Tadej Pogacar won the 112th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in solo. The young Frenchman Paul Seixas, who held the wheel of the Slovenian rider for a long time, finished in second place.
It was a big test. After winning the Tour of the Basque Country and the Flèche Wallonne, Paul Seixas defeated the world’s best riders on the Belgian roads. Facing him were the world champion, Tadej Pogacar, a three-time winner of the classic, and the local favorite Remco Evenepoel, who won in 2022 and 2023.
The start of the 112th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège was animated by a long breakaway. A group of about fifty riders was at the front, including one of the top favorites, the Belgian Remco Evenepoel. Was it a tactical move? A bluff? For almost two hours, Tadej Pogacar’s teammates worked to reduce the gap before the first major difficulties of the course. Once the breakaway was caught, the UAE team’s powerhouse could set up with Pavel Sivakov and Benoît Cosnefroy, two high-level French riders who sacrifice themselves every weekend for their Slovenian leader.
Fatal rock at the falcons
The Redoute was, as usual, the first judge of character. Tadej Pogacar built his three first successes there, accelerating 900 meters from the summit when the gradients exceed 10%. Remco Evenepoel was the first to give in, followed by all the other favorites… all? No. An indomitable 19-year-old Frenchman managed to keep up with the greatest rider of modern times. He stood up, mouth open but managed to stay on his rival’s wheel, even crossing the summit in his rival’s gear. The rest of the peloton quickly resigned, realizing that the victory would be between these two champions.
From the foot of the climb to the roche aux faucons, 1.3 kilometers at an average 10.1% gradient, Tadej Pogacar launched a violent acceleration. Paul Seixas, with courage, held on under the strong cheers of the public, but the Slovenian flew away five hundred meters from the top. He was not seen again. “At the top of La Redoute, he was with me, I was very impressed,” explained Tadej Pogacar at the finish. Frustrating but so promising.
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