Il Lombardia 2025, monument, October 11

[Krzysztof_O]

Il Lombardia! The race of the falling leaves. The final big race of the season. A monument favouring climbers with winding roads in the Bergamasque Alps and near majestic Como lake (beauty resembling a fjord, at 410 m it's the deepest in non-Scandinavian Europe). 241 km and 4400 vertical meters will test the participants.

Let's just say that the race anticipation isn't at a high level. Pogacar is as overwhelming favourite as it's possible and his team will control the race setting the tempo that will tire others more than him. Pogacar crushed the field last year and his form now is looking similarly following WC and EC solo victories. Even some cycling fans may choose to do other things than watching his another solo. One can always hope for a miracle, right? Hopefully poll options are adequate in the current situation.

Profile:

Map:

Decisive Ganda climb:

Top competitors:

Top competitors in Il Lombardia 2025

The highest ranked competitors on the Il Lombardia 2025 startlist are Tadej PogaÄar, Remco Evenepoel and Thomas Pidcock.

www.procyclingstats.com

Lago di Como from above (my photo):

 

[Pantani_lives]

It's hard to pick a favorite for this one.

 

[kingjr]

Little bit shorter solo this time, only about 35 km.

 

[CyclistAbi]

If Rogla will participate then i will go with Rogla for this one.

 

[chickenlips]

The question is, where abouts on the Ganda will Remco pop, trying to follow Pog.

 

[kingjr]

The question is, where abouts on the Ganda will Remco pop, trying to follow Pog.

1.8 km from the top

 

[Peyroteo94]

1.8 km from the top

Hum... I think Pogacar will attack earlier. You can't gain a lot in 1.8 km (probably 20"). I think he will not risk to be just 20" ahead with 30 km to the finish.

Passo di Ganda from Gazzaniga - Profile of the ascent

Passo di Ganda from Gazzaniga is a climb in the region Bergamo. It is 9.1km long and bridges 676 vertical meters with an average gradient of 7.4%, resulting in

climbfinder.com

 

[Krzysztof_O]

The question is, where abouts on the Ganda will Remco pop, trying to follow Pog.

For Remco it's much better to ride his own pace after Pogacar's attack than to try to hold Pogacar's wheel on a steep section (he says he will try). This is the way to minimize the gap on top of Ganda.

 

[Gargamel35]

Another snoozefest of Pog attacking xx km before the finish line never to be seen again.
My money is on Pog but my heart is on Roglič (if he'll be there). He just needs poke a stick in Pogs wheel multiple times, throw a rock at Remco and shout "why not EH?" and ride away. Oh and he shouldn't crash. Right, that will do it.

 

[Tim Cahill]

If I don't turn on the broadcast to a break of the 50 finest non-Pogacar gentleman that cycling has to offer then they deserve everything they are going to get. I'm talking your Primoz Rogliges your Richard Carapazes your Paul Doubles. The greatest breakaway of all time, working flawlessly together.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I hope we will get to experience a 200 km time trial on road bikes between the two best riders in the world Seixas and Scaroni.

 

[kingjr]

Hum... I think Pogacar will attack earlier. You can't gain a lot in 1.8 km (probably 20"). I think he will not risk to be just 20" ahead with 30 km to the finish.

Passo di Ganda from Gazzaniga - Profile of the ascent

Passo di Ganda from Gazzaniga is a climb in the region Bergamo. It is 9.1km long and bridges 676 vertical meters with an average gradient of 7.4%, resulting in

climbfinder.com

The question was when Evenepoel will pop


Anyway, most of those 30k is descent, so the net distance to the finish is more like 10 km for which 20 seconds is more than ample if you're the strongest in the race.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

I have tried my best to think of a funny comment to make, to distract from the fact that this race feels like a fixed end of season criterium given the presence of a certain evil dictator. But honestly I can't even do that at this point.

I was going to go with something like 'the only chance for someone else to win is that the slovenian, in his busy schedule, gets confused and starts in Bergamo and races the wrong direction'. But I didnt think it was very funny.

People know at this point which riders I will be watch. My dark horse for the podium is Mikel landa meana

 

[kingjr]

I have tried my best to think of a funny comment to make, to distract from the fact that this race feels like a fixed end of season criterium given the presence of a certain evil dictator. But honestly I can't even do that at this point.

I was going to go with something like 'the only chance for someone else to win is that the slovenian, in his busy schedule, gets confused and starts in Bergamo and races the wrong direction'. But I didnt think it would work very well.

People know at this point which riders I will be watch. My dark horse for the podium is Mikel landa meana

End of season crit is what Lombardia has been for decades now

 

[tigabara]

Remco pulls off a miracle... He lost in sprint to You-Know-Who wins again... We will have very exciting race...

 

[KZD]

Another 1-2 for Pogačar and Remco coming up.

Seixas to top5.

 

[YavorD]

I don't know who is You-know-who, so I voted for the only guy I know - Fausto..

On a more serious note, over/under 90 seconds

 

[Red Rick]

I don't know who is You-know-who, so I voted for the only guy I know - Fausto..

On a more serious note, over/under 90 seconds

Over easily

 

[Ilmaestro99]

I don't know who is You-know-who, so I voted for the only guy I know - Fausto..

On a more serious note, over/under 90 seconds

Looks like you voted for the wrong Fausto

 

[YavorD]

Looks like you voted for the wrong Fausto

Too many Fausto's nowadays man, I'm getting confused.

 

[RedheadDane]

On a more serious note, over/under 90 seconds

I think the race will definitely be over 90 seconds.
Pogacar is fast... not that fast.
Or, did you mean over/under 90 seconds before he goes solo?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I don't know who is You-know-who, so I voted for the only guy I know - Fausto..

On a more serious note, over/under 90 seconds

Come on, everybody knows who You-Know-Who is.

Over easily

Due to the race profile Pogacar will attack later this time (compared to last year) and probably closer to Ganda top. Gaps should be smaller than last year.

 

[Escarabajo]

I have tried my best to think of a funny comment to make, to distract from the fact that this race feels like a fixed end of season criterium given the presence of a certain evil dictator. But honestly I can't even do that at this point.

I was going to go with something like 'the only chance for someone else to win is that the slovenian, in his busy schedule, gets confused and starts in Bergamo and races the wrong direction'. But I didnt think it was very funny.

People know at this point which riders I will be watch. My dark horse for the podium is Mikel landa meana

Any chance of Pogacar not winning is in the hands of Urška more than any of the male competitors!!!!
Ok, maybe that is not that funny either, but true.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Come on, everybody knows who You-Know-Who is.

They did have a couple of hits in the Danish charts in the late 90s. I doubt everyone has heard about them, but it does fit with the Pogačar = Santa Claus narrative of him giving his fans, and sometimes teammates, a lot of gifts.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0qYyWd9VJo

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

The race is 238km. My advice to Remco is to attack at 239km from the finish.