Regardless of not having raced in any of the Ardennes Classics previous to Liège-Bastogne-Liège this season, Tadej Pogačar was the pre-race favorite to take the victory at La Doyenne and he definitely lived as much as the billing, as he went solo on the Côte de la Redoute with round 35km to go and held off the chase behind to take the victory.
The riders had been confronted with chilly and moist situations within the early a part of the race, because the solar solely emerged within the latter phases. In his post-race interview, Pogačar stated that “it was a depressing day from the beginning, however we stored pushing exhausting with the staff. We set a superb tempo, so we stored just a little bit extra heat”.
Pogačar additionally talked about what the win meant to him, as he withdrew from the race two years in the past as a result of passing of his accomplice Urška Žigart’s mom and deserted the final yr’s version after fracturing his wrist in an early crash.
He additionally pointed to the sky as he crossed the end line, stating afterwards that “all day was fairly emotional for me, considering of Urška’s mom and two years in the past once we needed to go dwelling. Final yr, I broke my hand, so the final two years had been actually tough. I used to be driving for Urška’s mom at present and I’m actually comfortable that I can win this race once more”.
UAE Crew Emirates managed the race for many of the day to arrange Pogačar’s inevitable assault. Ever-humble in victory, the Slovenian thanked his staff after the race, as he stated “due to all of the staff that labored for me at present, that was superb teamwork and I couldn’t have accomplished it with out them”.
When requested whether or not it was the right plan to remain out of bother till La Redoute and keep away from being held up by a crash like Mathieu van der Poel was with just below 100km to go, Pogačar replied “I had all day in my thoughts simply to watch out. Final yr, I had all day in my thoughts simply to preserve vitality, however at present I used to be extra on the protected aspect. I used to be additionally aware of staying heat as nicely. I had extra layers on to remain heat as a result of the primary half was tremendous chilly”.
On how he and the staff executed their plan within the decisive a part of the race, the UAE Crew Emirates rider stated “the staff did an excellent job. We rode exhausting on the climbs and protected on the downhills. On La Redoute we did precisely what we stated we’d do after which it was simply struggling to the end”.
Having beforehand received the race in 2021, this marked Pogačar’s second victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. On what it was prefer to win solo, he stated “after these sort of lengthy races, it’s tremendous particular to win solo, additionally with the nationwide champion jersey on as nicely. It’s lovely to win like this on the end”.
Pogačar is now set to go to Italy for the Giro d’Italia in Might, the place he will likely be hoping to take the general victory and full the primary a part of his Giro-Tour double try. If his win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège is something to go by, he will definitely be a tricky man to beat within the first Grand Tour of the season.
