This article was first published in Rouleur Issue 140
Cycling creates personal geographies. Races teach us the names of mountains and make distant places become familiar – as if we have ridden through them ourselves. Even from just watching on screen, the landscapes that bike races move through create a unique collective emotion that stays with us much longer than the moment it flashes up on television. If we are lucky enough to be standing by the roadside, what remains are the voices, the waiting, that sense of belonging that unites those who watch and those who ride. Then there is the ritual that comes with the calendar that, year after year, brings a race back at the same time of season. These races are an appointment that measures the passing of time, while preserving both the memory of cycling and enduring passion for the sport. Among the most eagerly-awaited races of the year is Il Lombardia, the final Monument Classic of the season. A demanding and captivating race, in recent years it has been held in October – with the sole exception of 2020, when it was moved to August due to the calendar changes during the Covid-19 pandemic. It comes at that moment when autumn is just around the corner, colours deepen, and the days grow shorter.
Known as the Classic of the Falling Leaves, Il Lombardia has changed its route many times throughout its long history. In this constant evolution, the race seems to rediscover its own identity each time – an identity that also speaks to the culture of the landscapes it crosses. Consider some of the cities that have featured over the years. Milan, where it all began in 1905 with the first edition won by Giovanni Gerbi, served for years as both the start and finish of the race. Today it is a cosmopolitan metropolis, a capital of fashion and design whose skyline has been reshaped by international star architects. Monza, where once a year, during the famous Formula 1 Grand Prix, the roar of engines blends with the calm of tree-lined avenues and the gardens of the Royal Villa, was built in the 18th century at the behest of Maria Theresa of Austria as a summer residence for her son, Ferdinand. And Lecco, a city intertwined with literature – the setting of I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed), Alessandro Manzoni’s 19th century novel taking place largely between Lecco and the eastern branch of Lake Como, still studied in Italian schools today.
In recent years, Como and Bergamo have alternated as the start and finish cities, reversing the direction of the route each year. Como combines the charm of the lake and its elegant villas – such as the neoclassical Villa Olmo – with the mountains rising in the background. Bergamo, with its Città Alta, preserves a historic centre enclosed by the Venetian Walls, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Between the two cities, on October 11, 2025, the riders faced six climbs: the Madonna del Ghisallo – the most meaningful of them all, both spiritually and in sporting terms – followed by Roncola, Berbenno, Passo della Crocetta, Zambla Alta, and Passo di Ganda, where Tadej Pogačar launched his decisive attack to win solo. The Slovenian won by a clear margin, signing off on a performance that rewrote the race’s history. Until then, the record belonged to an icon of Italian cycling, Fausto Coppi, who claimed five victories – four consecutive between 1946 and 1949, and a fifth in 1954. With his 2025 success, Tadej Pogačar equalled that record, but in an even more remarkable way: five consecutive wins, from 2021 to 2025. And looking beyond Il Lombardia, no other rider in the history of the sport had ever managed to win five Monuments in a row. Il Lombardia is the name the race adopted in 2011, replacing the historic title Giro di Lombardia – a name that, to me, has always felt like a declaration of intent: girare, in the sense of traversing, discovering, riding through the region in every direction. An invitation, in a way, to go and ride it yourself.
A special dedication
Over more than a century, this one-day race has created moments that have entered the sport’s collective memory. Among them, the centenary edition in 2006. That year, the race started in Mendrisio, Switzerland, and finished in Como. Paolo Bettini, wearing the rainbow jersey he had just won in Salzburg, crossed the finish line in tears, pointing to the sky: only days earlier, he had lost his brother Sauro in a car accident. That victory – steeped in grief and rage – was his second in a row, and remains one of the most powerful images in the history of the race. “It’s such a tough race, coming at the end of the season, that you win it mostly with your head,” says Bettini. “Today, in this cycling era dominated by Tadej Pogačar, who wins with an ease that’s almost unbelievable, the real question is often who will finish second – unless something unusual happens. In my time it was a bit different: you’d arrive so exhausted and empty that what made the difference was your mindset and motivation. In 2005 I was motivated because I knew I was strong; in 2006, I was struggling, and my motivation came from something else.”
Both of Bettini’s victories came in Como. The former Olympic and world champion recalls the course changes as one of the race’s defining features: “The route was different from the one used today. The alternation between Como and Bergamo as start and finish cities is part of the race’s more recent history, and it remains one of the toughest events on the calendar. The fact that the course has changed over the years has made it more interesting: every edition was different – sometimes it suited one type of rider, sometimes another – but it has always been an incredibly hard race.”
Both wins were built on the climb of Civiglio, followed by the final kick up San Fermo della Battaglia, just a few kilometres from the finish. In 2006, Bettini arrived at the race after several days off the bike and a brief, abandoned outing at the Giro dell’Emilia: “I just wanted to get it over with. The six and a half hours of racing were a nightmare, pure suffering. In fact, before the start I told my parents not to come to Como because I’d probably abandon. I thought I might make it as far as the top of the Ghisallo, stop, and leave my jersey at the little church. I rode up the Ghisallo in the 53 [chainring], almost hoping to blow up. But when I saw that we’d reached the top and there were only seven or eight of us left in front, I decided to keep going.”
On the climb to Ghisallo, about 750 metres above sea level, the history of cycling truly feels at home. This is where the Museo del Ciclismo Madonna del Ghisallo, inaugurated in 2006, stands – an emblematic place preserving the bond between past and present. It’s a living space, animated by talks and events devoted to cycling culture, its architecture designed to blend seamlessly into the surrounding landscape.
Beside the museum, with its rich collection, stands the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Ghisallo – a small white church filled with memorabilia, jerseys and bicycles donated by champions of every era. It was Pope Pius XII, in 1949, who proclaimed Madonna del Ghisallo the universal patron saint of cyclists. Together, the sanctuary and museum keep the memory of cycling alive, linking it to the present each time Il Lombardia passes by – renewing the thread that unites history, faith and passion.
Legendary feats
In more than a century of history, Il Lombardia has crossed eras without ever losing its allure. Not even the First World War managed to stop the race, which continued to be held through those difficult and uncertain years, halting only in 1943 and 1944, at the height of the Second World War.
Looking through the results from 1917 and 1918, one name stands out: Alfonsina Strada, the only woman ever to take part in – and finish, though outside the classification – a Giro d’Italia alongside the men, in 1924. That extraordinary achievement was remembered again last year, on its centenary. But it’s worth recalling that, even before that, Alfonsina had already ridden Il Lombardia twice, pedalling alongside the great champions of her time – and against the prejudices that, for decades, continued to hold back women’s cycling. In 1917, there were 74 registered riders, 54 starters and 32 finishers. Reports from the time place Strada in thirty-second position. The following year, there were 49 registered riders, 36 starters and 22 finishers — and the name Strada appears in twenty-first place. Stories from long ago, like that of Alfonsina Strada, intertwine with the more recent images of the race: the thread connecting past and present continues to stretch across the roads that, in 2025, were ridden by the champions of modern cycling. From the day Pogačar set his new record of five consecutive victories, what remains are the images of fans packed along the roadside – scenes of a sport that, in Italy, still ignites a collective passion. It was that same widespread enthusiasm that filled the roads in the 2025 edition, echoing the atmosphere of the years when Michele Bartoli was racing, winner of the Giro di Lombardia in 2002 and 2003. Recalling those victories, he says: “There were always so many fans. It was an atmosphere unlike any other race. I remember La Boccola – the final climb before the descent into Bergamo Alta – I was surrounded by my supporters. That’s the memory that stands out most for me: when you reached the climb into Bergamo Alta, there was a sea of people shouting your name. And when you passed through there, your strength would suddenly triple.”
Already a winner of other Monument Classics – two Liège–Bastogne–Liège and one Tour of Flanders – Bartoli lined up at the start of the Giro di Lombardia in 2003 carrying both the weight, and the privilege, of having to prove himself again. “I liked the pressure. It gave me that extra edge not to make mistakes. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t, but in my case I think pressure was almost an extra weapon: it forced me not to make tactical errors, and to stay sharp in my approach and in how I managed my training during the week.
“It’s the kind of race that, if you win it, lets you enjoy a calm winter. It’s very different from winning the Tour of Flanders – the following Sunday you’re racing again, so the satisfaction only lasts a few days. But Il Lombardia, you savour it more slowly.” A deep bond that still keeps him glued to the television, following the latest edition – and its undisputed king, Tadej Pogačar.
