Tour of Lombardy shifts date in 2012

The Tour of Lombardy (Il Lombardia) will move to September in 2012, the UCI announced today.

The last Monument of the season, Il Lombardia, also known as the so-called "race of the falling leaves" because of its autumn date, will now be held on September 29, one week after the UCI road world championships.

The new date is also one day prior to RCS Sport's presentation of the 2013 Giro d'Italia.

"The change, which allows athletes to directly benefit from their world championship form on the WorldTour circuit, comes further to discussions held during the recent meeting of the Professional Cycling Council which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, last month," the UCI stated in its press release.

The Giro di Lombardia has traditionally been the grand finale of the season, having the honour not only of being the last Classic, but as the final race in the UCI's major series - the World Cup, ProTour and now WorldTour.

With the shift in date, it will once again be adjacent to the world championships as it had been until the Worlds moved up in date, and therefore may attract a stronger field.

However, the race loses its status as final WorldTour race, which will now go to the Tour of Beijing.

2012 WorldTour calendar