Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) soared to his third career Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory with another peerless spring performance, going clear on the Côte de La Redoute and soloing the final 35km to take a ninth Monument win.
The world champion kicked off the attacking on the famous hill, moving to the front midway up the 1.6km slope and pushing on to build a 10-second lead at the top.
As chasing groups formed, attacked, and countered behind him, Pogačar pushed on alone to build his lead to over a minute. By the final climb of the Côte de Roche-aux-Faucons, it was enough time in hand for victory to be certain, and he could race into Liège without worries and with plenty of time to celebrate his win.
Further back, a chase group made up of Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) had formed on La Redoute, while the other pre-race favourite Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) showed that he has yet to hit top form after his long injury layoff.
Healy and Ciccone emerged as the strongest riders in the chase on the Roche-aux-Faucons, going clear on the 11% slopes and extending their advantage on the descent towards Liège.
The pair carried a 25-second lead into the final kilometres of the race, setting up a two-man battle to the finish for the two podium spots behind Pogačar.
Over one minute after the world champion rolled across the line to round off six hours of racing with his 95th career victory, Healy led Ciccone into the final 500 metres, with the Italian coming around before the line to nab second place.
Simone Velasco (XDS-Astana) led the larger third chase group home for fourth at 1:10 down, while Thibau Nys completed a good day for Lidl-Trek to take fifth place as the top home finisher.
“It feels great to finish the first part of the season like this. I’m just happy that the whole season so far went perfect,” Pogačar said after his win.
“It wasn’t the plan [to attack on La Redoute], but it was such a hard pace before that, I saw a number of teams didn’t have a lot of teammates anymore. I said, ‘OK, I’ll test my legs a little bit and see if I can get a gap on the top’, and then I’ll decide if I continue or not.
“Then I just committed because I had good legs – also on the second climb after La Redoute. I could go to the finish, so I’m super happy."
Liège-Bastogne-Liège podium: second-place Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and third place Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
The oldest Monument in cycling ran its 111th edition on Sunday, with the day featuring a 252km route spearing south from Liège towards Bastogne and then back up to Liège again.
4,300 metres of climbing lay ahead of the riders at the start as 11 major climbs filled the route, including the Côte de Saint-Roch, Côte de Stockeu, Côte de Haute-Levée, Côte de La Redoute, and the final test of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons.
The battle for the day’s breakaway began almost as soon as the flag dropped to start the race, with a 46kph average speed over the first half hour signalling the riders’ intent. The break of the day was set within the first 30km as 12 men made it up the road well before the race’s first climb.
Wagner Bazin WB placed three men in the move in the shape of Ceriel Desal, Johan Meens and Henri-François Renard-Haquin, while TotalEnergies had Rayan Boulahoite and Valentin Retailleau out front.
The quintet were joined by Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Stan Van Tricht (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Kamiel Bonneu (Intermarché-Wanty), Eduardo Sepúlveda), Hannes Wilksch (Tudor), Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), and Sakarias Koller Løland (Uno-X Mobility).
Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) and Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-B&B Hotels) lead the breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images)
Behind them, Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Gil Gelders (Soudal-QuickStep) took control of the peloton on behalf of race favourites Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel, leaving the break to race five-and-a-half minutes up the road.
Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), a rider who may have had high hopes for a top position after finishing fourth last year, didn’t make it as far as the Saint-Roch. The Belgian sadly abandoned an hour into the race, still feeling the after-effects of a crash at Amstel Gold Race.
There were few other events of note during the run down towards Bastogne as the break pushed on over the Côte de Saint-Roch (1km at 11.2%) and towards the Col de Haussire (3.9km at 6.8%) with a five-minute lead.
Heading back to Liège
At the halfway mark, just after the Haussire, the break remained fully intact at 5:30 up on the peloton, while back in the main group the Ineos Grenadiers pairing of Tobias Foss and 2018 winner Bob Jungels mounted a two-man counter-attack.
The duo quickly built a minute’s advantage over the peloton, which provoked an upping of the pace from behind to bring the gap to the original break under three minutes.
Coming at 93km to go, the next climb of the Côte de Mont-le-Soie (1.9km at 7.7%) would begin the series of climbs making up the race finale, with the next 20km bringing the trio of the Côte de Wanne (3.6km at 5.1%), Côte de Stockeu (1.1km at 11.9%), and the Côte de Haute-Levée (2.2km at 7.7%).
Florian Vermeersch and Pavel Sivakov took over the pacemaking for UAE on the Mont-le-Soie, bringing the gap to the leaders under two minutes as the two Ineos men battled on at just 30 seconds up the road.
Domen Novak joined the fray on the Wanne, helping close to within sight of Jungels and Foss. The catch was duly made with 82km to run, between the Wanne and Stockeu.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG' Domen Novak sets the pace at the front of the peloton (Image credit: Getty Images)
Boulahoite led the race past the Eddy Merckx monument midway up the steep slopes of the Stockeu, the Frenchman bringing Haig, Le Berre, Sepúlveda, and Løland with him as the breakaway broke apart.
A minute later, Novak, Sivakov, and Brandon McNulty pulled the peloton up, though no big moves were forthcoming with five climbs and 78km still to run. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) tried a brief move on the Haute-Levée, though UAE swiftly regained control as the gap to the leaders ebbed under 40 seconds.
The break survived much of the Col du Rosier (4.5km at 5.9%), but didn’t make it to the top before getting caught, meaning the peloton was all together heading into the final 60km. UAE, with Novak at the helm, continued to lead through the town of Spa and up the Côte de Desnié (1.7km at 7.8%).
La Redoute and the finale
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) powers away on La Redoute (Image credit: Getty Images)
Unsurprisingly, it was the famous climb of the Côte de La Redoute (1.6km at 9.5%) which brought the big move of the day. There, midway up the hill and with 35km to go, Pogačar floated to the front and rode off the front with ease and without getting out of the saddle.
Behind him, fellow double Liège winner Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) led the charge to the top, with Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) coming across to make a four-man chase group.
A 10-second deficit at the top of La Redoute grew to over 30 in the following kilometres, while Evenepoel led the next group on the road, a minute down.
On the penultimate climb of the Côte des Forges (1.3km at 7.7%) with 34km to go, Pogačar had a minute in hand over the chasing quartet. 15 seconds further back, attacks flew – including from Evenepoel and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), though there was little cohesion in group three.
Pogačar hit the final climb of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (1.4km at 11.4%) with victory in the bag, 1:20 up on the lead chase group. The larger group were closing in on Alaphilippe, Pidcock, Healy, and Ciccone, however, moving to within 10 seconds of the quartet.
Healy and Ciccone went clear on the way up as Alaphilippe and Pidcock dropped back into the larger chase group. Evenepoel, meanwhile, dropped off the rear of the group and looked to stop at the roadside partway up the climb.
Despite the best efforts of Jayco-AlUla – riding for Michael Matthews – and Israel-Premier Tech in the chase 25 seconds behind Healy and Ciccone, the pair would stay away into Liège to contest the final podium places among themselves.
There were no cat-and-mouse games on the final run to the line, with Ciccone and Healy determined – and successful – in their mission to stay away to capture second and third.
Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) edges out Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) for second place (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. She has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel, and her favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
