Il Lombardia opens up with Pogačar out of the picture

A different Lombardia equation

Il Lombardia is framed as almost the last chance of the season to take a major win, but this edition carries an extra tactical wrinkle: five-time winner Tadej Pogačar is out. That changes the race before it starts, because the usual reference point is removed and the win condition becomes more open for many riders who might otherwise be racing for the margins.

The course runs from Bergamo to Como over 239km, taking the long way around. The preview describes it as not the hardest route going, which matters because route severity usually determines how selective the race can become and how much control the strongest favorite can impose. Without Pogačar, the same course profile can produce a different kind of contest - less about surviving one dominant rider’s pressure and more about who can turn late-season form into a decisive move.

For data-driven cyclists, the takeaway is simple: the absence of the race’s defining recent winner makes this less predictable, while the 239km course still leaves plenty of room for endurance, positioning, and timing to decide the outcome.

Full details are at the linked source.