Tour of Lombardy 2017: When is it, where is it and is it on television? Everything you need to know
Updated 05/10/2017 at 17:49 GMT
Some of the biggest names in cycling will head to northern Italy in early October to take on the final Monument of the season.
Of the five big one-day races in the cycling calendar, only one is saved for Autumn. Coming shortly after the World Championship road race, the Tour of Lombardy offers a chance for the climbers to show what they can do as it brings the curtain down on the season.
This year's lumpy 247km route features a number of hefty climbs, none more daunting than the Colma di Sormano.
And here’s everything you need to know about the last big one-day race of 2017.
When is it?
Il Lombardia will be held on Saturday 7 October.
Where is it?
The race is held in northern Italy (unsurprisingly in the region of Lombardy). The riders climb the hills around the spectacular Lake Como, which provides challenging terrain and stunning scenery in equal measure.
What is it?
The Tour of Lombardy is the fifth and final Monument of the cycling calendar.
The Monuments are the five most prestigious one-day events of each year. Milan-San Remo is the first of the major Classics, followed by the cobbled pair of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, before Liege-Bastogne-Liege in late April.
The Giro di Lombardia is an outlier to those spring classics, coming so late in the year that it is has coined the nickname The Race of the Falling Leaves.
What is the route?
The riders will take on a 247km course that gains close to 4000m in height. The race starts in Bergamo and finishes with a downhill run in to Como, with some hefty climbs in between.
Here's a look at the route:
And here is the slightly daunting profile:
That climb up the Colma di Sormano will test even the strongest legs, with the steepest sections well over 20%:
Who are the contenders?
The prospect of some tough climbs has seen many of the big Grand Tour contenders enter.
Vincenzo Nibali, Warren Barguil and Fabio Aru are probably the pick of the bunch, but don’t discount Team Sky’s multi-faceted Michal Kwiatkowski.
Rigoberto Uran, Thibaut Pinot, Romain Bardet and Mikel Landa are other notable names.
Where can you watch it?
The Tour of Lombardy will be on Eurosport 2 from 14:15 on Saturday 7 October and will also be broadcast LIVE on Eurosport Player.
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