AFP, Milan :
Newly-crowned world champion Alejandro Valverde headlines the season-finale Tour of Lombardy on Saturday looking for his first win in a race where he has twice finished runner-up.
The fifth and final Monument of the season – the ‘Race of the Falling Leaves’ – will be fought over 241km through the Alps-region between Bergamo and Como in northern Italy.
Movistar rider Valverde will be challenged by the same rivals who were beaten for the world championships road race crown in Innsbruck last month, including France’s Romain Bardet who finished second and third-placed Canadian Michael Woods.
“Being world champion is important for whoever it might be,” said Valverde.
“It’s also a race that I like a lot and which I’ve always nearly won.”
Valverde finished second in the Tour of Lombardy in 2013 and 2014.
The 38-year-old warmed up by finishing third in the Milan-Turin semi-classic on Wednesday, which was won by French rider Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), who will be among the favourites this weekend.
Valverde, who was banned for two years following Spanish doping probe Operacion Puerto, this week defended his record since returning in 2012.
