Pogacar goes deep to deny Seixas in Liège: 'I was already preparing to do a sprint'

The world champion was caught on the wrong foot when Remco Evenepoel formed part of an early break of 50 riders, and that intense start set the tone for the fastest Liège-Bastogne-Liège in history, run off at an average speed of 44.4kph.

The pace scarcely abated when the Evenepoel group was eventually brought to heel, and Pogačar would set a new record time on the Côte de la Redoute when he launched the winning move with 35km to go.

Pogačar had soloed clear on the Redoute for the past two years, but he had company this time. Seixas, so impressive in winning Flèche Wallonne in midweek, was able to follow Pogačar’s onslaught, and the 19-year-old would stay with him all the way to the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons.

“On La Redoute, I was really going deep, and I could see that he’s a little bit on the elastic but then on the top he came next to me, and I was like, ok, really impressed,” said Pogačar. “He was pulling quite strong all the way, and we opened a big gap which was really good for us.”

Pogačar would eventually manage to shake off Seixas 500m from the top of the Roche-aux-Fauçons, and he would open a lead of 45 seconds over the final 14km to claim the spoils.

“Maybe back in my head, I was already preparing to do a sprint because he was so strong, but I tried on Roche-aux-Fauçons, I tried with my pace,” Pogačar said. “I know the climb super well. It suits me well and luckily, he was dropped. But I was prepared to go head-to-head in the sprint with him.”

The head-to-head with Evenepoel, on the other hand, never materialised, though the Belgian won the sprint for third place, 1:42 down on Pogačar. Evenepoel looked to have stolen an early march when he made the early split with several of his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammates, but the race came back together in the final 80km.

Evenepoel was quickly distanced when Pogačar went on the offensive on the Redoute, and he was racing for third place in the finale, while the world champion and Seixas jousted for victory.

“Today a lot happened,” Pogačar said. “At the beginning, I was in the back. I know it’s hard at the start, and I just followed the wheels. I look down and I see we go fast, and then I look up and I see the group had split.

“But then after 20 minutes we realised it’s not so bad to let them go. It was a big group so there’s never a good collaboration, but it’s still a bit of a scare, because Remco can go from far away from that group. 

“We kept it under control. Vegard [Stake Laengen] and Rune [Herregodts] did an amazing job and later Decathlon came to help. The rest of the team also did a super job. In the end it was all under control. You never let Remco go away but today was different. I’m happy we succeeded.”

The win was Pogačar’s fourth from five race days so far this season, after his triumphs at Strade Bianche, Milan-Sanremo and the Tour of Flanders. It means he has now won three Monuments for two seasons running, and his overall tally of Monument victories now stands at 13.

“It means a lot to win again one of the biggest races of the year of cycling,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of opportunities to win because I don’t race a lot, so it’s a lot of pressure for me to deliver on days like today. I’m really happy that we succeeded. I couldn’t be more proud of the team.”