Tadej Pogacar wins Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Practically a clone of the Amstel Gold Race from a week ago was experienced in the 2025 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but with a very different outcome. This time there was no collapse, nor an imperial Remco Evenepoel who could close the gap on Tadej Pogacar, who accelerated at La Redoute, 35 km from the finish line, and was not seen again until the podium.

With the victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tadej Pogacar now has two of the four monuments contested in 2025

The Liège-Bastogne-Liège marked the end of the spring classics campaign before the start of the first Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia, and once again, before retiring to his headquarters to rest and begin specific training for the Tour de France, Tadej Pocagar made it clear that what happened last weekend in Amstel was just a regular day, not a bad one.

The Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates-XRG did it again with a new attack at La Redoute that no one even attempted to respond to, allowing him to claim his 95th victory as a professional cyclist.

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The 252-kilometer route started in the streets of Liège and, as is usual in this race, the first half was calm, marked by a breakaway of 12 cyclists with Mathis Le Berre, Jack Haig, and Eduardo Sepúlveda as the most notable names. The peloton allowed the breakaway to go until, after passing the Haussire climb with 132 km to go, Bob Jungels from INEOS Grenadiers attacked first, followed shortly after by Tobias Foss, who caught up and they started to make their way.

This tactical move could have been to create a race situation that favored a returning Carlos Rodríguez, who was back in the race after an injury. However, UAE Team Emirates-XRG did not like the move and did not let them gain much more than a minute, which in turn helped reduce the over 5-minute advantage of the breakaway.

The pace did not slow down until the INEOS Grenadiers riders were neutralized at the Wanne climb, which happened at the Roche aux Faucons climb, where a relative calm returned to the peloton, giving a bit of breathing room to the breakaway, although they were eventually caught 60 km from the finish line.

At that point, the peloton was only thinking about La Redoute, the decisive climb in recent editions of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The pace increased as they approached Remouchamps, the town where this mythical ascent begins, and in the lead-up, all alarms went off when Remco Evenepoel was seen in the middle of the group, far from the front for a rider of his caliber facing such a crucial climb.

Obviously, Tadej Pogacar did not need much more of an excuse to launch a strong attack almost from the bottom, with 35 kilometers to go until Liège, without any opposition. Only Giulio Ciccone and a returning Julian Alaphilippe tried to break away from the group. Tom Pidcock, along with Ben Healy, also tried, and after a few chaotic kilometers, with Remco lagging behind, the race stabilized with a small regrouping in Evenepoel's group and the four chasers joining them.

The numerical advantage did not help them much as Pogacar, as he usually does, continued to increase his lead, which at the foot of the Roche aux Faucons was already 1 minute and 12 seconds, practically sealing the race unless something unexpected happened.

Legendary level: sitting down

At La Redoute. Where everyone expected him. Where no one can stop him. Pogacar launches his attack and heads solo towards glory.

You're watching it on @Eurosport_ES and @StreamMaxES. #LBL pic.twitter.com/jT1gz01Bgw

— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) April 27, 2025

The chasers were already clearly thinking about getting on the podium of this Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and on this climb, the Italian from Lidl-Trek was the first to attack. Ben Healy also launched an attack and managed to catch up, and a little later, Pidcock tried but lacked the legs to join them.

Meanwhile, in Evenepoel's group, already out of contention for the win, the Belgian even dropped from the group at the start of the Roche aux Faucons, and the last image we saw of him on TV was him dismounting, probably ending his participation in a day that was not his.

Tadej Pogacar entered victorious and smiling, wearing the rainbow jersey at the finish line in Liège, dedicating the victory to his mother-in-law, Urška ?igart's mother, who passed away two years ago today, which was the reason for his non-participation that year. 9th monument victory for the Slovenian.

Giulio Ciccone and Ben Healy closed the podium in a sprint. The Italian launched first and easily beat the Irishman. Remco Evenepoel also crossed the finish line, but did not look too pleased.

2025 Liège-Bastogne-Liège Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 6h00'09''
2. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +1'03''
3. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) +1'03''
4. Simone Velasco (XDS Astana) +1'10''
5. Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) +1'10''
6. Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) +1'10''
7. Daniel Felipe Martínez (EF Education-EasyPost) +1'10''
8. Axel Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers) +1'10''
9. Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5) +1'10''
10. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) +1'10''