Tadej Pogacar continues stunning form to clinch third Liege victory

UAE Team Emirates rider and road race world champion secures win after superb solo attack

Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates, centre, celebrates on the podium after winning the Liege Bastogne Liege race inn Belgium. AP

UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar clinched his third Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory on Sunday after the Slovenian world champion launched a stunning solo attack 34km from the finish line.

The 26-year-old road race world champion finished a minute ahead of Italy's Giulio Ciccone and Ireland's Ben Healy.

Pogacar's main rival and champion in 2022 and 2023, Belgian Remco Evenepoel, was never in the hunt and finished more than three minutes behind the winner.

Pogacar has already done enough in his career to be considered a legend but his third win, after success 2021 and 2024, cemented his stature.

Sunday's win means the UAE Team Emirates star becomes only the second rider after Eddy Merckx to win the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the same year.

Pogacar launched his attack on the climb at the iconic Cote de la Redoute and put some distance between his rivals, finishing the 252km route with a time of six hours and nine seconds.

“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,” Pogacar said.

“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 any more.

“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.”

UAE Team Emirates' Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the Liege Bastogne Liege. AFP

Pogacar now has nine monument victories which puts him joint-third on the all-time list behind Merckx (19) and Roger De Vlaeminck (11).

The 26-year-old also became the first rider to finish on the podium in six straight monument races.

Another podium at the Giro di Lombardia in October would make him the first man to finish on the podium in all five in the same year.

Pogacar's victory in Liege rounded off an intense classics campaign in which the Slovenian shone on all fronts.

His wins in the Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and Fleche Wallonne gives him four victories and he also had three other podiums, including Paris-Roubaix, in his seven races.

He will now take a break of over a month before returning to racing at the Criterium du Dauphine in June to prepare for his next major objective – the Tour de France in July where he will be aiming for a fourth victory.