Tadej Pogañar is chasing history at Il Lombardy and aims to win the last Monument classic of the 2023 season for 3 consecutive years.

Liege - Bastogne - Liege After a complex wrist fracture in Liege and a gruelling Tour de France with a second defeat to Jonas Vingegor, Poganyal showed he was back to his best, finishing the season high and making the UAE team Emirates ranked number one in the UCI team rankings. He wants to help secure the spot in Bar One.

"Il Lombardy always motivates me. It has a special place in my mind," Pogañar told Cyclingnews and La Gazzetta dello Sport in an exclusive interview on the eve of the race.

He seemed relaxed as usual, but was ready for the last hard day in the saddle.

"There are other big races, but Il Lombardy is special. It's a monument too, it's long and super hard, you really have to be the best to win," he explained. "It's going to be hard to win 3 consecutive times, but that's something special.

"I want to finish the season best with a win at Il Lombardia.

Many riders won the back-to-back version of Il Lombardy, but only Alfredo Vinda won between 1925 and 1927 3 times, and Faust Koppi won between 1946 and 1949 4 times. Classic hat-tricks are much more difficult in modern times, and Moreno Argentina is the last to win three editions of Liège-Bastogne-Liège between 1985 and 1987.

Poganyal won in Bergamo in 2021 and in Como in 2022.

The famous Madonna del Gisaro Climb, with a cyclist's chapel and shrine at the top, is the first of seven major climbs during this year's 238km race.

The 2nd Passodiganda from the end will surely be a decisive climb, as will 2021. Poganyal attacked alone with a climb of 9.2 km, 7.1%. He joined the local Faust Masnada in Bergamo, but finally beat him to the line in the sprint after riding the screaming Tifosi at the Colle Appelt, which climbs to the Bergamo Alto. This year, the fans of the French rider will give him a lively farewell, so Correa Pelt will also host the Kurba Pinot.

"My first memories of winning Il Lombardia came back well when I got on the reconnaissance," Pogañar explained.

"I can remember when I won for the first time in Bergamo and crossed the finish line, I was overjoyed, it was earthly to win it

"Nibali attacked with a Ganda Climb and went solo because there was no one else on my wheels after I lasted. It was a great opportunity to go, then Masnada came out. It was a pretty cool win.

Poganyal knows how to win on the road from Como to Bergamo, but remains cautious.

"The Bergamo Route is a classic race, long and the last 2 climbs are also long. We need 250km for our feet and head," he warned.

Pogagnard has only raced 8 times since the World Championships in early May 4, but many of his rivals have recently completed and impressed with the Tour de France, including Soudal・QuickStep and Primo Logric, who is riding the final race of the Jumbo Bismuth.

Still, even though Logric has kept him away to win the Giro delle Miglia in a tough San Luca climb overlooking Bologna last Saturday

"After the Tour de France, I rested well. I needed it," Poganyal said.

"As I said in the race, I was even more so after I did the World Championships as well. I needed a break to recover. It seems perfect for me because I took things slowly but regained my motivation and freshness. I'm not doing the Vuelta, but I don't think I can be much stronger now.

The final Il Lombardia start list is packed with talented riders who can handle hard climbs and aggressive races. Pogañar wears Dossard number one and Roglić is probably his biggest threat, followed by Evenepoel, Enric Mas (Movistar), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Ben O'Connor (AG2R-Citroën), Carlos Rodriguez and Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) and Simon Yates (Jayco-Alula). Pogañar is supported by Adam Yates, Rafael Majka, Davide Formolo and Marc Hirschi.

Pogağar seems to be most concerned about Roglić.

"Primocch can also go from a long way, but he has won many races in the past few hundred meters. He is a big threat," Poganyal says of his fellow Slovenians.

"He's probably a more conservative race, Remco and I ride more on instinct, but in Il Lombardia, he can also attack at 80km.

"He's obviously in great shape, but I think he's in a little better shape or almost the same. I feel good on the bike and I have good legs. Il Lombardia should suit me because it's longer and stiffer than other races like Emilia or Tre Valli Vresine.

"It's hard to make a difference on the Bergamo course, so you have to open the race early and then see what happens on the last climb to Bergamo, and at the finish you have to see who is the one with the legs left.

"Let's see who's there on Saturday."