As expected, he won. Tadej Pogacar even outperformed his competitors in Liège-Bastogne-Liège this Sunday. The 25-year-old Slovenian won this latest Spring Monument for the second time, after 2021, and further expanded an already impressive track record. He also erased the bad memory of last year, when he fell in the Doyenne, with a double wrist fracture as a result. He also missed the 2022 edition after the death of his mother-in-law.
Pogacar won with a 1′ 39” lead over Romain Bardet. Third in 2018, the 33-year-old Frenchman is once again on the podium. Main rival of “Pogi”, and despite a sometimes complicated day, Mathieu van der Poel settled the sprint for third place.
The absence of Remco Evenepoel, winner of the last two editions, due to the Belgian’s heavy fall in the Tour of the Basque Country, necessarily made the Slovenian’s task easier. But the leader of the UAE Emirates team has fully assumed his status.
A start 34 km from the finish
Unlike his first success in the race, three years ago, when he dominated Julian Alaphilippe and David Gaudu in the sprint, Pogacar cleaned up well before. He flew into the Côte de la Redoute, 34 km from the finish.
Mathieu van der Poel was unable to follow him, while Richard Carapaz, the last holdout, only kept the pace for a few hectometers.
The Slovenian champion took the date before attempting an improbable Tour of Italy – Tour de France double. It will be the first time in his career that he will race the Giro, the start of which is set for May 4.