Giro di Lombardia 2023: route, favorites and how to watch it

Il Lombardia brings the 2023 season to an unofficial end next Saturday, October 7, in a race that, despite this strange season with the World Championship in August, continues to attract some of the greatest cyclists on the scene and is sure to offer us the exciting spectacle to which it is accustomed. Will Tadej Pogacar be able to repeat the victory of the last two editions?

Roglic, Mas, Pogacar, Carapaz, Evenepoel... aiming for last monument of the year

The last great race of the 2023 season is coming to an end after 10 months in which we have been able to enjoy cycling of many carats almost from the beginning of the season. Il Lombardia, the classic of the dead leaves, in which Tadej Pogacar has managed to impose his law in the last two editions.

A race that, despite what one might think, in a season where the World Championship has left a gap in the month of September that could have been used by many to finish their campaign early, will have a great participation that undoubtedly adds spice to the race.

Il Lombardia 2023 Favorites

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The Italian classics that precede this monument have already given us a good sample of who are the riders who are in the best shape for this last big event of the season, mainly those who have competed in La Vuelta and have managed to maintain their form during the three weeks since its completion, something not easy at this stage of the year when the vast majority, surely, the body is already asking them to stop.

However, the big favorite for the victory cannot be other than the winner of the last two editions. Tadej Pogacar, practically disappeared since the Tour de France and who already a few days ago, in the Giro dell'Emilia, showed that he is back with hunger, despite being overtaken by a Primoz Roglic who found in this race a finish made to his measure.

Of course, the other great Slovenian, Primoz Roglic, also deserves to be included among the standouts for victory in what, as he announced a few days ago, will be his last race with Jumbo-Visma before resolving one of the main issues of the last few weeks, in which team he will join next season. However, from what we saw a few days ago at the Giro dell'Emilia, this situation does not seem to have affected Roglic's performance, who won this race in an unappealable way.

Remco Evenepoel is back after La Vuelta and will try to achieve a victory against his biggest rivals in a race that does not bring him especially good memories. The Belgian has not participated in Il Lombardia since the 2020 edition in which he suffered a serious crash on the descent of the Sormano Wall in which he fractured his pelvis and even made him fear for his continuity as a cyclist. Luckily for Evenepoel this year the race does not go over that climb although he will not have it easy against the two Slovenians, especially considering that he has not raced since La Vuelta.

Perhaps one step below them, although we should not stop counting on him after the good level shown in Bologna, would be Enric Mas, who could probably benefit more from the long climbs that include the final part of this edition in Bergamo, than the explosive climbs near Como, where where he finished the last edition in second place behind an unbeatable Tadej Pogacar, who was only superior because of his higher speed at the finish.

Also back after his serious knee injury at the Tour de France is Richard Carapaz, who we saw attacking and trying to break the race in the last kilometers of the Giro dell'Emilia and who, like Enric Mas, is quite well suited to the finish of this edition.

Nor can we rule out names like Simon Yates, Adam Yates, Michael Woods or Aleksandr Vlasov, who have shown they have the legs to reach the end of the season and will surely try to play their cards trying to surprise the intractable monsters.

Il Lombardia 2023 Route

Following the alternation imposed by the organization in recent years, in this edition it is time to follow the east course starting from Como to head towards the beautiful city of Bergamo, this means that the traditional hills around Lake Como, where the race usually ends in this city, are not present and are replaced by the pre-Alpine environment surrounding Bergamo with longer climbs and, of course, the always explosive ascent in the last kilometers to the Città Alta of Bergamo.

A route of 238 kilometers in which, of course, the mythical Madona del Ghisallo, location of the hermitage dedicated to the official patron saint of cycling and one of those places that every cyclist should visit at least once in life, is not to be missed. However, placed in the initial part of the race, on this occasion it should only serve to define the breakaway of the day.

It will be near the 100th kilometer of the race when the race will face what is undoubtedly the hardest climb of the day. The climb to Roncola, just over 9 kilometers marked by very serious ramps and, although placed far from the finish line should not be, unless the usual suspects give us some of their follies, decisive, it will add an important wear facing the final part, let's not forget that this is not the 130 km stages of La Vuelta.

From here the climbs will continue until the decisive ascent to the Passo di Ganda, whose last 3 kilometers are particularly hard and from which the group that will play for the victory in the streets of Bergamo will start, if it has not already done so before.

How to watch Il Lombardia 2023

Once again, the self-styled "House of Cycling", the Eurosport channel, has turned to this sport and will offer us the full broadcast of the Lombardy race. The broadcast will start at 10:10 on Eurosport 2 channel and associated digital applications, and will continue until the conclusion of the race at around 17:00.