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Independent Singapore
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Independent Singapore
Tadej Pogacar wins the Liège race for the third time in an impressive solo finish
BELGIUM: Tadej Pogacar, a cyclist for UAE Team Emirates, impressively won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race for the third time. The 26-year-old Slovenian athlete and world champion made a strong solo move 34 km from the finish. He finished a minute ahead of Italy's Giulio Ciccone and Ireland's Ben Healy. His main competitor, Belgian Remco Evenepoel, who won the past two years, was far behind and finished over three minutes later. Pogacar has already built a legendary career, but his third win in the event, after triumphs in 2021 and 2024, strongly establishes his legacy in the sport. Furthermore, he became the second rider ever, after Eddy Merckx, to win both the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the same year. With this feat, the athlete said: ' 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.' Highlights of the race Pogacar moved on to the challenging Cote de la Redoute climb, pulling away from his competitors. He completed the 252-km race in six hours and nine seconds, securing his dominant win. He admitted: '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 any more… 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.' In a social media post, the athlete shared: 'Legs did the talking, but it took a village to get here… Liège–Bastogne–Liège—what a way to end the spring. Thank you, team, thank you everyone… Grateful for every moment, every person behind me.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tadej Pogačar (@tadejpogacar) Netizens commented on the post and said: 'Once again, you performed an amazing race as the best team and rewarded them, Tadej, with an amazing victory.🏆👑🤍🌈 Thank you for a great racing experience🤍,' 'What a classic season thank you Tadej your a big champion,' 'What a performance, you did incredible ❤️🔥,' and 'You are POGIGOAT 🐐🐐🐐💪, the strongest cyclist of the XXIst century !!!! ❤️❤️🔥🔥.' Pogacar's athletic performance The athlete now has nine monument wins, placing him in third place on the all-time list with Roger De Vlaeminck, behind Eddy Merckx with 19. At 26, he also became the first rider to finish on the podium in six consecutive monument races. Suppose Pogacar finishes on the podium once again at the Giro di Lombardia this coming October . In that case, he will make history by being the first rider to podium in all five major classics in the same year. Now, he will take a break for over a month before returning to compete at the Criterium du Dauphine in June, preparing for his next big goal: his fourth win at the Tour de France in July.
RTHK
27-04-2025
- Sport
- RTHK
Pogacar wins third Liege-Bastogne-Liege title
Pogacar wins third Liege-Bastogne-Liege title Pogacar is only the second rider after Eddy Merckx to win the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the same year. (AFP) Slovenian cycling superstar Tadej Pogacar produced a stunning turn of pace to solo his way to his third Liege-Bastogne-Liege to close the spring classics season. The 26-year-old road race world champion, who took off as expected on the Cote de la Redoute with 34km to go, finished a minute ahead of Italy's Giulio Ciccone and Ireland's Ben Healy. His main rival, Belgian Remco Evenepoel, the winner in 2022 and 2023, was never in the hunt and finished more than three minutes behind the winner. Pogacar has already done enough in his cycling career to be considered a legend but his third win, after 2021 and 2024, only underlines his remarkable record. Sunday's win means the UAE leader becomes only the second rider after Eddy Merckx, still considered to be the greatest of all time, to win the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the same year. The reigning world champion, who wrote a note in felt-tip pen on his race number in memory of the mother of his partner who died three years ago, is the first rider to finish on the podium of six consecutive Monuments. "It's great to finish the first part of the season in such a way," said the three-time Tour de France winner. "It's been a perfect season so far and I'm very happy." It was no great surprise to see Pogacar take off on the Cote de la Redoute with 34km to go, accelerating very early on the climb, but it was to find that no one was able to follow him, including Evenepoel who hung around in 30th position. "His team controlled the race but all of a sudden all the Quick-Steps had disappeared," said a bemused Pogacar. "I thought they were saving themselves for the Redoute but when I looked around I saw that he (Evenepoel) wasn't there. That also encouraged me to speed up." The UAE leader pulled away with disconcerting ease, without giving the impression of forcing himself at all. "I decided to test my legs a bit and see at the top if the gap was big enough to continue alone," he said. "I was feeling good so I decided to go for it." With Pogacar gone, the focus of the race quickly shifted to the battle for second place. A group of four chasers first emerged with Tom Pidcock, Healy, Ciccone and Julian Alaphilippe. Pidcock and Alaphilippe dropped off and in the end, Ciccone beat Healy in the sprint, narrowly holding off the return of a big peloton of around 40 riders. Pogacar now has nine Monument wins -- the five biggest classics on the calendar -- to his name, joining Fausto Coppi, Sean Kelly and Costante Girardengo in third place on the all-time list. Merckx holds the record with 19 Monuments, including five Liege-Bastogne-Liege wins. Pogacar's victory in Liege rounded off an intense classics campaign in which the Slovenian shone on all fronts. His earlier wins in the Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and Fleche Wallonne gives him four victories and he also had three other podiums, including Paris-Roubaix, in his seven races. He will now take a break of over a month before returning to racing at the Criterium du Dauphine in June to prepare for his next major objective – the Tour de France in July where he will be aiming for a fourth victory. *(AFP)
