Time trial world champion and double Olympic champion Lemko Evenpoel will be looking to repeat his victory in the Italian one-day race on Monday before the final race of the European World Tour, Il Lombardia, next weekend. He will run in the Coppa Bernocchi.

The Sourdal-Quick Step rider, who was active early in yesterday's prestigious Giro delle Miglia, made a move against Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates). Surprisingly, Evenpoel, who looked the most likely to challenge the world champion, dropped out of the race with around 25km to go.

The disastrous wet conditions deposited debris in his eye, and a video was posted of team staff trying to wash his left eye at the finish line.

“Things didn't go as planned in Emilia, but that's the way cycling is.

“Needless to say I love this race, having won it twice in Bernocchi the past three seasons, with a total of four podium finishes.

Three years ago at Coppa Bernocchi, Evenpoel spent all day in a breakaway group before attacking with 31km to go, pulling away from the rest of the pack and soloing to his first one-day race win in Italy.

The 174.3km Coppa Bernocchi began with a flat section in Legnano and seven laps of a hilly course that included Piccolo Stelvio (1.7km, 5.8%).

Evenpoel will contend with Primos Roglic (Red Bull-Bohra-Hansgrohe) and Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates). Roglic, the winner of the Vuelta a España, is making his first career start, while Hirschi is in great form, with six wins in the past month and a half and his ninth overall win of the year. On Sunday in Lissone, he won the Coppa Agostoni Giro delle Brianze, outpacing his rivals in the breakaway group.

The Coppa Bernocchi is the third of a series of short but intense races across Italy leading up to the last monument of the year, Il Lombardia.