Giro di Lombardia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Giro di Lombardia (English: Tour of Lombardy) is a cycling race, in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Monuments' of the season, and also one of the last events on the UCI World Tour calendar. It is the biggest Autumn Classic in cycling, its nickname is the Classica delle Foglie Morte ("the Classic of the Falling (dead) Leaves"). The most famous climb is the Madonna del Ghisallo in the race finale. The first edition was held in 1. Since its creation, the Giro di Lombardia has been the classic with the fewest number of interruptions in cycling; only the editions of 1. Italian Fausto Coppi won a record five times. Because of its demanding course, the race is considered a climbers classic, favouring climbers with a strong sprint finish. History[edit]Milan- Milan[edit]The Tour of Lombardy was created as an idea of journalist Tullo Morgagni. Morgagni wanted to give Milanese rider Pierino Albini the opportunity to take revenge for his defeat against Giovanni Cuniolo in the short- lived Italian King's Cup. His newspaper la Gazzetta dello Sport organized a new race as a 'rematch' on 1. November 1. 90. 5, called Milano- Milano. The race attracted vast crowds along the course and ended in Milan with the victory of Giovanni Gerbi, at the time one of the stars of cycling. Gerbi won the race 4. Giovanni Rossignoli and Luigi Ganna.[1]The race soon became a fixture as the closing race of the Italian and European cycling season.
It was renamed Giro di Lombardia in 1. After the pioneering years the race was dominated alternately by Frenchman Henri Pélissier and local heroes Gaetano Belloni and Costante Girardengo, each winning the race three times. Giro di Lombardia; Race details; Date: Early October: Region: Lombardy, Italy: English name: Tour of Lombardy: Local name(s) Giro di Lombardia Il Lombardia: Nickname(s) La classica delle foglie morte (Italian) Race of the. Il Giro di Lombardia passa davanti all'esposizione del 'Ciccio' a Cermenate Como. Race of the Champions[edit]From the 1. Alfredo Binda, Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi, icons of Italian cycling, were the main protagonists and immortalized the race with their exploits. Coppi won the race 5 times (of which 4 consecutive wins) and Binda 4 times. The 2010 Giro di Lombardia was the 104th edition of this single day classic cycling race, colloquially known as the 'Race of the Falling Leaves'. The event took place 16 October 2010. It was the final event of the 2010 UCI. Segui con la Gazzetta dello Sport la gara Giro Lombardia. Notizie, risultati, tappe, ciclisti e squadre. Segui tutte le gare con Gazzetta.it. Giro di Lombardia Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google. Giro di Lombardia 2010. Dates: October 16, 2010 Stages: 1 Distance: 260.00 km / 161.56 miles. Giro di Lombardia 2009. Dates: October 17, 2009. News and Updates for Giro di Lombardia 2015 Live Monday, 2016 Giro d'Italia Route Presentation Live. A work in progress for 2015 Giro di Lombardia live and delayed coverage. 2010 Giro di Lombardia Archived Coverage. Coppi finished solo on every win, following a successful strategy of attacking on the Madonna del Ghisallo and maintaining his lead to the finish in Milan. Gino Bartali was the king of the podium with 9 top- 3 finishes (3 wins, 4 second places and 2 third places). The race of 1. 95. At 6. 0 km from the finish a breakaway was formed with Fausto Coppi, seeking his sixth victory. Italian rider Fiorenzo Magni had missed the break, and as he fell further behind, a car passed him with Giulia Occhini, Coppi's infamous mistress, sitting in the back. The two did not get on and as her car passed, Magni saw her sneer at him. Infuriated, Magni set out in an improbable solo pursuit of the breakaway and caught the leaders in the final kilometres. He and Coppi openly argued and André Darrigade, sensing their indecisiveness, attacked to claim the victory, thereby relegating Coppi and Magni to second and third place.[2]In 1. Tour of Lombardy was moved from Milan to Como and the identity of the race changed fundamentally. The previous flat finale towards the finish in Milan was replaced with a spectacular finish by Lake Como, just 6 km after the top of the last climb. Despite an occasional return to finishing in Milan, the race had developed a new personality, defined by a series of arduous climbs amid a mountainous scenery.[3]Over the years the race has been dominated mainly by Italian riders. Frenchman Henri Pelissier and Ireland's Sean Kelly were the only non- Italian riders to win the race three times. Cycling legend Eddy Merckx won three consecutive victories from 1. Felice Gimondi.[4]The race of 1. Eddy Merckx wanted to get his revenge, but fellow Belgian Roger De Vlaeminck attacked early in the race, inducing Merckx to make his team work in pursuit. De Vlaeminck, not really intending to go solo, stopped and hid behind a bush to let the peloton pass. He rode back to the front of the peloton and jokingly asked a baffled Merckx who they were chasing. De Vlaeminck won the race ahead of Merckx.[5]The Autumn Classic[edit]For nearly 7. Mondiale d'Autunno" in Italy ("the World Championship of Autumn"), as the real World Championship was held at the end of summer. It lost this particular role in 1. UCI revolutionized the international cycling calendar and moved the World Championship from August to October, one week before the Giro di Lombardia. From 1. 98. 8 to 2. Tour of Lombardy was the final leg of the UCI Road World Cup and was often the decisive race in that competition. In 1. 99. 7 Michele Bartoli needed to finish ahead of Rolf Sørensen in the race to be the winner of the 1. World Cup. For 3. The edition was won by Frenchman Laurent Jalabert, Bartoli finished fourth and won the World Cup.[6]The race had become the most important Autumn Classic together with Paris–Tours in France, which was mainly won by sprinters or escapees. By the early 2. 1st century however, Paris–Tours lost its status as a World Tour race, and the Tour of Lombardy was the one remaining major Classic in autumn, the only Monument in the latter part of the year. Damiano Cunego imposed himself as the Lord of Lombardy with three victories. In 2. 00. 6, the race celebrated its 1. Paolo Bettini, one week after becoming world champion. The edition was particularly emotional because Bettini's brother had died in a car accident just five days before the race, and the Italian was overcome with emotion when he crossed the finish line.[7] Bettini is one of seven riders to win the Tour of Lombardy after becoming world champion earlier the same year. The other six are Alfredo Binda, Tom Simpson, Eddy Merckx, Felice Gimondi, Giuseppe Saronni and Oscar Camenzind. Since 2. 01. 2 both the World Championship and the Giro di Lombardia have a new, earlier date on the calendar at the end of September, and the name officially became Il Lombardia. It was the beginning of a remarkable revival for the Monument race. The Tour of Lombardy is now the classic par excellence for riders to take revenge for the world championship or to achieve an "Autumn Double win". In recent years Philippe Gilbert and Joaquim RodrÃguez each won the race twice. Like most of cycling's classics, the route has developed over the years, and the Tour of Lombardy has undergone more changes than any other cycling monument. Since the 1. 96. 0s it has been notable for its hilly and varied course around the Como lake, to the northeast of Milan, with a flat finish in one of the cities on the shores of the lake. Its signature symbol is the climb of the Madonna del Ghisallo, one of the iconic sanctuaries in cycling. The climb starts near Bellagio at the shore of the Como Lake, and heads up until the church of Madonna del Ghisallo (7. Over the years, it has become indelibly linked with the race and with cycling in general. It was the favourite climb of cycling greatnesses Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, who immortalized it. The church also serves as a museum containing religious and cycling- related objects.[8]Course changes[edit]Originally the Tour of Lombardy was raced from Milan to Milan, and like many cycling classics, climbs were gradually introduced to the course, in a bid to make the race more demanding. In 1. 96. 1, the finish was moved to Como and the character of the race changed fundamentally. The long and flat run- in to the finish in Milan was abandoned; in its place came a mountainous lake- side finish, just 6 km from the top of the last climb. The route usually has some changes every year, sometimes a complete restyling, only to be altered again the next edition. Route of the 2. 00. From 1. 98. 4 to 1. Milan and in 1. 99. Monza, inviting attackers for long- distance breakaways. From 1. 99. 5 to 2. Bergamo, with the Colle del Gallo (Col Gà l in Bergamasque) as the last climb of the day. The Colle del Gallo, with its sanctuary of the Madonna dei ciclisti at the top, often proved to be decisive. In 2. 00. 4, after twenty years, the finish returned to the lakefront in Como, with the short but steep San Fermo della Battaglia climb just before the arrival. The 2. 01. 0 edition saw the re- introduction of the Muro di Sormano, a spectacular climb with a maximum gradient of 2. Civiglio after the Ghisallo.[9]In 2. Lecco. The Sormano was included again, but was climbed before the Ghisallo. After the Ghisallo, a flat stretch led to the final climb of the race: the steep Villa Vergano in Galbiate. After the descent only 3 km remained until the finish in Lecco. The 3,4 km climb of Villa Vergano was the decisive site in the 2. In 2. 01. 4 the finish was moved to Bergamo. Organizer RCS announced that from 2. Tour of Lombardy will alternate between Bergamo and Como. Race characteristics[edit]The Giro di Lombardia is considered a climbers classic and one of the most arduous races of the season, because of its distance (ca. Nowadays the route usually features five or six significant climbs. The best- known of them is the Madonna del Ghisallo, one of the few fixed locations of the race. The climb is 1. 0,6 kilometres long, with an average gradient of 5. Because the race usually has a downhill or flat run- in to the finish, the main contenders are riders with a broad range of skills. As such, the course favours climbers with a strong sprint finish and even Grand Tour specialists. Time trial specialist Tony Rominger won the Tour of Lombardy twice in the 1. Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali won the 2. The race is often compared to Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the monument race in Belgium earlier in the year. Both classics have a similar hilly course and show a similar palmarès since the 1. The hills in Lombardy are usually longer than those in the Belgian Ardennes and are more spread out over the course. Liège–Bastogne–Liège has 1. Tour of Lombardy, and has an uphill- finish.[1. Because of its position in autumn as one of the last classics of the year, the race is commonly nicknamed the Race of the Falling Leaves. Consequently, the weather repeatedly plays a decisive role in the nature of the race.
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