Pogacar wins third Liege-Bastogne-Liege title

Tadej Pogacar, the reigning world champion of Belgium, dominated his third Liege-Bastogne-Liege with a dominant display.

With 35km of the 252km course still to go, the Slovenian attacked on the Cote de la Redoute climb and expertly maintained his title, having also triumphed in 2021.

With a little over a minute to go, Giulio Ciccone of Italy edged out Ben Healy of Ireland to finish second.

Pogacar, 26, is the first rider to finish in the top five of men’s cycling’s five most prestigious one-day competitions in a row.

He won the Tour of Flanders and placed second overall at Paris-Roubaix after winning Liege and Il Lombardia last year. He placed third at Milan-San Remo this year, finished third, and placed third overall.

The three-time Tour de France champion also won five of the eight Monuments he has entered and finished second overall.

Pogacar won the overall title of ninth Monument. Only Eddy Merckx, who is regarded as the greatest cyclist of all time, and fellow Belgian great Roger de Vlaeminck, who won these prestigious races, have 19 victories.

Pogacar’s stunning spring classics campaign comes to an end with the rider from UAE Team Emirates-XRG winning both Strade Bianche and Fleche Wallonne and only a distant second in the Amstel Gold Race.

Pogacar and Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, who won back-to-back Liege titles in 2022 and 2023 before suffering multiple bone fractures in a serious crash on a training ride last year, squared off in a showdown.

However, the Belgian struggled, getting caught out of position by Pogacar’s attack, before being dropped by the crowd on the day’s final climb.

Instead, Pogacar mounted a well-known attack that no one could match.

Tom Pidcock, a British actor, attempted to retake him alongside Healy, but Pogacar gained 30 seconds within 5 kilometers and the gap kept growing.

Pidcock and Healy and Ciccone and Julian Alaphilippe were unable to organize, but they did eventually clear to compete for the two podium spots. The ninth place was Pidcock.

In reality, the focus was on Pogacar’s growing potential rivalry with Merckx’s reputation as the greatest.

Only Pogacar, the youngest rider, has won three or more editions of Liege, the oldest of the Monuments, while Merckx, who is the only other rider, has won five or more.

Mercx won 19 monuments, five Tours de France victories, five Giro d’Italia titles, one Vuelta a Espana, and three world road victories, among others.

Pogacar won three Tour victories, including nine monuments, one Giro, one Vuelta, one world title, and 17 stages.

Only Merckx (1974), Stephan Roche (1987), and Pogacar (1924) won the Giro, Tour, and world championship simultaneously, making it a triple crown.

Given that Pogacar and Merckx aim to compete in the Tour every year, it’s unlikely that he’ll win as many Giro titles as Merckx, but every other tally could be in his future.

Pogacar will be highlyfavored to win a 10th Monument after attempting to defend his Tour title in July at Il Lombardia in October.