For the first time since 2021, cycling’s final Monument of the season will crown a rider who has never won it before. Tadej Pogačar’s five-year streak at Il Lombardia ends in Bergamo on Saturday, where he will not line up after a stage 8 crash at the Vuelta a España left him with a broken left collarbone, a stable C7 cervical fracture and a concussion. UAE Team Emirates-XRG have confirmed he will not race again in 2026.
Pogačar won five editions in a row from 2021 to 2025, becoming the first rider in history to win five consecutive editions of any Monument. Fausto Coppi had taken four straight between 1946 and 1949 before a fifth in 1954.
239 km, nine climbs, Como circuit finale
The 120th edition covers 239 km from Bergamo to Como with roughly 4,600 metres of climbing across nine ascents. The peloton tackles Selvino, Colle di Berbenno, Valpiana and Giovenzana before Madonna del Ghisallo, which arrives with 60.6 km still to ride. The run-in packs three climbs into the last 28 km: a first pass over San Fermo della Battaglia, then the brutally steep 4.2 km Civiglio averaging 9.7%, and finally a second San Fermo with the summit 5.2 km from the line in Como.
Evenepoel the reference point
Remco Evenepoel has finished second behind Pogačar in each of the last two editions, at 3:16 in 2024 and 1:48 in 2025, and arrives in Bergamo as the man every preview names first. The Belgian added a fourth consecutive world time-trial title in September and won GP Québec earlier in the month, a form line that reads better than any other on the start sheet.
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UAE still have the numbers
Pogačar’s absence does not leave his team short of options. Isaac del Toro, the brightest of UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s young climbers through 2026, is one of the names picked out alongside Juan Ayuso. The team’s depth has grown further still with Brandon McNulty, who stunned the field with a 32 km solo in Montréal to become the first American road-race world champion in 33 years.
Pidcock and Seixas lead the chasing pack
Tom Pidcock finished sixth here in 2025 and arrives on the Lombardy roads off a second elite cross-country mountain-bike world title in Val di Sole. The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider has yet to deliver a Monument but has rarely raced with so clear an opening. Paul Seixas of Decathlon CMA CGM, the French teenager who has risen fastest in the WorldTour this season, is the pick of several outsider lists.
Il Lombardia’s new team presentation ceremony takes place on the Sentierone in Bergamo at 5pm local time on Friday, October 9. The race rolls out of Piazza Giacomo Matteotti the next morning at 10:45am local time, with the finish in Como expected between 4:40pm and 5:20pm local time.
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