Giro di Lombardia
 |
|
| Date | Early October |
|---|---|
| Region | Lombardy, Italy |
| English name | Tour of Lombardy |
| Local name(s) | Giro di Lombardia Il Lombardia |
| Nickname(s) |
La classica delle foglie morte (Italian) Race of the Falling Leaves (English) |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI World Tour |
| Type | One-day Classic |
| Organiser | RCS Sport |
| Race director | Michele Acquarone |
| First edition | 1905 |
| Editions | 110 (as of 2016) |
| First winner |
 Giovanni Gerbi (ITA)
|
| Most wins |
Fausto Coppi (ITA) (5 wins) |
| Most recent |
 Esteban Chaves (COL)
|
The Giro di Lombardia (English: Tour of Lombardy), officially Il Lombardia , is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Monuments' of the season, considered to be the oldest and most prestigious one-day events in cycling, and one of the last events on the UCI World Tour calendar. Nicknamed the Classica delle foglie morte ("the Classic of the falling (dead) leaves"), it is the most important Autumn Classic in cycling. The race's most famous climb is the Madonna del Ghisallo in the race finale.
The first edition was held in 1905. Since its creation, the Giro di Lombardia has been the classic with the fewest number of interruptions in cycling; only the editions of 1943 and 1944 were cancelled for reasons of war. Italian Fausto Coppi won a record five times.
Because of its demanding course, the race is considered a climbers classic, favouring climbers with a strong sprint finish.
The Tour of Lombardy was created as an idea of journalist Tullo Morgagni. Morgagni wanted to give Milanese rider Pierino Albini the opportunity to take revenge for his defeat against Giovanni Cuniolo in the short-lived Italian King's Cup. His newspaper la Gazzetta dello Sport organized a new race as a 'rematch' on 12 November 1905, called Milano–Milano. The race attracted vast crowds along the course and ended in Milan with the victory of Giovanni Gerbi, at the time one of the stars of cycling. Gerbi won the race 40 minutes ahead of Giovanni Rossignoli and Luigi Ganna.
The race soon became a fixture as the closing race of the Italian and European cycling season. It was renamed Giro di Lombardia in 1907. After the pioneering years the race was dominated alternately by Frenchman Henri Pélissier and local heroes Gaetano Belloni and Costante Girardengo, each winning the race three times.
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