Gran Fondo Il Lombardia: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The day starts at 07:30 at the Guardia di Finanza academy in Bergamo and stays flat for barely thirty kilometres. From kilometre 23 the ascent to the Valico di Valcava begins, and it means it: first a ramp at almost eleven per cent, then a stretch at nearly nine, and finally close to seven unbroken kilometres averaging over nine, up to 1,336 metres. Crest it at kilometre 33 and you have taken 600 metres of climbing in one go.

The course then drops into the Valle Imagna, runs through Almenno and Sedrina - the birthplace of Felice Gimondi, whose name the event carries - and at kilometre 68 starts its second block: a long stepped ascent including more than five kilometres at a good seven per cent to the Passo Salmezza at 1,098 metres, followed immediately by almost three kilometres above nine per cent to Selvino. A quarter of the route is steep ground, up and down alike.

The last third returns through Nembro and Alzano to the city, and then comes the finish that separates this from an ordinary loop: at kilometre 106.5, a kilometre and a half at seven and a half per cent up through the walls into Bergamo Alta, finishing at Largo Colle Aperto. The professionals race their Monument there the day before; the weekend belongs to both.

Pacing Strategy

The race is paced before the Valcava, not on it. The first twenty kilometres are flat and fast, the field is large and compact, and riding there in too quick a group leaves you in deficit at the foot of the climb. Ride the approach deliberately covered and take the Valcava at an intensity you can hold for a good three quarters of an hour - at an average above nine per cent that means the smallest gear you own and an even effort rather than surges.

The descent into the Valle Imagna is not recovery, it is the part to respect: almost twelve per cent of the route is steep downhill, the roads are narrow, and traffic is only held between the race vehicles. Ride it defensively and eat there rather than push.

The day is decided between kilometre 68 and 85, in the Salmezza and Selvino pairing. Overcook the Valcava and you do not lose minutes here, you lose half an hour. And then there is the finish: after more than a hundred kilometres, a kilometre and a half at seven and a half per cent into the upper town. Plan that last climb as a task of its own and keep enough in the kilometres before it to ride it rather than survive it. Seven hours sounds generous, but the clock runs from the start, not from the summit.

Training plan for Gran Fondo Il Lombardia: 12-week build

For an age-group rider this is four to six and a half hours with around 2,400 metres of climbing - an effort more than half of which is spent going uphill, and whose climbing is not spread evenly but arrives in two large blocks. The character follows: long intervals just under and at threshold, not criterium sharpness.

The key training content is long unbroken climbs. The Valcava asks for forty to sixty minutes of sustained uphill effort; if you have never ridden that, you cannot pace it on the day. Build sessions with two separate long climbs, the second deliberately after three hours in the saddle, because that is exactly what the Salmezza block is.

Two practical things matter more here than watts. Gearing first: with pitches above nine per cent after a hundred kilometres, a light climbing gear is not weakness, it is what makes the final ascent rideable. Descending second - nearly a third of the route is downhill, much of it steep and narrow, and riders who descend poorly lose more time and energy there than on any climb.

Mid-October in the Bergamo mountains means cool air, valley fog in the morning and long cold descents from over 1,300 metres. Ride your last long sessions deliberately early and cold, and plan clothing you can carry for the descents - it is the difference between a fast second half and a very unpleasant one.