Its nickname is “The Road World Championships’ Revenge” or “The Classic of the Fallen Leaves”. It's Il Lombardia, now in its 109th edition, the monument race organised by RCS Sport / La Gazzetta dello Sport which will be held on Sunday 4 October starting from Bergamo and finishing in Como after 245km.

On a very beautiful and challenging stage, 25 teams will battle for the final victory, facing an unprecedented final part of the race – a truly tough finale – with a series of longer and shorter steep climbs kicking off from the Madonna del Ghisallo, 64km from the finish line.
 

THE COURSE
The race sets off from Bergamo, southbound. The route initially leads through the Bergamo plain (over the first 40km), and then up along the Val Cavallina, all the way to Casazza, for the first climb of this race: Colle Gallo (763m). A fast-running descent leads back from Val Seriana to Bergamo; here the route goes back on flat roads and eventually arrives in Brianza. The course passes briefly across Colle Brianza (533m) and descends into Pescate, then heads for Valmadrera and Oggiono. Finally, it rolls past Pusiano and Asso, and drops down into Onno, heading for Bellagio, where the Ghisallo (754m) climb begins.

The climb has a maximum 14% gradient, on a wide road, with several hairpins. The descent runs quickly on long, straight stretches up to Maglio, where the Colma di Sormano climb (1124m) begins abruptly. After a few kilometres with a moderate gradient, a few hundred metres past Sormano, the route turns left to tackle the Muro di Sormano (literally 'the wall', the hardest section of the Sormano climb; 2km at a 15% gradient). The road is tight and very steep, and it runs partly through the woods, with very narrow hairpins and sharp gradients exceeding 25% and reaching almost 30% after about 1km.

After clearing the Colma, the road climbs down into Nesso (initially on apparently flat ground, followed by a very technical descent with several hairpins on a narrowed roadway). Here, the route takes the coastal road that leads to Como. A harsh climb up to Civiglio follows (614m), with steady 10% gradients (the roadway narrows markedly at the top of the climb); the route then descends, runs through Como again, and heads for the final climb in San Fermo della Battaglia (397m). Two fixed feed zones are provided: the first is located in San Sosimo (km 112-115) and the second in Onno (km 182-185).

Last kilometres
The last 10km begin in urban Como and run along wide avenues, up to the railway underpass, where the final climb towards San Fermo della Battaglia begins. The climb has a gradient of nearly 7%, on a narrowed roadway with a rough road surface and several hairpins, that lead all the way up to the summit (around 5km from the finish). The descent runs along a wide and well-paved road, with two well-lit tunnels and two wide roundabouts, and it ends 1km before the finish. One last, wide left-hand bend can be found 600m before the finish. The home straight is on 7-m wide asphalt road.
 
 
THE TEAMS
There will be 25 teams, each with 8 riders, battling on the roads of Il Lombardia.

UCI WORLDTEAMS – 17 (eligible)

AG2R LA MONDIALE (FRA)
ASTANA PRO TEAM (KAZ)
BMC RACING TEAM (USA)
ETIXX - QUICK STEP (BEL)
FDJ (FRA)
IAM CYCLING (SUI)
LAMPRE - MERIDA (ITA)
LOTTO SOUDAL (BEL)
MOVISTAR TEAM (ESP)
ORICA GREENEDGE (AUS)
TEAM CANNONDALE - GARMIN (USA)
TEAM GIANT - ALPECIN (GER)
TEAM KATUSHA (RUS)
TEAM LOTTO NL - JUMBO (NED)
TEAM SKY (GBR)
TINKOFF - SAXO (RUS)
TREK FACTORY RACING (USA)

UCI PROFESSIONAL CONTINENTAL TEAMS – 8 (wild cards)

ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI (ITA)
BARDIANI CSF (ITA)
BORA-ARGON 18 (GER)
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE (POL)
COLOMBIA (COL)
NIPPO - VINI FANTINI (ITA)
SOUTHEAST (ITA)
UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM (USA)

WINNERS – LAST 10 EDITIONS

2005 – Paolo Bettini (ITA)
2006 – Paolo Bettini (ITA)
2007 – Damiano Cunego (ITA)
2008 – Damiano Cunego (ITA)
2009 – Philippe Gilbert (BEL)
2010 – Philippe Gilbert (BEL)
2011 – Oliver Zaugg (SUI)
2012 – Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP)
2013 – Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP)
2014 – Daniel Martin (IRL)