Tadej Pogacar winner, in his own way, of Liège-Bastogne-Liège

By dropping all his opponents from his first attack, in the Redoute coast, 34 kilometers from the finish, Tadej Podacar won, Sunday, April 27, in Belgium, 111^e Men’s edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, test created in 1892 and nicknamed “La Doyenne des Classiques”.

The race is also one of the “monuments” of cycling, the club of five races for a most prestigious day, which are also Milan-San Remo, the Tour des Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de Lombardie. This new victory allows the Slovenian to now have nine career successes during these prestigious events. It is also the third victory of Pogacar during Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Slovenian completed the 252 -kilometer course without immense emotion, with 1 min 3 s ahead of the Italian Giulio Ciccone (2^e) and the Irishman Ben Healy (3^e). “It’s great to end the first part of the season in this waysaid Pogacar at the microphone of the organizers. I am very happy, everything went very well. »»

With his rainbow jersey of world champion on his shoulders, the leader of the UAE Emirates team has established himself with disconcerting ease and by applying a proof strategy. Pogacar first asked his teammates to maintain the peloton at a respectable distance from the morning escape, made up of twelve men, including the French Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B & B Hotels), Rayan Boulahoite and Valentin Retailleau (Total Energies). Once these fugitives have been caught up in, the Slovenian’s henchmen still hardened the race to allow their boss to be beautiful in the redoubt (1.6 kilometer at 9.5 %), as soon as his opponents were sufficiently blinked.

Ben Healy and Giulio Ciccone the most valiant

“I did not necessarily plan to attack at this place of the race, but when I saw that the leaders of the other training courses had no more team members around them, I wanted to test my legs”detailed the triple winner of the Tour de France (2020, 2021, 2024).

Presented as one of the only runners to be able to thwart Pogacar’s plans, the Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Sudal-Quick-Step) did not even have an illusion. From the first acceleration of the Slovenian, which was not even one of the violent attacks he knows how to place, Evenepoel gave up, outdated, unable to hold the light and rapid pedal of the Slovenian. The Olympic road champion during the Paris Olympics finally ranked 59^e place, 3 min 11 s from the winner.

Once alone in mind, Pogacar accentuated his advance on his pursuers with regularity, taking advantage of each coast to grab a few more seconds. Among the “normal” runners who fought for second place, the Italian Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and the Irishman Ben Healy (EF Education) were the most valiant. The British Tom Pidcok (Q 36.5) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) believed, for a time, being able to fight for the podium had to be taken up by the group of the beaten of the day. The Frenchman finished in 58^e Position, crossing the line more than three minutes after Pocacar. The first tricolor is Axel Laurence, 8^e 1 min 10 s.

The surprise Kim runs

Among women, Kim Court created the surprise by taking the best in the sprint on two of the favorites, the Dutch Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), second, and a half vollering (FDJ-Suez), third. However, the Mauritian seemed out of the time when a small group of four came off about fifteen kilometers from the finish. But, when the world champion Lotte Kopecky (SD World-Protime) released taken in a last difficulty, Kim the Court is, she managed to come back to the head women and no longer let the right wagon spin.

Cédrine Kerbaol saw herself playing the role of the locomotive. The Frenchwoman of the EF Education-Oatly team multiplied the attacks, taken a first escape before leaving with the favorites when the race decanted at the end of the stage. She even picked up the lonely escape powder about ten kilometers from the finish, but was too fair to stand up to her three rivals. It was finally the least fast during the final sprint and finished in fourth place.