Jonas Vingegaard, after a low-key stint and some time off after winning the Tour de France, will lead Jumbo Visma on Saturday at Il Lombardia, hoping to surprise his rivals again, especially 2021 winner Taddei Pogachar!

Vingegaard took a month off after being congratulated in Denmark for winning the Tour de France, but has since quietly trained in Spain and showed he is still going strong in October at the CRO race in Croatia last week.

He missed out on the overall win on the rainy final stage, but showed ambition and determination, winning the two most difficult stages.

"I like racing and it's good to get back into the routine and enjoy the rhythm of racing," Vingegaard told Cycling News before Il Lombardia.

"There was talk that I hadn't raced in a long time, but I took the Bretagne Classics off the program because I just wasn't ready. The World Championships didn't suit me, but Il Lombardia suits me."

Pogachar is a big contender for Il Lombardia, and the powerful UAE team Emirates will support him. Bora Hansgrohe has Sergio Igita and Alexandre Vlasov, Adam Yates leads Ineos Grenadier, and Julien Alaphilippe leads Quick Step Alphavinir.

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) will enjoy the last dance at Lombardia.

After the CRO race, Vingegaard headed to northern Italy for Il Lombardia. At Tre Valli Varesine, Pogachar again showed his strong form by winning the sprint. Vingegaard recovered from his CRO race and carefully studied the race route from Bergamo to Como.

The new finale included the double climb of San Fermo della Battaglia overlooking Como, with the steeper and longer Civiglio in between, where the decisive choice of final candidates would be made.

"Jonas has shown that he is in good shape and feels good. Jonas has shown that he is in good shape and feels good. He was calm and solid during the reconnaissance run," said coach Adi Engels.

"The start is the same final as last year. Finals are always difficult. Finals are always difficult, but the middle part of the race is much easier. A strong group is expected and the favorites will just appear at the front in the final."

"It will explode on the first passage of San Fermo della Battaglia. In Civiglio, there has to be one or two people next to Jonas. After that, it will be up to him and the leading contenders for the championship."

Vingegaard can expect support from new time trial world champion Tobias Foss, veteran Robert Gesink, who is in good form, Australian Chris Harper, Dutch climber Sam Ommen, as well as Gijs Riemreis and Kane Boorman.