When the Tour of Lombardy was first held in November 1905, bike racing was in its infancy. The Tour de France had just been held for the third time, while the Giro d’Italia was still four years away from its first edition. And the only one-day classic being organized on an annual basis was Paris-Roubaix, which had been held 10 times.

The first Giro di Lombardia was held on an almost flat loop, starting and finishing in the region’s capital, Milan. The winner, in a long solo break, was a solid local with slicked-back straight hair, Giovanni Gerbi, who covered the 230km course in a little over nine hours.

About the only real connections with the modern Lombardy are the title and the organizer, La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper; but the weather 100 years ago, cool and misty, is likely to repeated in Saturday’s 99th edition of the Italian classic. Also, around the midpoint of the 1905 race, the riders crossed a stone bridge at Lecco, across the southernmost leg of the Y-shaped Lake Como — which the modern peloton will cross in the opposite direction Saturday at kilometer 173 of the 246km race.

On an almost identical course as last year, this final event of the inaugural UCI ProTour starts with a 17km stretch in Switzerland from the start in Mendrisio, and then circles Lake Como in a clockwise direction, with the most a significant climbs being jammed into the final 50km.

These are the mythical Madonna del Ghisallo, which the Italian legend Fausto Coppi used as a springboard to his all-time record number of five victories (it summits with 44.3km to go, and includes a 14-percent pitch in its almost 9km of climbing), the 3km, 7-percent Civiglio (that summits 15.7km from the finish), and the 3km, 6.5-percent San Fermo della Battaglia (just 5km from the finish on the lakeside in Como). The total amount of climbing is 8628 feet.

Last year, an aggressive race finished in a dramatic five-man sprint taken by Damiano Cunego from Michael Boogerd, Ivan Basso, Cadel Evans and Daniele Nardello, while the protagonists in the final UCI World Cup, Paolo Bettini and Davide Rebellin, neutralized each other and rolled in 1:40 back.

This weekend, when the temperatures are expected to be in the high 60s, the season-long ProTour has already been wrapped up. This means that overall champion Danilo Di Luca of Liquigas-Bianchi will be free to shoot for the race victory — although knee tendinitis might rule him out. Last year’s podium finishers also are not looking good: Neither Boogerd nor Basso is starting, while Cunego says he has only been at “80 percent” since overcoming mononucleosis this summer.

The young defending champion will, in theory, help veteran Lampre-Caffita teammate Gilberto Simoni, who last week won the demanding Tour of Emilia in a late solo attack. But there’s no love lost between the two Lampre leaders, and Simoni, who is set to leave the squad this winter, said this week “It's every man for himself.”

Quick Step’s Bettini is the man on the best form following his brilliant solo victory two weeks ago at the Championship of Zürich. He placed second last weekend — in a field sprint behind Brazilian sensation Murilo Fischer of Naturino at the GP Beghelli — and he says he has kept his form on the boil this week. “I've never come here to the Tour of Lombardy with my weight so low, 57kg [125 pounds],” said Bettini, who also has never finished higher than ninth at Lombardy.

Bettini’s main rival could prove to be Gerolsteiner’s Rebellin who is motivated and has strong support from German pair Fabian Wegmann and Heinrich Haussler. Besides 2001 winner Di Luca, the 1999 champion Mirko Celestino, 31, of Domina Vacanze, has had a string of podium spots in recent Italian classics, and could again spring a surprise.

Another Italian who could make an impact is little Emanuele Sella of Panaria, who was the breakaway hero of Thursday’s Tour of Piedmont — which was won by Fischer. Other overseas contenders include Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo) and Frank Schleck CSC) — who placed second at both Zürich and Emilia; Spain's world’s silver medalist Alejandro Valverde (Illes Balears), Australia’s Evans (Davitamon-Lotto), who is ready to break into the top three after fourth places at this year’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège and last year’s Lombardy; and, why not, the 2005 eleventh-place Lombardy finisher, Californian Chris Horner (Saunier Duval).

The only other North American starters are first-timer Saul Raisin (Crédit Agricole) and CSC’s Christian Vande Velde, while the mighty Discovery Channel makes a rare appearance with no Americans on its roster. Insiders will also be looking for strong rides from two more of this year’s best young riders, Swede Thomas Løvkvist (Française des Jeux) and Dutchman Thomas Dekker (Rabobank).

With so many Italians still hot at this season end, it will be hard to not forecast a home winner to celebrate the Lombardia centennial. Bettini looks the best, while Rebellin, Simoni, Sella and Celestino could also be in the final sprint. Maybe it’ll be as exciting as last year’s.