Robert Gesink (Rabobank) will be hoping to capitalize off of his top form in his final races of the season, the Giro dell’Emilia and Giro di Lombardia. Lombardia, dubbed the race of the falling leaves, is the last of cycling’s monuments on the UCI calendar. Top favorite Damiano Cunego (Lampre-NGC) will be looking to add a fourth consecutive win in the 242 kilometer classic that finishes along side the lake in Como, Italy.
The young Dutchman aims to dethrone the prince, and has the talent to make something happen. Gesink, 23, provided some details regarding his training rides on his Twitter page, “Did a super training [ride] with four intervals in four hours. Tempo endurance, 10 beats under threshold, on the Ghisallo. For those interested: 431, 428, 429 and 428 watts.”
Other challengers include the American Chris Horner (Astana) who recently signed a two-year contract with Lance Armstrong’s RadioShack team. Horner, 35, has been pinned a dark horse in many of this year’s most competitive races, but has been struck by bad luck over and over again. He broke bones in the Tour of California, Vuelta al Pais Vasco, Giro d’Italia, and capped his unfortunate streak off by breaking his pelvis in the Vuelta a España. Despite his misfortunes, he’s managed a second place overall at the Tour de l’Ain in France back in August. With two previous top ten’s in Lombardia (2007, 2008), the American could pull a good result if he’s been able to regain his form.
Newly crowned world champion Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) is also tipped as a race favorite. If the Australian has held his form form Mendrisio, he could be looking at his second big win of the season