12/10/2019Cycling » Last great classic of the season, the Tour of Lombardy promises exciting today on the 243 km of the route drawn between Bergamo and Como. Egan Bernal and Primoz Roglic, winners of the last two great rounds, hope to punctuate their season with a new triumph. Will classics specialists leave room for men in general rankings? In Lombardy, climbers are most often at the party just like the last winner, the French Thibaut Pinot.
Winner of the Vuelta in September, Roglic has retained the form. He was impressive last Saturday in the final climb of the Tour d'Emilie and is named as the man to beat by Michael Woods, one of the runners to watch closely on the shores of Lake Como. "He's the favorite," says the Canadiens. "I saw a video where he was called Robocop and it was impressive, he did not seem to have to force himself as he progressed."
For Roglic, however, the region is reminiscent of bad memories. If he has already played twice Lombardy (40th in 2017, 17th in 2018), he mostly lost on these tricky roads most of his chances of winning the Giro last May. Due to a problematic trouble-shooting approach to Como and especially a fall in the descent of the Civiglio, the penultimate difficulty of the course Saturday in the last 15 kilometers.
In front of No 1 world, with 13 wins this season and with a recovery time approach (only one race, the Three Valleys Varines, in the week), Bernal runs the risk of paying the efforts to win Thursday the Gran Piemonte, the former Tour of Piedmont. "Now I'm going to Lombardy with peace of mind," said the Colombian climber after his success in Oropa, the first of his career in an online race. "I spent energy, but it was worth it." ats
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