Pogačar claims third victory in Liege-Bastogne-Liege

World Champion Tadej Pogačar delivered a commanding performance to clinch his third victory at the oldest of the cycling Monuments: Liège-Bastogne-Liège, taking UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s 35th victory of the seasons.

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Pogačar launched a decisive solo attack 35 kilometers from the finish on the iconic Côte de la Redoute. He would remain solo for the remainder of the race crossing the line 1’03” ahead of Italy’s Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Ireland’s Ben Healy (Education First Easypost), who secured second and third places, respectively.

This victory marks Pogačar’s ninth Monument win, placing him third on the all-time list behind Eddy Merckx and Roger de Vlaeminck. Notably, he becomes the first cyclist to podium in six consecutive Monument races.

Pogačar : “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. 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 anymore. 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. I could go to the finish, so I’m super happy.

At first, Soudal were controlling the bunch and racing on the front all day. At one point they all disappeared from the front. I was thinking maybe they were saving their legs for La Redoute because you can save a lot in the bunch. But then on La Redoute I looked around and Evenepoel wasn’t close on my wheel, but that was also good motivation to go at that point.

I’m looking forward to a bit of a break now and then building up to the next part of the season.”

Liege-Bastogne-Liege Results 

1.Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 6:00:09

2.Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +1’03”

3.Ben Healy (Education First) s.t

Meanwhile at the Vuelta Asturias Marc Soler cemented victory on stage 4 from Navia to Oviedo (135.6km) with an impressive solo stage win. The short stage packed 2550m of climbing to be done, with the Alto del Violeo (3.6 km at 8.4%) and the steep El Cristo climb (900 meters at 10.3%) as the final test.

After moving away in a small group on the Violeo climb, Soler eventually crossed the finish line with a lead and put the crown on an already successful tour. For the 31-year-old climber, this is the first victory since his Vuelta triumph last year on the slopes of the Lagos de Covadonga. It is the first time since 2018 that Soler has won a multi-day stage race.

Soler: “A large break went from the start and we were trying to get Pericas into the move to try and get him onto the podium. This didn’t work out so I attacked hard on the final climb and managed to go solo to the line and confirm the GC win and the stage.
I’m really happy with the win and I must say a big thanks to my teammates.”

Vuelta Asturias Stage 4 results

1. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:14:39

2.Matteo Vercher (Total Energies) +3”

3.Alexis Guerin (Anicolor) +16”

Vuelta Asturias Final General Classification

1. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:14:39

2.Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +3:37”

3.Alexis Guerin (Anicolor) +4:15”