Key points:
– With 12 victories already in his books this season, including Paris-Nice, the Tour of Flanders, the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne, Tadej Pogacar is the number-one favorite for the upcoming Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
– 2022 winner and current world champion Remco Evenepoel will give the Slovenian rider a run for his money, though. There are very few clues of how this duel will pan out, as they are yet to face each other this year.
– Matthias Skjelmose and Mikel Landa flanked Pogacar in the podium atop the Mur de Huy and will have a chance to answer back at his domination. The list of outsiders is long and deep and features Tom Pidcock, Michael Woods, Tiesj Benoot, Victor Lafay, Romain Bardet, Warren Barguil and Enric Mas.
Every event in professional road cycling with Tadej Pogacar on the start line has become a race to be the best of the rest. The Slovenian rider has already exceeded the usual marks on this 2023 season, as his performances have no equal in modern cycling. He can win from afar, with long-range attacks no rival can match. He might shelter behind his UAE Team Emirates, as strong as any squad in history, and then appear in the final kilometer to upset his competitors. Pogacar has stunned spectators and actors alike this year. He has scored 12 victories by April 19th: not even Eddy Merckx, unanimously regarded as the greatest cyclist of all time, had won that much by this time of the year in any campaign. With Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne already in the net, the Slovenian rider is on the way to the ‘Ardennes Triple’. He ‘only’ needs to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège again, as he did in 2021, to complete a feat that has only been claimed by two other riders in cycling’s rich history: Davide Rebellin (2004) and Philippe Gilbert (2011).
There is one man, though, who can well look Pogacar in the eye. He wears a rainbow jersey which entitles him to. Next Sunday, he will be sporting a #1 in the back of his jersey, reminding everyone of his extraordinary victory in the last edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Soudal Quick-Step’s Remco Evenepoel comes to La Doyenne fresh off a training camp, with an overall victory in the UAE Tour and two stage wins in the Volta a Catalunya as main results of this season on which he is yet to race in Belgium. There will be as much expectation placed in his world champion jersey as in his showdown with Tadej Pogacar. Where they will attack each other? They don’t need to wait for the finish line in Liège’s Quai des Ardennes: ‘côtes’ like Stockeu, La Redoute or La Roche-aux-Faucons are all excellent spots to unfurl a devastating acceleration.
There will be as much as 173 other riders at the start line in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Looking back at La Flèche Wallonne, two riders stand out as they were Pogacar’s closest challengers up the Mur de Huy. At age 22, Trek-Segafredo’s Matthias Skjelmose is living his coming-of-age campaign and proving his prowess for uphill kicks. As for Mikel Landa, the Basque rider is buckling up a remarkably solid start of the season on which he has finished in the top7 of every race he has taken part in. Amongst the contenders who know what it feels like to stand in La Doyenne’s podium, Michael Woods and Romain Bardet were 2nd and 3rd in the 2018 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and delivered some noteworthy accelerations in Huy on Wednesday. Cofidis’ Victor Lafay, Jumbo-Visma’s Tiesj Benoot, and Arkéa-Samsic’s Warren Barguil did also get away from Flèche Wallonne with a satisfying top10 result. Ineos Grenadiers’ Tom Pidcock or Movistar Team’s Enric Mas didn’t, and will get a chance to close their Ardennes campaign in style this Sunday.
25 teams, main contenders
Germany
Bora-Hansgrohe : Higuita (Col), Jungels (Lux), Vlasov
Australia
Team Jayco AlUla : Sobrero (Ita), Craddock (Usa)
Bahrain
Bahrain-Victorious : Mohoric (Slo), Landa (Esp), Poels (Ned)
Belgium
Soudal Quick-Step : Evenepoel, Van Wilder (Bel), Alaphilippe (Fra)
Lotto Dstny : Kron (Den), Van Gils (Bel)
Intermarché-Circus-Wanty : Calmejane (Fra), Costa (Por), Zimmermann (Ger)
Alpecin-Deceuninck : Kragh Andersen (Den), Hermans (Bel)
Team Flanders-Baloise : Braet, Bonneu (Bel)
Bingoal WB :Teugels, Meens (Bel)
United Arab Emirates
UAE Team Emirates : Pogacar (Slo), Hirschi (Swi), Grossschartner (Aut), Ulissi (Ita)
Spain
Movistar Team : Mas, Aranburu (Esp)
Equipo Kern Pharma : Adria, Garcia (Esp)
United States
Trek-Segafredo : Sjkelmose (Den), Mollema (Ned), Ciccone (Ita), Lopez (Esp)
EF Education-Easypost : Healy (Irl), Powless (Usa), Chaves (Col)
France
AG2R-Citroën : Cosnefroy, Paret-Peintre (Fra), O’Connor (Aus)
Groupama-FDJ : Gaudu, Madouas, Grégoire (Fra)
Cofidis : Lafay, Martin (Fra), Jes.Herrada, I.Izagirre (Esp)
Team Arkea-Samsic : Barguil, Louvel (Fra)
TotalEnergies : Ferron, Grellier, Burgaudeau (Fra)
United Kingdom
Ineos Grenadiers : Pidcock (Gbr), Kwiatkowski (Pol), Sivakov (Fra)
Israel
Israel-Premier Tech : Woods (Can), Impey (Saf)
Kazakhstan
Astana Qazaqstan Team : De la Cruz (Esp), Lutsenko (Kaz)
Norway
Uno-X Pro Cycling Team : Johannessen (Nor)
Netherlands
Jumbo-Visma : Benoot (Bel), Valter (Hun)
Team DSM : Bardet (Fra)
