The road to Il Lombardia – A complete guide to the Italian Autumn Classics

The 2023 road season is winding down with the last handful of WorldTour and Women's WorldTour events fast approaching as October arrives. While the peloton hits China, the Tour of Turkey, and 1.1 races in Belgium to round out another year, a packed late-season schedule of Italian one-day Classics is also on the menu.

Over the next two weeks or so, seven races across many of Italy's northern regions – Tuscany, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Piemonte, and Veneto – come one after another, culminating in the final Monument of the season, Il Lombardia.

These Autumn Classics will play host to some of the biggest names in the peloton as riders come together to battle it out for a big win before winding down for their winter breaks.

Watch out for names including Tadej Pogačar, Simon Yates, Primož Roglič, Thibaut Pinot, Remco Evenepoel and top women's riders including home favourites Elisa Longo Borghini and Marta Cavalli at races such as the Giro dell'Emilia, Gran Piemonte, and Giro del Veneto.

Read on for Cyclingnews' guide to this late-season batch of Italian races, running from Thursday, September 28 to Sunday, October 15.

September 28 – Coppa Agostoni

Location: Lissone - Lissone

Length: 195.7km

Ascent: 3,231m

Level: 1.1

The Italian Autumn Classics kick off with the 76th Coppa Agostoni which features a hilly mid-race circuit that proves decisive in selecting the winner, or the reduced group which battles it out at the flat finish.

Four circuits of the lap featuring the climbs of Sirtori (1.6km at 5.3%), the Colle Brianza (3.1km at 6.7%) and Lissolo (2.5km at 7.2%) mark the toughest part of the 195.7km race.

Winners in recent years include Sjoerd Bax, Alexey Lutsenko, and Gianni Moscon, with Bax taking the win from a group of eight last time out.

Being a 1.1 race, the Coppa Agostoni isn't a star-heavy lineup, but you can look out for Marc Hirschi, Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), Ben O'Connor, Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën), Iván García Cortina, Oier Lazkano (Movistar), Lorenzo Fortunato (Eolo-Kometa), and Victor Lafay (Cofidis) this Wednesday.

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September 30 – Giro dell'Emilia & Giro dell'Emilia Donne

Location: Carpi - San Luca, Bologna

Length: 204.1km / 103.5km

Ascent: 3,027m / 619m

Level: 1.Pro 

More hills follow on Saturday with the older and more prestigious Giro dell'Emilia, which features the famous climb of San Luca in the heart of Bologna. The men's race celebrates its 106th edition this year, while the newer women's race turns 10.

Hills along the 204.1km men's route include Samone (6.1km at 6.3%) and Monte Nonascoso (5.9km at 7.1%), but the big challenge comes with five late ascents of San Luca (2.1km at 9.4%).

The women's race, meanwhile, is a simplified affair featuring far fewer climbs. It's a flat run from Carpi to Bologna followed by two ascents of San Luca.

The final battle for the line is usually the decisive point of the race, with the strongest puncheurs going head-to-head on the closing rise. Aleksandr Vlasov, Primož Roglič (twice), and Enric Mas have all triumphed here in recent years, while Elisa Longo Borghini and Demi Vollering are among the women's honour roll.

The 2023 men's lineup features the first battle between Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) for the first time since the 2022 Tour de France. Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Enric Mas (Movistar), Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) wil also feature. The women's lineup has yet to be revealed.

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October 2 – Coppa Bernocchi

Location: Parabiago - Legnano

Length: 186.7km

Ascent: 1,935m

Level: 1.Pro

Next Monday brings more hills as the peloton heads to Legnano near Milan, albeit on a gentler route by comparison with the Giro dell'Emilia.

The race heads out north from the start to tackle seven laps of a hilly circuit featuring a climb named the Piccolo Stelvio (1.7km at 7.1%).

The climb – used six times before adding another ascent last year – didn't put off the likes of Sonny Colbrelli and Phil Bauhaus from winning in the past, while Remco Evenepoel scored a solo 31km win two years ago. Last year, Davide Ballerini sprinted to victory from a 58-man group.

So then, we can likely expect another day for the versatile and punchy sprinters this time out. Start list details are scant at the time of writing, though Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) is the headline name confirmed to race, while Marc Hirschi heads up UAE Team Emirates' selection.

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October 3 – Tre Valli Varesine & Women's Race

Location: Busto Arsizio - Varese

Length: 196.5km / 112.3km

Ascent: 3,200m~ / 1,300m~

Level: 1.Pro / 1.1

Another race in Lombardy marks the next staging post in the road to Il Lombardia with the 102nd Tre Valli Varesine. Coming four days before the big one, this is usually the last tuneup before the Monument and so commands a stellar start list.

The 196.5km race features two differing circuits, both packed with hills. In the men's race, look out for nine laps of a circuit featuring Casbeno (2.5km at 4.9%) and Montello (2.5km at 5.2%) before two laps of a circuit featuring Morosolo (1.6km at 7.8%) and Casciago (1.8km at 5%) either side of another Casbeno-Montello circuit.

The third edition of the women's race, lengthened for 2023, takes in four laps of the Casbeno-Montello circuit, with both races concluding with a final climb of Casbeno.

Recent winners include Roglič, Pogačar, and Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), and a similarly star-studded lineup can be expected this year, too, with both Slovenians confirmed as racing.

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October 5 – Gran Piemonte

Location: Borgofranco d'Ivrea - Favria

Length: 152km

Ascent: Unknown

Level: 1.Pro

The Gran Piemonte is an odd race in that the parcours never seems to stay the same. In 2019 the race concluded with an Egan Bernal summit finish win at Oropa while the next year featured an endless succession of hills in Barolo wine country won by George Bennett.

2021 was more sprinter-friendly, won by Matthew Walls, while Iván García Cortina prevailed in last year's thrilling battle among a break of mid-race attackers.

This year, the 107th edition of the race, should be one for the puncheurs and versatile sprinters, with a flat opening 90km giving way to four major hills on the road to Favria. Colleretto Castelnuovo (7.1km at 3.4%), Faiallo (5.1km at 5.4%), Alpette (4.9km at 9%), and Prascorsano (4.4km at 3.4%) pose the big challenges within the race's final 60km.

Once again, look out for Wout van Aert here. The Belgian will conclude his road season at the 152km race before heading to the UCI Gravel World Championships at the weekend.

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October 7 – Il Lombardia

Location: Como - Bergamo

Length: 238km

Ascent: 4,646m

Level: WorldTour

It's the big one – the last Monument of the year and the biggest, longest, and hardest of these late-season races.

The 117th edition of Il Lombardia will play host to the final road racing showdown of a host of cycling's big stars and with it a return to the 2021 route as the race flips from Bergamo-Como to Como-Bergamo.

The famed Madonna del Ghisallo (8.6km at 6.2%) is the first climb of the day, lying inside the first 40km, while the middle of the route features a succession of hard hills. Roncola Alta (9.4km at 6.6%), Berbenno (6.8km at 4.6%), Passo della Crocetta (11km at 6.2%), and Zambla Alta (9.5km at 3.5%) all serve to soften the legs ahead of the grand finale.

That comes 22km from the finish with the Passo di Ganda (9.2km at 7.3%), the last chance to make a selection before the race to Bergamo Alta and the steep, cobbled Colle Aperto climb, where the race might just be won.

The headline acts will be Pogačar (who seeks win number three), Evenepoel, and Roglič, while Mas, the retiring Pinot, and EF Education-EasyPost's Richard Carapaz are others to watch among a host of top contenders rounding out their 2023 season in Lombardy.

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October 11 – Giro del Veneto

Location: Tombolo - Monte Berico, Vicenza

Length: 170km

Ascent: 1,670m

Level: 1.Pro

The racing doesn't end with Il Lombardia as the peloton heads east to Veneto for the final two races of the Italian season.

The Giro del Veneto returned in 2021 after nine years off the calendar and presents another hilly circuit race, albeit a short one at 170km. The church at Monte Berico, looking out over Vicenza, hosts the final this year in a change of route from the flatter finishes of the past two editions.

As a result, don't expect the small groups coming to the line with Xandro Meurisse and Matteo Trentin leading the way as we saw in 2021 and 2022. The climb to the line (800m at 9.5%) will be tackled five times, and it's where Giovanni Visconti and Philippe Gilbert triumphed on stages of the 2013 and 2015 Giro d'Italia.

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October 15 – Veneto Classic

Location: Mel - Bassano del Grappa

Length: 195km

Ascent: 2,340m

Level: 1.Pro

Finally, it all comes to an end with the Veneto Classic, a new race launched just two years ago. Hosted in Bassano del Grappa, the race has seen Samuele Battistella and Marc Hirschi take solo triumphs in previous editions. Yes, it's another one for the hilly specialists, with plenty of steep gradients lying in wait to provoke the winning selection.

There's set to be little change in the route from the 2022 edition this time, with four laps of a circuit including La Rosina (2.7km at 5.9%) followed by the same again with the short but steep La Tisa (300m at 12.3%) before the late strangely named Diesel Farm cobbled climb (1.3km at 9.6%) and the Contra' Soarda (500m at 11.4%), both inside the final 5km.

The race makes the step up from 1.1 to 1.Pro this year, though already welcomed seven WorldTour teams in 2022. With a long off-season soon to follow, it'll certainly be one to watch.

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