Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel are set to face off for the first time this season Saturday as cycling's pre-eminent one-day riders vie for glory at the 298km long Milan-San Remo.
The first "Monument" race of the year homes into view with both world champion Pogacar and last year's winner Van der Poel already showing hot form in Italy.
Pogacar claimed his fourth victory, and third in as many years, at Strade Bianche earlier this month, while Van der Poel won two stages in the Tirreno-Adriatico last week.
The 27-year-old sat out both Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico in preparation for Milan-San Remo, a rare race in which he can't just blow away the competition with long-range attacks.
Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix are the two Monuments still missing from Pogacar's stellar list of career achievements which includes winning the Tour De France and the world championship the last two years.
"It's no secret that Milan-San Remo is a race I would love to win," said Pogacar after his UAE team named the seven-man line up for Saturday.
"I think it suits me well but also suits a lot of the other top guys. I see that as a good challenge."
And Pogacar is in the mood, recently clocking a time on Strava of eight minutes and 51 seconds up the Cipressa climb, six seconds faster than his own official record for the key ascent.
The Cipressa is the penultimate climb 22 kilometres from the finish, which will come after hours of largely flat riding from Pavia and just before the final push up Poggio di San Remo.
'Matter of time'
Pogacar is almost certain to attack on the Cipressa as he did last year when he tried to shake off Van der Poel and home hope Filippo Ganna, only to finish third behind both in the final charge for the line on Via Roma.
"You need to be there for the Cipressa. Not at 100 percent but at 110 percent. It's all about positioning. Then you need to do it all again for a second time on the Poggio and be even better," Pogacar said.
"The climbs are super fast. We go up the climbs at like 40kph... One important thing for Milan-San Remo is that it's not just about going uphill on the Poggio, there's the descent too. After it there's not far to go to the finish line.
"It's a really particular race. In a way it's a really beautiful race, very interesting to race."
Van der Poel is probably the man to beat.
"I feel good and have had good preparation. I am satisfied with my legs and the feeling this week; that is all I needed," Van der Poel told Sporza on Saturday.
The Flying Dutchman, an eight-time Monument winner and cross-discipline world champion, is convinced that Pogacar will eventually crack the race which hasn't been decided by a bunch sprint since Arnaud Demare's victory in 2016.
"Last year he was already very close. If I'm one percent off, Tadej will be gone on the Cipressa," added Van der Poel.
"It's only a matter of time before he wins it."
