Remco Evenepoel will try to beat Tadej Pogačar at Il Lombardia during a final, emotional day of racing with Soudal-QuickStep.
He turned professional with the Belgian team directly from the junior ranks in 2019, becoming one of the first so-called super talents of the new generation.
He is still only 25 but has already won three time trial world titles, the road race world title in 2022, Olympic gold in the time trial and road race, the 2022 Vuelta a España, Tour de France stages and finished on the podium. He has a total of 67 victories.
Evenepoel has been Tadej Pogačar's biggest rival in recent weeks at the Road World Championships in Rwanda and then the Road European Championships in France.
The Slovenian dominated both races, but Evenepoel still believes in himself and his chances of beating Pogačar.
"Can I beat Tadej? Why not? Otherwise I wouldn't be here," he said, rebuking any doubt in the question.
"A victory would be amazing. As always, I'm going to do my best and hope for the best.
"We all know the Lombardia parcours. We all know that Tadej won in Bergamo twice. It's a very hard race, but there's also quite a long, flat part in the final. There are a lot of things that can be played for.
"It's going to be important to not lose too much energy in the beginning of the race and make sure I can start the second last climb, the Passo di Ganda in a good position. Then it's going to be 20 minutes over the limit to follow.
"After that, we will see how it goes, but I think it's a final where you should never give up. There are still a lot of things possible in the last 20km.
"It's no secret that the UAE team is flying again in the last few races. They may even be aiming to finish with three on the podium, so it's going to be difficult, but I think that's why we are here to try to go for it."
Pogačar has been described as the Eddy Merckx of his generation, but Evenpoel does not seem to suffer from Pogačar's dominance. It is more of a motivation to try to reach the same level of greatness.
"I think the only difference is that Merckx also won his time trials…" Evenepoel joked, showing his natural rivalry and highlighting his personal success against Pogačar in time trials.
"That, of course, is not a criticism of Tadej, because what he does in the road races is always very special. It's like he attacks whenever he wants, whenever he feels like, and then he just does his thing.
"The way I see it is more of a goal, to work towards that level. I try to take motivation out of it. I never get demoralised when he wins the race and I'm second behind him.
"I also see that my level is getting better, but still, he's quite some levels above me. He's the best rider of the last decade, and that's something for me to aim for."
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