114th Il Lombardia: the second Classic Monument of the season

THE TEAMS TO START

Il Lombardia presented by UBI Banca (15 August) – 19 UCI WorldTeams, 1 qualified by ranking and 5 wild cards (25 teams of 7 riders each)

UCI WORLDTEAMS – 19

AG2R LA MONDIALE (FRA)
ASTANA PRO TEAM (KAZ)
BAHRAIN – MCLAREN (BRN)
BORA – HANSGROHE (GER)
CCC TEAM (POL)
COFIDIS (FRA)
DECEUNINCK – QUICK-STEP (BEL)
EF PRO CYCLING (USA)
GROUPAMA – FDJ (FRA)
ISRAEL START-UP NATION (ISR)
LOTTO SOUDAL (BEL)
MITCHELTON – SCOTT (AUS)
MOVISTAR TEAM (ESP)
NTT PRO CYCLING TEAM (RSA)
TEAM INEOS (GBR)
TEAM JUMBO – VISMA (NED)
TEAM SUNWEB (GER)
TREK – SEGAFREDO (USA)
UAE TEAM EMIRATES (UAE)

QUALIFIED BY RANKING – 1

CIRCUS – WANTY GOBERT (BEL)

WILD CARD – 5

ALPECIN – FENIX (BEL)
ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI – SIDERMEC (ITA)
BARDIANI CSF FAIZANÈ (ITA)
GAZPROM – RUSVELO (RUS)
VINI ZABÙ KTM (ITA)

THE ROUTE

After departing Bergamo in a southerly direction, the route crosses the Bergamo plain in its first 40km to head up the Cavallina valley to Casazza where the Colle Gallo – the first ascent of the race – is tackled. Colle is followed by a fast descent returning from the Seriana valley to Bergamo, then the route re-enters lowland roads that lead to Brianza. There’s a short passage to Colle Brianza and a descent to Oggiono, then the route passes through Pusiano, Canzo, Asso and down the descent to Onno and on to Bellagio. This is where the Ghisallo ascent – with gradients of up to 14% on wide roads with hairpin bends – begins.

The following very fast descent is on long straights and ends at Maglio where, immediately after a right turn, the climb of the Colma di Sormano begins. After a few kilometers of medium slopes, and a few hundred meters after Sormano, the route heads up the Muro di Sormano on a narrow, very steep road – 2km long with a gradient up to 15%. It’s partly inside a small wood, with very narrow bends and slopes that, for around 1km, exceed 25% up to almost 30%.

Once past the Colma, the route follows the descent to Nesso, where the riders then take the coastal road to reach Como. Next they face the hard climb to Civiglio (614m) with slopes almost always around 10% – and with a marked narrowing of the roadway at the top of the climb – before going back down and through Como to hit the last climb of San Fermo della Battaglia (397m). There is one feed zone, at km 128-131.