Tadej Pogacar, the world champion, surged ahead of French debutant Paul Seixas on the final climb to claim his third straight Liège-Bastogne-Liège title on Sunday, marking his fourth overall victory in the race. The 27-year-old Slovenian completed the 259.5km course in five hours, 50 minutes and 28 seconds, securing his 13th Monument title and his third of the season after triumphs at the Tour of Flanders and Milan-San Remo.
Pogacar's Dominance Continues
“It means a lot to win again one of the biggest races of the year, of cycling … there’s a lot of pressure on me to deliver, I’m really happy that we succeeded,” said Pogacar, who now trails only Eddy Merckx’s record of five Liège victories.
Seixas, 19, impressively matched Pogacar’s attack on the Côte de la Redoute, staying on the four-time Tour de France winner’s wheel for nearly 20km while others faded. However, on the climb to Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, with less than 14km remaining, Pogacar accelerated decisively, leaving the exhausted Frenchman behind.
“On the Redoute I was really going deep. But on the top, he came next to me and I was like, OK, really impressed,” Pogacar said of Seixas. “Maybe back in my head, I was already preparing to do a duel sprint because he was so strong.”
Seixas, aiming to become the first French winner since 1980, finished 45 seconds adrift, while Belgian two-time champion Remco Evenepoel won the sprint for third place.
Vollering Wins Women's Race
In the women’s event, European champion Demi Vollering secured her third Liège-Bastogne-Liège title with a solo breakaway 35km from the finish. The 29-year-old Dutchwoman completed a dominant Spring Classics campaign, having also won the Tour of Flanders, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and La Flèche Wallonne.
Puck Pieterse won the sprint for second place, 89 seconds behind, with Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney taking third.
This was only the 10th edition of the women’s race, and Vollering, who also won in 2021 and 2023, expressed her deep connection to the event. “I really love this race, it brings back for me so many good memories,” she said. “Being still a club rider riding here without there even being a women’s race yet, I was already dreaming about it without knowing if there would ever be a women’s race. Then finally we got one, I became a pro and I win for the third time here.”
