Saturday’s race will mark Remco Evenepoel’s first outing in a Monument.
Colle Gallo, Colle Brianza, Madonna del Ghisallo, Colma di Sormano – with its excruciating 27% gradients on the Muro di Sormano – Civiglio and San Fermo della Battaglia are the six climbs dotting the 231km course that will gradually thin out the peloton at this year’s Il Lombardia and provide the terrain for attacks Saturday, when our team will line out in Bergamo for the 114th edition of the Italian Monument.
The last hurdle of the day – San Fermo della Battaglia – comes inside the final ten kilometers, averages around 7% and from its top only a short descent ending just under the flamme rouge will remain between the riders vying for glory and Como, which will host the finish for the 36th time.
Victorious in all four races he started this season – Vuelta a San Juan, Volta ao Algarve, Vuelta a Burgos and the Tour de Pologne – Remco Evenepoel will make his Monument debut at Il Lombardia, where he’ll be joined by best young rider of the Tour de l’Ain João Almeida, neo-pro Andrea Bagioli – one of the ten Deceuninck – Quick-Step riders to have won a race this season – Mattia Cattaneo, Dries Devenyns, Mikkel Honoré and Pieter Serry, a former top 10 finisher at the event.
“We come with a lot of motivation at the start, despite having many young riders on the roster. The parcours is more or less the same, only the weather will be different this year, with the temperatures expected to hit 30 degrees Celsius. Of course, we hope to get a good result, but we can’t say that we are favourites, as many of the guys on the team will be making their debut in a Monument”, explained Deceuninck – Quick-Step sports director Davide Bramati.
