Much-anticipated battle between Evenepoel and Pogacar falls short: World Champion wins Liège–Bastogne–Liège after dominant solo

It was the story of the day and the whole week: the duel between Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel. The two opponents were evenly matched in the Amstel Gold Race, although the world champion was the better rider in the Flèche Wallonne. But Liège-Bastogne-Liège is a different race that suits the Olympic champion perfectly. And so, every cycling fan eagerly anticipated the possibilities in La Doyenne.

It was a beautiful spring day in Wallonia, the perfect setting for the last Monument of the spring. From Liège, it was straight into battle, as there were numerous breakaways in the early stages of the day. Several attempts failed, but in the end, twelve men managed to make the difference. Belgian Stan Van Tricht (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was joined by his compatriots Kamiel Bonneu (Intermarché-Wanty), Ceriel Desal, and Johan Meens (Wagner Bazin WB).

The group also included Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Sakarias Koller Løland (Uno-X Mobility), Eduardo Sepúlveda (Lotto), Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Wagner Bazin WB), Hannes Wilksch (Tudor), Matthis Le Berre (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Rayan Boulahoite, and Valentin Retailleau (TotalEnergies). They gained more than five minutes on the peloton, but once they arrived in Bastogne (after about 100 kilometers of racing), Soudal Quick-Step and UAE Team Emirates - XRG increased the pace in the peloton.

The riders rode towards the final hill section, which began around 100 kilometers from the finish. But before they reached that part of the race, INEOS Grenadiers launched a real two-man time trial. Tobias Foss and Bob Jungels chased after the leaders together. They got close, but the riders behind them were also going fast. Especially when Domen Novak started to push hard. Pogacar's teammate and compatriot significantly increased the pace and caught up with the two riders on his own. Moments later, it was all over for the leaders: on the Stockeu, the gap was only 45 seconds, and shortly after, on the Col de Rosier, the last remaining breakaway riders were also caught.

All eyes were on La Redoute. Everyone knew beforehand that this was where it would happen, so it remained (relatively) quiet in the run-up to the nasty test of strength. Warren Barguil crashed, but fortunately, the Frenchman from Picnic PostNL did not take anyone with him. The last kilometers before Remouchamps were nervous, and remarkably, Evenepoel was not well positioned. At the foot of La Redoute, he was not at the front, which was a very bad moment.

Almost from the first uphill sections, Pogacar took off. With another acceleration, the world champion took off without standing on the pedals, as in the Flèche Wallonne: no one could follow him. He came over the top alone, but Tom Pidcock had launched a counterattack behind him. The Brit took Ben Healy with him, but it was no equal battle. Even though the pair were later joined by Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), Pogacar gradually increased his lead. With 20 kilometers to go, he already had more than a minute on his closest opponents.

Behind the four, Evenepoel had already moved further forward: a large group had formed, and the Soudal Quick-Step rider showed his strength. But he was not in the correct position because his big rival was already gone. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get away from his fellow riders. The group grew, and a peloton formed, closing in on the first chasing riders. On the Roche-Aux-Faucons, the last real climb, Ciccone broke away from his fellow breakaway riders; only Healy could follow.

Evenepoel's group was not far behind, although it could no longer be called Evenepoel's group. The Olympic champion was simply not in good shape and fell behind at the foot of the final climb. There, the peloton exploded again, and the battle for the podium places was still in full swing. Pogacar was well ahead, with the chasing duo trailing by a minute and a half with 10 kilometers to go. They had to keep working together because a group of about 30 riders was chasing them.

But Pogacar had a comfortable lead. He had once again shown who the best cyclist in the world is and crowned a fantastic spring with a third victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Behind him, Ciccone and Healy stayed out of reach of the chasing peloton: as expected, the Italian was too strong for the small Irishman.