Tadej Pogačar and Paul Seixas crest the climb of La Redoute together, the rest of the field trailing. Their teams had chased down a big breakaway and this climb was going to be the strategic point of the day as it has been in recent years. Unlike the last two editions, Pogačar this time found his match here as Seixas dared to follow and then matched him. But for the 19 year old Frenchman can do, he can’t bluff and hide the pain, it cost him to match the world champion and 20km later Pogačar would go solo for the win.
A maxi-breakaway of over 50 riders including Remco Evenepoel and 23 of the 27 teams present went clear at the start amid bright sunshine. Yesterday’s preview mused on the necessity to fire riders forward in order to exist and get an option on a long-shot result and this was a form of revolt against the UAE Team. Was it the plan with Evenepoel up front on the startline while Pogačar was hanging around at the back as they rolled out? Maybe not but he was present and gaining time. The gap flew up to four minutes with UAE only putting two riders to chase and nobody else joined them for a long time until Decathlon-CMA CGM deployed Stan Dewulf.
But the uprising began to crumble, 50 up the road and only a small number committed to the rebellion. For all the numbers up front, few other contenders were present beyond Egan Bernal and Quinten Hermans. Riders were even attacking the group with 200km to go, tactically ruinous and a sign of their frustration. UAE’s Domen Novak was also among the fugitives and according to RTBF moto commentator Axel Merckx he was “doing a grand job” sabotaging the group’s cohesion and sapping Evenepoel’s attempts to encourage others to continue.
The race was well ahead of schedule, a tailwind helped but things looked frenetic, riders bobbing on their bikes like there was 40km to go and not 180km. Tom Pidcock had a bike change but just the chasing peloton split under pressure from a long pull by UAE’s Tim Wellens. This meant the Brit had to wait for a bike change from his team car that was blocked behind and once he got a new bike could only rejoin this rear group to watch the others ahead ride away.
Visual cues were upended, seeing the Doyard lake and Vielsam usually means the racing is about to go up a notch with 100km to go on the approach to the Côte de Wanne and the “trilogy” of climbs but things had been frantic for a long time. But the gap was falling and Evenepoel’s advantage now began to look like a problem. Still up the road, but how much energy had he used up, and facing the psychological blow of being reeled in.
Host broadcaster RTBF began live coverage on a secondary channel before switching to La Une (“Channel 1”) at 1.35pm. The audience tuning in here would see Liège-Bastogne-Liège as expected with only a small breakaway of Houle, Kamp, Leemreize, Eenkhorn and Vestroffer away with a slender lead and UAE leading the peloton. Ignore the warm sunshine and it was now looking a lot like 2024’s icy day when UAE bludgeoned the peloton, catching the early breakaway with 90km to go. After Wellens finished a monster job, Pavel Sivakov took over to do much of the same. Gossip says he’ll be joining Decathlon-CMA CGM next year to do the same job for a different rider.
Tadej Pogačar attacked on the early slopes of La Redoute and Paul Seixas went with him. Until Seixas’s experience of racing this climb did not go beyond halfway up as this is where the finish of the junior race is held. Now he had the audacity to follow the world champion. Richard Carapaz tried in 2024 and paid directly. Seixas though wasn’t here to learn, he wanted to match Pogačar. He was visibly on the limit, at times losing half a metre and having to stamp on the pedals to claw his way back but matching Pogačar all the same as they pulverised the climbing time on La Redoute by 13 seconds. But the rest? The helicopter camera had to pan a long way to find the next riders led by Mattias Skjelmose.
Seixas soon started to share the work and the pair quickly had a minute on the rest. Could Seixas have sat on? Sure but like Van der Poel in the Ronde, a victory in the moment is important but what counts for years to come for them is to be able to look each other in the eyes and not blink.
Pogačar hit the Roche-aux-Faucons hard from the start and again Seixas looked on the limit. The Frenchman can do plenty but can’t yet hide his pain and suddenly Pogačar was away. Seixas imploded, losing 30 seconds by the top of the climb, but not cramping and able to ride on with a minute and a half on the rest.
Behind Skjelmose counter-attacked on the Roche-aux-Faucons, an attempt to reach the third step of the podium: too far behind to reach the lead pair and too underpowered for the sprint. He was caught on the descent to Liège.
Pogačar cruised along the banks of the Meuse and pointed skywards, reportedly in tribute to his partner’s mother who died four years ago. Seixas came in next with a small gesture to the crowd to mark his second place. Then a minute later the sprint led home by Evenepoel.
The Verdict
A brilliant edition with action from start to finish. Host broadcaster RTBF does the best it can with limited means and it’s facing hefty budget cuts too so covering the start isn’t on the table. Besides little happens in the opening hours. This time the big breakaway added a lot of suspense to the race and sapped plenty too, the race was ridden at 44.426km/h, beating the record average of 41.983km/h of last year. Was Evenepoel in an armchair? Were UAE in trouble?
But the major suspense came later. Pogačar for once had a rival, someone audacious enough to accompany him on La Redoute and beyond. The dream script for the day might have had the two sprinting for the win in Liège but for the sport it might be better if the hierarchy isn’t overturned today, but feels like it could be challenged directly soon.
As Pierre Carrey wrote in Le Temps earlier this week, there’s a lot to look forward to if Pogačar has a rival. The Slovenian will be the first beneficiary as he stands to gain from an opponent capable of challenging and stimulating him (as good as the field in the upcoming Tour de Romandie there’s no direct challenger to him, he’ll be interesting to observe). Seixas is also an alibi for the Slovenian given the bouts of suspicion every July among some, including a proportion in France, who will now root for a new rider with not a reputational cloud on the horizon who may be capable of riding faster and possibly absolving Pogačar in their eyes.
For Seixas this was a noble defeat, second place but clearly ahead of the rest, leapfrogging Evenepoel who beat him in the European championships last year. He’ll start holidays now knowing he can already challenge Pogačar in ways the rest cannot. He may only have followed Pogačar for 20km longer than others before folding but this was a demonstration of force coming after he beat the field by metres in the Flèche Wallonne. Just a few watts more blended with some experience and he can go from daydreaming about duelling with Pogačar to visualising sprint tactics against the world champ.
Evenepoel won the sprint for third, further demonstration of his improved finishing power. As a double winner but only when Pogačar wasn’t in the race this was as a good as a realistic result could be, more to his credit since he must have used up extra energy in the first hours of the race and so much better than fourth. But like winning Amstel last week we know this is all in his range but he’s a self-proclaimed Tour de France contender and must have looked across the podium at the lanky Frenchman to wonder what is coming. This marks the end of the classics season but Seixas’s ascendency this week encourages us to look forward already.
The Tour de France for Seixas? A decision will be announced in the coming days, it seems likely he’ll ride. Listen carefully and he uses the first person: “I will decide“. He’s becoming famous – his Flèche win was a top story on France2’s evening TV news bulletin – but July will be like nothing can imagine with every outlet and fan wanting a moment with him; it’ll be more demanding than wearing the yellow jersey each day.