Liège-Bastogne-Liège was anticipated to be the pinnacle of the confrontations between Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel this spring, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. Following a stunning Amstel Gold Race, the Olympic Champion just lacked the strength to vie for victory, whereas the World Champion stood out from the competition for the second year in a row at La Doyenne.
“Historically, we Dutch individuals favored the Ardennes classics, but recently there has been a trend towards the cobblestone classics with Van der Poel […]” However, if you observe the accomplishments of the Dutch in the hilly classics now, it’s truly a sign of deprivation. Uphill, we just have a weak generation, aside from Arensman,” Laurens Ten Dam commented on the Live Slow Ride Fast Podcast. Only four Dutch cyclists completed the race, and none placed in the top 70.
However, what Ten Dam focused on the most was how Pogacar surged to victory at La Redoute. Pogacar’s squad was exceptionally powerful. What the UAE displayed was truly extraordinary. At La Redoute, Pogacar even found two of his teammates in front of him. And when he left – it wasn’t even truly a breakaway – he outpaced everyone without noticeably speeding up and even set a record time.
The Slovenian claimed his third Liège and his ninth overall monument, now tying with several other cyclists as the third rider to achieve the most monuments in his career. “It’s fantastic that Evenepoel possessed so much confidence for Liège-Bastogne-Liège.” “However, he just tumbled off his pink cloud like a heavy load,” he thinks.
“Liège-Bastogne-Liège tells the truth, and it becomes clear that the preparation – which was far from ideal for Evenepoel – indicates that winning a race like that is impossible, particularly not against Pogacar.”
However, I believe it is unfortunate. You wish for it to be a duel, but you quickly realized it wouldn’t happen. You didn’t truly observe Evenepoel and his team cycling ahead to La Redoute. “I then considered: he’s simply not adequate,” the former Dutch professional stated. “Regardless of your skill level, if you find yourself 200 metres behind Pogacar on La Redoute, you are instantly beaten.”
Evenepoel then suffered on the Còte de la Rouche aux Faucons, cycling slowly to evade the TV motorbike’s focus on what was not his finest day. “I quickly realized his desire: he simply didn’t want to carry the bike.” I get that it’s undoubtedly frustrating to be recorded continuously when you’re no longer competing for first place. “I believed he dealt with that in a very mature way.”
This Pogacar appears quite invincible on a good day and is expected to pose more challenges for Evenepoel (and others) at the Tour de France. “Pogacar is incredibly talented, and I can’t see when that might change.” If you consistently finish in the top three from Strade to Liège, you are truly valuable to the sport. And in the Tour – he will excel once more. I believe that at Visma | Lease a Bike they are currently pondering: how will we address this with Vingegaard?
