Normal service resumed for Tadej Pogacar at the weekend as the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider returned to winning ways in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
After the disappointment of missing out on his first ever Paris-Roubaix title – beaten in an unforgettable sprint finish by Wout van Aert – Pogacar was back at his happy hunting grounds of Belgium, securing victory for a third straight year and sealing his 13th Monument crown.
But French teenager Paul Seixas certainly made him work for it on Sunday with Pogacar eventually dropping the determined youngster with 14km to go, winning by 45 seconds in what was his fourth title in the event. He is now one short of Belgian Eddy Merckx's record five Liege victories.
“He was more impressive than me,” Pogacar said of his young opponent in Monday's pre-race press conference for the Tour de Romandie. “When I was his age, I was still at a much lower level, so there is a big difference compared to being 19. I think it’s very impressive.
“Remco Evenepoel was also very impressive at that age. Maybe if you compare, Remco at 19 was already winning a lot of races. But what Paul has shown so far is very impressive.”
After rounding off the spring classics with yet another win, the Slovenian shifts his attention to Romandie in Switzerland, his first WorldTour stage race of the campaign so far and a significant challenge with just a day's turnaround.
“I want to win, and it’s no secret that we want to win here in Romandie as well. We will try our best,” Pogacar said.
“At the same time, every race is different and it’s difficult to fight for the win. We’ll see how it goes through the week. If I don’t win, it’s not going to be the end of the world. I will give my best to try to also get the Tour de Romandie.”
Unsurprisingly, Pogocar will line up for Tuesday's prologue – a 3.2km individual time-trial around the streets of Villars-sur-Glane – as overwhelming favourite to finish on top of the podium come Sunday's finale. But the short, intense start should provide an interesting test. “It’s all out for three kilometres,” Pogacar said. “It’s going to be really painful for the legs and lungs.”
Along the way, the 27-year-old will be tackling five stages featuring between 2,100m and 3,500m of climbing, but with only one summit finish – Stage 5 on Sunday in Leysin.
“I think it’s a pretty hard race. When we planned it back in December, I was hoping there would be two time trials like normal, a prologue and a longer one,” added Pogacar.
“But it’s just the prologue, so that’s one less big challenge in this race. I was quite looking forward to testing myself because I don’t do so many time trials. But the parcours suits me really well, so if everything goes well, it should be fun.
“Every stage is a good chance to attack, but I think the other teams are thinking the same. There are so many opportunities through the week, maybe even for surprise attacks. Every stage looks pretty good to give it a try.”
This will be Pogacar's first stage race since winning last July's Tour de France – for a fourth time – and his first attempt at the Romandie title. Won by Joao Almeida last season, the Swiss stage race has also seen Adam Yates triumph for the Emirati squad in 2023.
Out of the 'big seven' week-long stage races, Pogacar has tasted victory in four of them, winning Paris-Nice, Terreno-Adriatico, Volta a Catalunya and Vuelta a Andalucia. That leaves only the Itzulia Basque Country, Tour de Suisse and Tour de Romandie left to tick off.
The main challenge to Pogacar is likely to come from Red Bull- BORA-hansgrohe duo Florian Lipowitz and two-time race winner Primoz Roglic, with the former having been on the podium in five of his last six week-long stage races.
“The second place in the Basque Country [earlier in April] gave me a lot of confidence,” said the German. “The week after wasn’t fully structured, but I believe the form is there. Now we’ll see what’s possible in Switzerland.”
