September 29th, 10:40 AM local time.
The most important of all the remaining road cycling races of the 2024 season had officially begun.
Although the Tour of Lombardy, one of the five Monuments of cycling, was still set to take place in Italy in October.
But even so, the Tour of Lombardy's prestige could in no way compare to that of the Men's Elite World Championships.
After all, the Lombardy course was dominated by climbs with massive elevation gain. It was practically Pogačar's backyard and wasn't suited for a classics rider like van der Poel.
This made the sole autumn classic far less suited to all types of riders than the World Championships, and thus naturally offered much less of a spectacle.
