Healy, Carapaz & Powless lead Il Lombardia charge of ambitious EF: "We’ve got a crazy good team – Hopefully, we can cook something up"

As the autumn sun casts long shadows over the lakes and ridges of Lombardy, EF Education-EasyPost will line up at Il Lombardia 2025 on Saturday with ambition, momentum, and a trio of leaders all capable of rewriting the script in cycling’s final Monument of the year.

Ben Healy, Richard Carapaz, and Neilson Powless bring different styles, different stories, and the same dream: to leave their mark on one of the most demanding and historic one-day races in the world. “It’s the race of the falling leaves,” Powless said in the team’s pre-race release. “Fall is beautiful in Italy, with the colors in the trees, passing wineries in the mountains. It is going to be a long, hard day of bike racing.”

It always is at Il Lombardia — 241 kilometers from Como to Bergamo, climbing over 4,400 metres via brutal ascents like the Madonna del Ghisallo, Passo di Ganda, and Zambla Alta. It’s a climbers’ classic, a race where only the strongest, smartest, and most resilient survive. But it’s also a race where EF believes its strength-in-numbers approach can be the key to toppling the favourites. “We don’t have an outright favourite,” Powless admits, “but we’ve got a crazy good team.”

Ben Healy comes into the race off a breakthrough year, including a dramatic solo stage win at the Tour de France, where he also wore the Yellow Jersey and more recently a bronze at the World Championships in Kigali. The 25-year-old Irishman thrives on unpredictability and long-range attacks. Lombardia, with its changing rhythms and open tactical playground, suits his aggressive DNA.

“I am feeling pretty good,” Healy said. “Tre Valli opened up the legs a bit. It’ll just be hard bike racing... it’s about seeing who can last until the end.”

Healy’s form isn’t in doubt, and neither is his hunger. After a punishing post-Worlds recovery period, he appears ready to go deep again — just as he did in his audacious spring rides and Tour de France heroics.

Richard Carapaz, meanwhile, brings experience, grit, and a deep personal motivation. The 2025 season has been mixed for the former Olympic champion. The highlight came at the Giro d'Italia, where a strong performance secured a stage win and a podium finish.

“It was a very long season for me after all the setbacks,” he said. “But I think I can attack Lombardia with a very good attitude. I’m feeling good and hoping to leave it all out there.”

Then there’s Neilson Powless, the versatile American who thrives in races where tactics, strength, and subtlety collide. Powless claimed Dwars door Vlaanderen earlier this year, took top 10s in the Ardennes, and bagged another win at GP Gippingen.

His steady form and racing IQ make him an ideal wild card. “Hopefully, we can cook something up,” he smiled. “The satisfaction, when you’re done, almost no matter where you finish, is nice. But getting to race aggressively with the best riders in the world on those roads is a really special feeling.”

Il Lombardia has often rewarded solo ambition — just ask Tadej Pogacar. But it’s also a race where strength in numbers can count, especially when the favourites are isolated or hesitant.

EF Education - EasyPost are rolling the dice with three leaders, not because they lack a clear one, but because each has proven capable of winning on their own terms. Healy’s panache, Carapaz’s experience, and Powless’s cunning give the team multiple angles of attack. And with no single rider expected to match Pogacar alone, this might be the recipe that finally breaks his streak.

As Powless said: “It’s going to be difficult to win, but we have to try something.”

Ben Healy
Richard Carapaz
Neilson Powless
Harry Sweeny
Archie Ryan
Rui Costa
Alex Baudin