Pogacar sensed something was wrong with Evenepoel and Soudal Quick-Step before La Redoute: "Suddenly, they all disappeared"

Pogacar ends his spring in the best possible way: he wins his second Monument of the season after the Tour of Flanders. "It feels great to finish the first part of the season like this," he said in the flash interview. "Just happy that the whole season went perfectly so far; I couldn't be happier." Pogacar is the first rider since Eddy Merckx to win the Tour of Flanders and La Doyenne in the same year. The last time he didn't finish on the podium of a Monument was in 2023 when he dropped out in Liège.

It was no surprise that there was an attack on the Côte de la Redoute: everyone saw it coming except Pogacar. "It wasn't the plan, but the pace was so hard that I saw that a number of teams didn't have many riders left," he explains. "I wanted to test my legs a bit and see if I get a gap on the top. Then, I would decide whether to continue or not. Then I just kept committed, my legs felt good. I was able to push on to the finish, which I'm very happy about." The Slovenian ultimately finished more than a minute ahead of Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) in second place.

Evenepoel finished only 59th, more than 3 minutes behind the winner. Pogacar noticed the Belgian and his team were messing around along the way. "First, they were controlling the bunch, and then, at one point, they disappeared from the front. I did not know why; maybe they wanted to save their legs for La Redoute. You can save a lot in the bunch, but on La Redoute he was not close on my wheel. That was extra motivation to go for it."

After Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Pogacar will take a break before preparing for the Tour de France. He will normally be back in action in the Critérium du Dauphiné. "I'm happy that I can go home," sighs the Slovenian, who crossed the finish line in Liège pointing upwards: it was a tribute to his late mother-in-law. He rode with a message on his jersey, especially for the mother of Urska Zigart.