Tour of Lombardy 2016: The route

Saturday, October 1 - The Tour of Lombardy celebrates edition 110 with a 241 kilometres route featuring 4,400 vertical metres. By far the most climbing is in the second half of the race, while the finale is marked by a steep climb in arrival place Bergamo. Downhill finish.

The finale is a copy of two years ago, when Daniel Martin took the last Monument of the season, but the rest of the race isn’t. After leaving departure place Como the riders head for Bellagio, the picturesque village on the borders of Lake Como where the renowned Madonna del Ghisallo-climb opens with a nasty 14% section. While the 8.5 kilometres ascent is marked by an average gradient at 6.2%, this is just part of the story as the middle section of 3 kilometres is flat to descending. In fact, the other slopes never come under 9%.

The race really gets going from the Valico di Valcava onwards. The 11.65 kilometres climb at 8% features a steepest section at 17% after 7.5 kilometres, opening the toughest part as the grade never gets under 10% for the next 3 kilometres.

The Valcava is crested with 143.6 kilometres done and after this the riders race race from one climb to another for 90 kilometres. No rest, just climbing and descending.

At an elevation of 1,360 metres the Valcava is the highest peak of the day, while the next three climbs all are located at around 1,000 metres. First the riders climb to Sant’Antonio Abbandonato, a village reached after 6.5 uphill kilometres at 8.9%. The climb debutes in the Tour of Lombardy.

The Miragolo San Salvatore climb is 8.9 kilometres at 7% before a 6 kilometres drop takes the riders to the foot of the last long uphill section. The ascent to Selvino goes up for 6.9 kilometres at 5.4% with steepest slopes at 9%.

At the top the riders face a 15 kilometres drop before a flat section takes them tot an explosive climb up to the old city of Bergamo. The riders tackle the hill with 6.5 kilometres to go. The climb is 1.2 kilometres at an average gradient of 7.9%, yet at 9.8% the second half is toughest furthermore containing the steepest (and cobbled section) at 12%. A fast descent leads the riders to the finish line.

Results/ race report Tour of Lombardy 2016.