Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) produced a masterclass performance to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège for the fourth time in his career, finally dropping worthy challenger Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) on the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons with 13.9km to go and riding solo to the finish.
19-year-old superstar Seixas put up a valiant fight and confirmed his massive potential once again by finishing second, and as the only rider able to follow when Pogačar split the race apart fully on the Côte de la Redoute off the back of a Benoît Cosnefroy lead-out 35km from the line.
But it was far from a simple run into the typically key climb at La Doyenne, with Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) getting into a 54-rider breakaway in the opening 5km of racing, which ended up as far as 3:40 up the road.
UAE and Decathlon shared the work to bring them back, and after more than 150km of at times frantic chasing, Evenepoel and the other threats in the break were brought back, allowing UAE to control things for their leader until the lower slopes of Redoute.
A third title in a row for Pogačar and fourth in his career draws him level on all-time wins at Liège-Bastogne-Liège with Alejandro Valverde and Moreno Argentin, leaving only Eddy Merckx with more, on five.
Second-place Seixas was looking to become the youngest winner in over a century, but was just unable to stay with the lethal repeated accelerations made by the World Champion, who closed out his Spring Classics campaign with a fourth win and third Monument from just five appearances in 2026.
As the third top favourite for the day, Evenepoel ultimately struggled after his time in the early move and was dropped by Cosnefroy even before Pogačar launched his lethal Redoute acceleration. But he did win the sprint for the final podium spot in third, crossing the line almost two minutes after the winner.
"On La Redoute, I was really going deep, and I could see that [Seixas] was a little bit on the elastic, but over the top he came next to me, and I was like 'OK, really impressed', and then he was also pulling quite strong all the way," said Pogačar of his young rival's performance.
"We opened up a big gap, which was good for us, and then I was maybe, in the back of my head, preparing already to do a sprint, because he was so strong, but I tried on Roche-aux-Faucons with my pace. I know the climb super well, and it suits me well, and luckily, he dropped, but I was prepared to go head-to-head in a sprint with him.
"It means a lot to win one of the biggest races of the year again. I don't do many races; I don't have a lot of opportunities to win, because I don't race a lot, so it's a lot of pressure for me to deliver on days like today, and I'm really happy that we succeeded. I couldn't be prouder of the team."
How it unfolded
The 112th edition of La Doyenne rolled out of Liège with 173 riders gearing up to tackle the 260 kilometres and over 4000 metres of climbing on offer, and it didn't take long for the action to kick off, with a monster breakaway of around 50 riders forming early on.
It wasn't clear exactly how the peloton was split, but there had just been a crash in the bunch for Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Andrea Vendrame (Jayco AlUla) before the race's live updates reported the massive group getting away.
Despite not being broadcast, there was early drama because of this, with Remco Evenepoel getting himself into the leading group away from his main rivals. This forced Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team to start chasing, but after just under 30km of racing, the lead group's advantage was approaching one minute.
With Ineos Grenadiers also in the front group working for Egan Bernal, Evenepoel and Red Bull had an ally who also wanted to keep the group away. With 220km still to race, the gap had ballooned out to two minutes. Would the peloton see the leaders again?
In total, there were 54 riders who got into the leading group, but the important names to note were Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Remco Evenepoel, Nico Denz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Egan Bernal, Laurens de Plus (Ineos Grenadiers), Pascal Eenkhoorn, Dylan Van Baarle (Soudal-Quick Step), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché), Gijs Leemreize, Bjorn Koerdt (Picnic-PostNL), Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech), and Alexander Kamp.
As the break's lead approached the four-minute mark with 190km to go, Seixas' Decathlon team also got to work in the group behind. This helped stabilise their break's lead to 3:30.
Over the first of 11 climbs, the Côte de Saint-Roch (1km at 10.5%), the breakaway crested the top with 51 riders still present. By this point, however, the peloton had lost more time, getting over the top of the climb with an almost 4:00 deficit.
De Plus, Denz and Eenkhoorn paced for their respective leaders in the front, but with Laengen, Herregodts and Dewulf sharing the workload in the peloton, they finally started to bring the gap down. With 155km to go, Decathlon and UAE's efforts behind had reduced their lead in front to 2:40.
As the climbs kept coming, Denz eventually dropped, and with De Plus looking for help after a massive turn on the front, the leading group started splintering due to a lack of cooperation. This lull meant the gap fell to 1:40 with 120km to go.
As UAE continued to pull at breakneck speeds to try and bring things back, Tom Pidcock had a mechanical at the worst possible moment, requiring a bike change with 113km to go as those in front went away. He was quickly a minute behind and never saw the peloton again.
Four riders attacked out of the breakaway to form a new move in the lead with 103km to go: Eenkhoorn, Houle, Leemreize and Kamp, with Veistroffer bridging across to join them and make it five in front.
Not long after this, it became clear that Evenepoel and the rest of the break would be caught by the UAE-led peloton, and with 94km to go, that early move came to its conclusion, just in time for the traditional starting point of the action – the Côte de Wanne (2.2km at 7.1%).
"Today, a lot happened. At the beginning I was at the back, and I always know it's hard at the start, so I just followed in the wheels. I looked down, and saw we were going fast, then one moment, I looked up, and the group was split," said Pogačar post-race as he recounted how the early break was formed.
"But then after like 20 minutes, we realised that it's not so bad to let them go. This kind of breakaway, a big group, never has good collaboration, but, of course, we were still a bit scared; Remco can go from far away. In the end, it was all under control, but you never let Remco go away. Today was different, and I'm happy we succeeded."
Evenepoel back in the peloton for the main hills
UAE assumed total control of the heavily reduced peloton ahead of the Côte de Stockeu (1km at 11.4%), and it was on Eddy Merckx's former playground where they caught the last remnants of the early breakaway.
From here, Pogačar's men settled into a holding pattern over the next three climbs, where Pavel Sivakov did much of the work. Into the final 52km with UAE still in control, it looked like the Côte de la Redoute would be the deciding point once again.
Sivakov finished his turn on the Côte de Desnié, leaving only Novak and Benoît Cosnefroy to lead out Pogačar, but the race was now into the final 47km, and the next climb would be Redoute. The attack was incoming; it was just a question of who would be able to follow, if anyone, when the rainbow jersey went.
The race for front position at the foot of Redoute was fast and furious, but it was tackled well by Pogačar and UAE, albeit with his rivals never far behind, and it was Cosnefroy who led onto the lower slopes and started winding things up for his leader.
With 35km to go, Evenepoel was immediately put on a gap as Cosnefroy turned the screw, and it was Seixas and Skjelmose who were following the UAE riders best.
A kilometre from the top is where Pogačar made his aggressive hit out for glory, but it was the 19-year-old Seixas who was able to follow in the wheel, with everyone else completely blown away.
The World Champion tried several attacks to break the Frenchman, who was visibly on the limit but just holding on. Over the top and after another burst from Pogačar, Seixas had done the previously thought impossible and survived.
Seixas pulled through as they rode to the next climb, and their lead on Skjelmose chasing was quickly out to 25 seconds. Evenepoel and the rest of the peloton were further down at 41 seconds.
Evenepoel led the chasing group and soon reeled back Skjelmose, leaving just the superstar duo in front, but the chasing pack was large and failed to fully cooperate, allowing smaller groups to break away and only causing the deficit to extend.
There was little action in the front over the Côte des Forges, leaving only the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (1.3 km at 10.1%) and a downhill run to the line in Liège as places where Pogačar could distance Seixas and prevent a two-up sprint deciding the day.
Pogačar attacked right at the base, but still Seixas was able to react and follow as his body rocked on the bike. With gritted teeth, the Frenchman stayed with the World Champion, but he had another 800 metres of all-out burst to try and survive.
Finally, with 13.9km to go, Pogačar broke him, with 530 metres to go until the top of the climb. The gap was created, and the Slovenian set off to finish the job, winning by 45 seconds at the line from Seixas.
Behind, the hard-fought race for the final podium spot came down to a sprint, which was opened up and won by Evenepoel, who salvaged a podium after failing to impress on the main climbs.
Results
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