Pogacar also wins Liège-Bastogne-Liège. A Phenomenon rewriting cycling history

It is useless to go around it. He is the strongest. A total champion who is rewriting the history of the sport to the sound of memorable feats.

Every now and then, for a minimum of par condicio, even his rivals (such as Van der Poel at the Sanremo and the Roubaix) manage to beat him, but when it comes to the final reckoning, the King of Kings is him: Tadej Pogacar from Komenda (Slovenia), 26 years old, world champion in line, dominator of the Tour and Giro d'Italia and now with nine monument classics in his prestigious CV.

The last, Pogacar's ninth, was this splendid Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which Tadej dominated by breaking away on the climb of the Redoute with around 35 kilometres to go. An acceleration that didn't give him a chance. His rival of the day, Belgian Remco Evenepoel, who was never in contention with the Slovenian, finished more than three minutes behind. Having recently returned from a heavy injury, the time trial world champion and two-time Liège winner was never able to get into the thick of the 'Doyenne', the oldest of the races that closes the northern classics season. Behind Pogacar, a pleasant surprise, was Italian Giulio Ciccone, a minute behind Tadej, but faster than Irishman Ben Healy in the two-man sprint.

A partial consolation since it was since 2019 (Formolo) that an Italian had not managed to get on the podium of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

As always, every time Pogacar stamps his seal, one is almost stunned by the greatness of this extraordinary rider who, in his seventh year as a professional, continues to shatter records like peanuts. In fact, this is the third time he has won the Liège (his previous victories in 2021 and 2024) and, at this point, the Slovenian champion, with nine classics on his palmarès, joins such sacred monsters as Costante Girardengo, Fausto Coppi and Sean Kelly.