After an intense season, with a second-place finish at the Tour de France, gold at the World Time Trial Championship and the continental road title, Remco Evenepoel arrives at the Giro di Lombardia with great motivation and a strong desire to win. At 26 years old, the Belgian wants to claim his first victory in the last Classic Monument of the year, aware that the opportunity could be particularly difficult and perhaps unique.

"When Pogacar is on the start line, Lombardia is probably the most difficult Monument to win," Evenepoel explained during the press conference in Orio al Serio, on the eve of the race.

The press conference began with team manager Ralf Denk congratulating Evenepoel on his recent European title, and shortly after, the Belgian spoke about his condition and ambitions for the end of the season.

"I feel good. When you win, it's always a bit easier to face training. Morale is higher," he explained. The European success, which came after some doubts following the World Championships, has restored his confidence: "I thought I wouldn't be able to find ideal form so late in the season. Then the training in Slovenia went very well and I realized that the World Championship performance was just a snapshot of that moment."

The Belgian carefully analyzed the new Lombardia route, which he partially tested on Thursday. In particular, Evenepoel will face the Civiglio for the first time in the final of the race. "It will be a particular race, almost composed of two races one after the other. At the beginning there will be long climbs, then two valley sections and finally a finale with shorter and steeper ascents. It's a very explosive course and I believe it suits my characteristics well."

The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe champion has already finished Lombardia twice in second place, always behind Tadej Pogacar. A fact that fuels his confidence, along with three victories obtained in the last month, although Evenepoel hasn't forgotten the difficult day he experienced at the World Championships.

Among other candidates for victory, he mentioned Isaac Del Toro, Paul Seixas, Tom Pidcock, Matteo Jorgenson and Jarno Widar. When asked who deserved first place in the betting odds, he answered with irony: "If you can assign it to just one person, give it to me."

Evenepoel also confirmed that he wants to dedicate greater attention to the Monument Classics in the coming seasons. In his palmares so far, there is only one victory in one of the five great classics: the Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which he won twice. "After the Tour of Flanders it was already quite clear that I want to focus more on the true Classics in the coming years."

Between winning all five Monuments and conquering the three Grand Tours, the Belgian had no doubts: "I would choose the Grand Tours. Winning a Grand Tour, or even finishing second like at the Tour, gives a completely different feeling."

The most difficult race to win? Initially Evenepoel pointed to Lombardia itself, especially when Pogacar is on the start line. Then he added Paris-Roubaix, due to the presence of specialists like Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Mads Pedersen.

At Lombardia, Evenepoel will have to do without Maxim Van Gils, who is competing at the Tour of Guangxi. The Belgian emphasized how important his teammate has been during the season and judged his opportunity to race for a personal result as well-deserved. In the team there will instead be Primoz Roglic, with whom Evenepoel will share a race for the first time, and probably for the last. "When I turned professional, he was at the peak of his career. He was my idol. It's an honor to race alongside him," he said.

Looking back at his first season with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, Evenepoel highlighted above all the progress in the Grand Tours. His second-place finish at the Tour, despite the gap to Pogacar, has confirmed to him that he can still aim for final victory. "The gap was significant, but not insurmountable. I can continue to dream," he declared.

With thirteen victories already achieved, many of them in the WorldTour or at championships, the Belgian considers this current season one of the best of his career. A victory at the Giro di Lombardia could make it, definitively, the best of all time.