Triumph in Liège: Pogacar's saddest victory

Tom Bachmann, dpa

At the end of the breathless Ardennes chase, Tadej Pogacar sought a moment of silence and repeatedly pointed to the sky. The cycling superstar dedicated his fourth victory in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège classic to his former team-mate Cristian Camilo Munoz, who died unexpectedly a few days ago.

"Winning one of the biggest races in cycling again means a lot to me. I don't ride many races, so I don't have many opportunities to win. That's why the pressure is always high," said Pogacar.

On the 259.9 tough kilometres, Pogacar had previously faced a lot of resistance from France's super talent Paul Seixas, as expected. The 19-year-old, who had won the Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday, only had to break away around twelve kilometres before the finish, paving the way for the world champion's third consecutive victory.

"In my head, I was already preparing for a sprint because he was so strong. Fortunately, that wasn't necessary," said Pogacar. The 27-year-old is now one win away from equalling the record, Belgium's icon Eddy Merckx has five victories to his name.

Decision on the last climb

As with his two previous successes in Liège, Pogacar sought the decision on the Cote de la Redoute. With his attack in the steepest section of the 1.6 kilometre long climb, the four-time Tour winner shook off the entire field - except for Seixas. The teenager visibly had to push himself to the limit, but remained on the rear wheel of his eight-year-old rival.

On the Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons, the last climb before the finish, Pogacar attacked again brutally - and after the halfway point, Seixas was over his limit. The young Frenchman had to let go and was already 20 seconds behind at the end of the climb. Seixas will have to postpone his bid to become the first French winner in Liège since Bernard Hinault in 1980 until at least next year.

Pogacar's grief

Pogacar, who had won the last two editions in Liège as a soloist, took part in the race wearing a mourning flag. This was in memory of the Colombian Munoz, who died a few days ago. Munoz was Pogacar's team-mate at Team UAE from 2019 to 2021. The 30-year-old crashed at the Tour du Jura and was treated in hospital for a knee injury.

According to the team, he was later diagnosed with an infection that was difficult to control - despite medical care, his condition worsened and complications arose from which he eventually died.

This is the second time that Pogacar has experienced a stroke of fate at the classic event known as La Doyenne. In 2022, he was the defending champion and had to withdraw at short notice due to the unexpected death of his fiancée Urska Zigart's mother.

Evenepoel first in front, then a distant third

On the toughest of the spring classics with 4,400 metres of climbing and eleven hard climbs, Remco Evenepoel, who was also the favourite, had to let go early on. The Belgian was unable to follow Pogacar's attack on the Cote de la Redoute, which has an average gradient of ten per cent, around 35 kilometres before the finish and ended up in third place.

Evenepoel had previously been part of a leading group that had formed shortly after the start. Some of the 52 riders had a four-minute lead over Pogacar and Co. but were caught again 94 kilometres before the finish. It was unclear how the leading group had formed.

Allegedly, the crack in the peoloton was caused by two riders crashing. However, an unwritten law of cycling states that you do not attack in such situations. The action could therefore lead to discussions afterwards.

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