The 2024 edition of Il Lombardia will take place on Saturday 12th October over a hilly 252km route from Bergamo to Como in Italy. The last of the five Monuments on the WorldTour calendar, ‘The Race of the Falling Leaves’ is one of the hardest one-day races of the season and, as a result, it’s easy to see how and why the past three editions have been won by Tadej Pogačar.
The Colma di Sormano returns for the first time since Remco Evenepoel’s crash in 2020. Riders will approach it from the opposite direction to 2020, climbing instead of descending the section.
Historically, Il Lombardia has favoured punchy climbers, with recent winners including Pogačar in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Bauke Mollema in 2019 and Thibaut Pinot in 2018.
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Il Lombardia 2024: Key information
- Date: Saturday 12th October
- Start: Bergamo
- Finish: Como
- Distance: 252km
- 2023 winner: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)
- Most wins: Fausto Coppi (five)
Il Lombardia 2024: The route
When the race first appeared in 1905, it took the form of a loop to and from Milan. From the 1960s until the early 2000s, the race would either start or finish in Milan with the opposing venue being another location within the Lombardy region. Between 2004 and 2006, the race even started in the Swiss town of Mendrisio.
Since 2014, however, the race has settled on switching start and finish locations between the beautiful cities of Bergamo and Como. In 2024, the first climb of the Forcellino di Bianzano hits less than 30km into the day and is quickly followed by the Passo di Ganda with a maximum gradient of 15%.
From there, it’s another 1-2 punch with the Colle di Berbenno and Valpiana.
Some respite can be found just over halfway through the race with a flatter section that precedes the Sella di Osigo and the longer Madonna Del Ghisallo.
The highest point of the race is encountered after 210km of racing. The Colma di Sormano is the last major test of the day with a gradient up to 13%, a long descent then follows before one final short and sharp kick upwards as the San Fermo della Battaglia hits with 6km remaining.
The last kilometres to Como are then downhill until the flamme rouge.
Il Lombardia 2024: Live TV guide and how to watch
Il Lombardia will be broadcast on Discovery+ from 09:00-16:00. A Discovery+ subscription currently costs £6.99 per month with the basic package, which includes cycling and all other Eurosport programmes.
If it’s not being shown in your country, you may be able to watch coverage using a VPN – Virtual Private Network – which allows users to mask their IP address and watch geo-blocked content, provided they don’t need to pay for a subscription. This is also helpful for watching paid-for coverage while travelling abroad in countries without access.
One such example is ExpressVPN, which is very well reviewed, has specific advice for watching cycling and costs £5.36 per month with three months free. Other options include NordVPN, Surfshark and Kapersky.
- Read more: How to watch cycling post-GCN
Il Lombardia 2024: Start list
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
Il Lombardia 2024: Previous winners
2023: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)
2022: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)
2021: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)
2020: Jakob Fuglsang (Astana-Premier Tech)
2019: Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo)
2018: Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ)
2017: Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida)
2016: Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange)
2015: Vincenzo Nibali (Astana)
2014: Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp)
2013: Joaquim Rodriquez (Team Katusha)
2012: Joaquim Rodriquez (Team Katusha)
2011: Oliver Zaugg (Leopard-Trek)
2010: Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
