fausto Coppi with five victories.
Tour of Lombardy 2023: The route
On 7 October, the race starts at around half past ten in Como, from where the riders first leave Lake Como and then return to the lakeshore via the Madonna del Ghisallo climb. Once the peloton has left the south-eastern tip of the lake, further climbs follow in the province of Bergamo. From then on, there are hardly any flat sections. After Roncola, the riders face further challenging climbs with Berbenno, Dossena, Zambla Alta and the Passo di Ganda. The last 16 kilometres are then flat, before the upper town of Bergamo awaits the riders with a short climb shortly before the finish. The race then descends once again and ends on an 800 metre long finishing straight in Bergamo. In total, the riders have to cover 4400 metres in altitude on the hilly terrain over 238 kilometres.
The key points at Il Lombardia 2023
The key section of the course is likely to be the Passo di Ganda, which is located around 30 kilometres before the finish. The climb stretches over 9.2 kilometres and has an average gradient of 7.3 per cent. Here, a rider could break away from a leading group and ensure a preliminary decision. A leading group is likely to have already dwindled beforehand due to the many metres of climbing around the Roncola, Berbenno and Passo della Crocetta climbs. If several riders break away on the Passo di Ganda, there is still the short Colle Aperto climb shortly before the finish, where the decision could be made. A sprint to the finish by an escape group like in 2021 is also not out of the question.
Tour of Lombardy 2023: The favourites
The "Race of the Falling Leaves" requires not only classic qualities, i.e. agility on short climbs, but also climbing skills. These qualities are probably best combined by the winner of the last two years: Tadej Pogacar. After clearly missing out on the overall Tour de France victory, he is likely to be highly motivated to win another monument this season. Similarly motivated Remco Evenepoel He is also one of the favourites in this race. He has already won the Liège-Bastogne-Liège classic this year. The third top favourite in the bunch is Primoz Roglicwho won the dress rehearsal at the Giro dell'Emilia last weekend.
Enric Mas (Movistar), Ben Healy, Richard Carapaz (both EF Education EasyPost), Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious), Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) should also be on the list.
It will definitely also be a special race for Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ). The Frenchman, who won the 2018 Tour of Lombardy, is ending his career and will give his farewell performance in the race of the falling leaves.
Tour of Lombardy 2023: TV broadcast & live stream
The last cycling monument of the year will be live on Eurosport from 10am broadcast. If you want to watch the race in a live stream, Discovery+ and GCN+ (both with a paid subscription) have a suitable offer.
Tour of Lombardy 2023: The schedule
- Neutral start: 10:20 a.m. Como
- Official start: 10:35 a.m. Como
- Destination: ~16:39 - 17:25 Bergamo
Milan-San Remo 2023: The most important info
Date: Saturday, 7 October 2023
Distance: 238 kilometres
Start: Como; Target: Bergamo
Edition: 117.
Premiere: 1905
Nickname: Race of the falling leaves
Record winner: Fausto Coppi (Italy, five victories)
Winner of the Tour of Lombardy since 1905
- 1905 Giovanni Gerbi (Italy)
- 1906 Giuseppe Brambilla (Italy)
- 1907 Gustave Garrigou (France)
- 1908 Francois Faber (Luxembourg)
- 1909 Giovanni Cuniolo (Italy)
- 1910 Giovanni Michelotto (Italy)
- 1911 Henri Pelissier (France)
- 1912 Carlo Oriani (Italy)
- 1913 Henri Pelissier (France)
- 1914 Lauro Bordin (Italy)
- 1915 Gaetano Belloni (Italy)
- 1916 Leopoldo Torricelli (Italy)
- 1917 Philippe Thys (Belgium)
- 1918 Gaetano Belloni (Italy)
- 1919 Costante Girardengo (Italy)
- 1920 Henri Pelissier (France)
- 1921 Costante Girardengo (Italy)
- 1922 Costante Girardengo (Italy)
- 1923 Giovanni Brunero (Italy)
- 1924 Giovanni Brunero (Italy)
- 1925 Alfredo Binda (Italy)
- 1926 Alfredo Binda (ITA)
- 1927 Alfredo Binda (Italy)
- 1928 Gaetano Belloni (Italy)
- 1929 Piero Fossati (Italy)
- 1930 Michele Mara (Italy)
- 1931 Alfredo Binda (Italy)
- 1932 Antonio Negrini (Italy)
- 1933 Domenico Piemontesi (Italy)
- 1934 Learco Guerra (Italy)
- 1935 Enrico Mollo (Italy)
- 1936 Gino Bartali (Italy)
- 1937 Aldo Bini (Italy)
- 1938 Cino Cinelli (Italy)
- 1939 Gino Bartali (Italy)
- 1940 Gino Bartali (Italy)
- 1941 Mario Ricci (Italy)
- 1942 Aldo Bini (Italy)
- 1945 Mario Ricci (Italy)
- 1946 Fausto Coppi (Italy)
- 1947 Fausto Coppi (Italy)
- 1948 Fausto Coppi (Italy)
- 1949 Fausto Coppi (Italy)
- 1950 Renzo Soldani (Italy)
- 1951 Louison Bobet (France)
- 1952 Giuseppe Minardi (Italy)
- 1953 Bruno Landi (Italy)
- 1954 Fausto Coppi (Italy)
- 1955 Cleto Maule (Italy)
- 1956 André Darrigade (France)
- 1957 Diego Ronchini (Italy)
- 1958 Nino Defilippis (Italy)
- 1959 Rik Van Looy (Belgium)
- 1960 Emile Daems (Belgium)
- 1961 Vito Taccone (Italy)
- 1962 Jo de Roo (Netherlands)
- 1963 Jo de Roo (Netherlands)
- 1964 Gianni Motta (Italy)
- 1965 Tom Simpson (Great Britain)
- 1966 Felice Gimondi (Italy)
- 1967 Franco Bitossi (Italy)
- 1968 Herman van Springel (Belgium)
- 1969 Jean-Pierre Monsere (Belgium)
- 1970 Franco Bitossi (Italy)
- 1971 Eddy Merckx (Belgium)
- 1972 Eddy Merckx (Belgium)
- 1973 Felice Gimondi (Italy)
- 1974 Roger De Vlaeminck (Belgium)
- 1975 Francesco Moser (Italy)
- 1976 Roger De Vlaeminck (Belgium)
- 1977 Gianbattista Baronchelli (Italy)
- 1978 Francesco Moser (Italy)
- 1979 Bernard Hinault (France)
- 1980 Fons De Wolf (Belgium)
- 1981 Hennie Kuiper (Netherlands)
- 1982 Giuseppe Saronni (Italy)
- 1983 Sean Kelly (Ireland)
- 1984 Bernard Hinault (France)
- 1985 Sean Kelly (Ireland)
- 1986 Gianbattista Baronchelli (Italy)
- 1987 Moreno Argentin (Italy)
- 1988 Charly Mottet (France)
- 1989 Tony Rominger (Switzerland)
- 1990 Gilles Delion (France)
- 1991 Sean Kelly (Ireland)
- 1992 Tony Rominger (Switzerland)
- 1993 Pascal Richard (Switzerland)
- 1994 Vladislav Bobrik (Russia)
- 1995 Gianni Faresin (Italy)
- 1996 Andrea Tafi (Italy)
- 1997 Laurent Jalabert (France)
- 1998 Oscar Camenzind (Switzerland)
- 1999 Mirko Celestino (Italy)
- 2000 Raimondas Rumsas (Lithuania)
- 2001 Danilo Di Luca (Italy)
- 2002 Michele Bartoli (Italy)
- 2003 Michele Bartoli (Italy)
- 2004 Damiano Cunego (Italy)
- 2005 Paolo Bettini (Italy)
- 2006 Paolo Bettini (Italy)
- 2007 Damiano Cunego (Italy)
- 2008 Damiano Cunego (Italy)
- 2009 Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)
- 2010 Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)
- 2011 Oliver Zaugg (Switzerland)
- 2012 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain)
- 2013 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain)
- 2014 Daniel Martin (Ireland)
- 2015 Vincenzo Nibali (Italy)
- 2016 Esteban Chaves (Colombia)
- 2017 Vincenzo Nibali (Italy)
- 2018 Thibaut Pinot (France)
- 2019 Bauke Mollema (Netherlands)
- 2020 Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark)
- 2021 Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia)
- 2021 Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia)
