Preview Tour of Lombardy 2023 | Ultimate showdown between Roglic, Evenepoel and Pogacar!

Well, the time has come... the Tour of Lombardy. Of course, it's a magnificent race, but it always marks the end of a fantastic cycling year. Nevertheless, IDLProCycling.com looks forward to the 2023 edition of the 'Race of the Falling Leaves' with equal enthusiasm!

Cycling through Italy always has something magical, but with the Tour of Lombardy, history always seems to be a tad more significant. Autumn usually arrives (although this year it's still late summer), the riders prepare for one last major race and the journalists traditionally wrap up their road calendar for 2023 here as well.

Yet, we're never disappointed by what the riders deliver. Think of the 2019 edition when Bauke Mollema took the win. Or the years 2021 and 2022, with Tadej Pogacar standing atop the podium twice. The Slovenian is back this season, but starting from Como, the competition will undoubtedly be fierce.

Practical information Tour of Lombardy 2023

• Saturday, October 7, 2023
• Participants
  
• Classification: WorldTour

In this article

• Most recent winners
• Course, weather and times
• Favorites
• TV information

Most recent winners Tour of Lombardy

2022 Tadej Pogacar
2021 Tadej Pogacar
2020 Jakob Fuglsang
2019 Bauke Mollema
2018 Thibaut Pinot
2017 Vincenzo Nibali
2016 Esteban Chaves
2015 Vincenzo Nibali
2014 Dan Martin
2013 Joaquim Rodriguez

Tour of Lombardy 2023: Course, weather and times

Bergamo-Como or Como-Bergamo, the tried and tested formula for the Tour of Lombardy. This edition, RCS opts for the latter, starting at Lake Como. The last time this choice was made was in 2021, when Tadej Pogacar won the race on a route identical to the 2023 edition.

This means from the northern part of Italy, we head towards Madonna del Ghisallo, often one of the decisive climbs when approached from the opposite direction. This time, however, this nine-kilometer ascent at 4.4% will likely be just a footnote in the race narrative.

The demolition work starts in the middle part of the race. The Roncola (9.4 km at 6.6%), Berbenno (6.8 km at 4.6%), Crosseta (11.0 km at 6.2%), and Zambla Alta (9.5 km at 3.5%) quickly follow one after the other. Yet, it's still quite a distance to the finish line from there.

Things change when the Passo di Ganda begins. This 9.2-kilometer climb at 7.3% is one of the toughest challenges in this Tour of Lombardy and is started with just over forty kilometers to go.

Once over the top, we descend at a rapid pace to Nembro. From there, the route leads to the day's final obstacle: the Colle Aperto in the old town of Bergamo, 1.6 kilometers at 7.9%. From its summit, it's a three-kilometer descent to the finish on Via Roma in Bergamo, where we'll find out the winner of the 2023 Tour of Lombardy.

Climbs
38.3 km: Madonna del Ghisallo (9.0 km at 4.4%)
100.9 km: Roncola (9.4 km at 6.6%)
129.0 km: Berbenno (6.8 km at 4.6%)
161.9 km: Crosseta (11.0 km at 6.2%)
174.7 km: Zambla Alta (9.5 km at 3.5%)
206.6 km: Passo di Ganda (9.2 km at 7.3%)
234.8 km: Colle Aperto (1.6 km at 7.9%)

Weather
It's going to be a glorious weekend in Italy. On Saturday, it's almost 20 degrees Celsius at the start in Como, and with a lovely sunshine, it might even surpass 25 degrees Celsius in Bergamo, the finishing town.

Times
Start: 10:35 a.m.
Finish: Around 5 p.m.

Favorites for the Tour of Lombardy 2023

Please note that the list of participants is not yet complete!

Showdown! Some of the world's best cyclists will head to Como on Saturday to begin this edition of the Tour of Lombardy. Primoz Roglic is seen as the absolute top favorite for Jumbo-Visma. The Slovenian concludes his stint with the Dutch team with this Lombardia, and he's undoubtedly keen on a beautiful farewell gift and his second Monument for the Dutch squad.

It won't be presented on a silver platter, as Remco Evenepoel also has a score to settle with the Race of the Falling Leaves. The Belgian from Soudal Quick-Step had a tough crash in the 2020 Italian race and has since been set on revenge. Unlike many competitors, Evenepoel did not race in the lead-up to the event, but his training footage already promised much good.

It speaks volumes about the participants that Tadej Pogacar of UAE-Team Emirates is our third man. The Slovenian won the last two editions of Il Lombardia, each time after slightly lesser performances in the preparatory races. Given that, it's promising that he hasn't clinched a victory this fall.

Moving on to the outsiders, we find men who have proven themselves in recent weeks. Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost, also featuring Ben Healy), and Enric Mas (Movistar) have already amassed multiple top finishes. Vlasov and Carapaz even reached the podium on Tuesday in Tre Valli Varesine, while Mas finished second in Lombardy last year. Soudal Quick-Step's Andrea Bagioli is also in top form, as demonstrated by his win in Gran Piemonte on Thursday.

Simon Yates, a podium finisher at the Giro dell'Emilia, will be present, as will his brother Adam from UAE-Team Emirates. Another man seeming to hit form just in time for the race is Michael Woods of Israel-Premier Tech, who is secretly having a strong fall season. We must also mention Varese winner Ilan Van Wilder, INEOS member Carlos Rodriguez, and the Bahrain Victorious duo of Santiago Buitrago (third in Liège) and Mikel Landa (third in Lombardy last year).

At Groupama-FDJ, Thibaut Pinot will race his final event alongside Lenny Martinez and Romain Grégoire, while Cofidis and AG2R Citroën will feature the likes of Ion Izagirre, Guillaume Martin, Felix Gall, and Ben O'Connor. DSM-firmenich relies on Romain Bardet, while Lidl-Trek's Bauke Mollema seems to be off form. Giulio Ciccone from the same team had a tough fall in Tre Valli Varesine on Tuesday.

Favorites for the Tour of Lombardy 2023, according to IDLProCycling.com

Top favorites:Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step)
Outsiders:Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates), Aleksandr Vlasov (Jayco AlUla), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Enric Mas (Movistar)
Longshots: Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla), Adam Yates (UAE-Team Emirates), Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën), Andrea Bagioli, Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers), Mikel Landa and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)

TV Tour of Lombardy 2023

The Tour of Lombardy can be followed from start to finish on Eurosport 1, which will start broadcasting around 10:00 in the morning. Online, you can also watch on the familiar platforms of the sports broadcaster: Discovery+, GCN+, and Eurosport.nl.