LOMBARDY.

Special Release Euro Collection

By Black Sheep Cycling

October 9^th, 2018

the classic of classics.

“It is the hardest Monument. Hard is great. Lombardy is not a Classic to be taken lightly.”

– Angelo Zomegnan, former Race Director.

no walk in the park.

Summer has given way to autumn. It's that romantic time of year when the days shorten, but the shadows grow and the leaves on the trees are resplendent with colour. Il Giro di Lombardia is the Autumn Classic. A second Spring. But it's no walk in the park. Far from it. If you thought this was a gentle ride through wooded hills with Lake Como as its backdrop, the sight of shell-shocked riders atop Muro di Sormano will disavow you of that notion.

simply bestial.

Legends of cycling have all come to Lombardy and many have left defeated. As Ercole Baldini put it, the Wall of Sormano is “simply bestial - impossible to ride”. The ghosts that Baldini experienced, and the beauty of the Classic of the Fallen Leaves, are perfectly captured in our Special Release Euro Collection Lombardy Kit

Bearing the name of the region across the chest and the words of the Baldini on the inside of the rear pockets, this kit pays homage to the The Last Monument. The fifth and final. The Classic of Classics. The jersey and bibs also bear the crest of Como, the lakeside town which forms the centrepiece of a race that passes cycling's holy grail – the almost mystic Madonna di Ghisallo chapel – and then sends riders up the Wall of Sormano.

holy grail.

Madonna del Ghisallo is the patroness of cyclists, declared by Pope Pius XII during the 1949 Giro d’Italia. An eternal flame burns inside in memory of every cyclist who has died on Italian roads, and the walls are hung with their pictures and with bikes and jerseys donated by champions from every era.

hitting the wall.

Introduced to 'make a difference' in 1960, the Muro di Sormano featured in the race for three years before being taken out again: competitors complained that it was almost impossible, and unfair that some (mainly Italian riders) received a helping hand to the arse on the way up while other guys wobbled and fell. In 2012 it was revived, painted with the times achieved by famous riders and inspirational quotes – as well as the elevation for each metre you climb.

'I cannot understand why Torriani [Race Director] wanted to choose a novelty of this kind. I understand that Ghisallo [Madonna del Ghisallo climb] no longer gave guarantees of selection, but frankly it went in the opposite direction. This climb is simply bestial, impossible to ride.'

– Ercole Baldini, 1962.

italian takeover.

Form Friday October 5, Black Sheep is coming to Italy and taking over. We've teamed up with our Latin lovers Sartoria Ciclistica and Alba Optics to organise two weeks of good times – rides, coffee, food, kit and, the thing we do best, parties. Our Como Popup runs from Oct 7-14.