Once again he attacked. Once again he won by a margin of over one minute. Once again the rest of the peloton raced for the podium behind. It went exactly as was expected – and feared – perhaps the only surprise being just quite how easy it looked in the end. The ascent of La Redoute rolled around with just over 30 kilometres of Liège–Bastogne–Liège remaining and Tadej Pogačar was at the front of the bunch. He took one check over his shoulder and then, with his mouth closed, rode away up the climb to no reaction from his rivals. He would not be seen again, and his spring campaign would end just how it started at Strade Bianche back in March: with another solo win. Expected, predictable, and, to many, tiresome. This is bike racing in 2025.
This writer is at the end of the list of superlatives to describe what Pogačar does weekend after weekend. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider has ridden every single major one-day race so far this year and has not finished outside the top-three. Whether it is the gravel roads of Strade Bianche, the cobbles of Flanders, or the rolling hills of the Ardennes, Pogačar is quite simply, the best. A sensational spring for a sensational cyclist. Another year of mindboggling performances in whatever race the Slovenian star turns his hand to. How much more of this have we got to come?
It is clear that if the rest of the peloton wants to have a chance at getting the better of Pogačar, they need to start to race differently. We saw glimpses of what might be possible from an opportunistic Ineos Grenadiers team early on in this year’s edition of Liège–Bastogne–Liège: they tried to anticipate the inevitable move from UAE Team Emirates by sending Bob Jungels and Tobias Foss in the breakaway with still over 120 kilometres of racing remaining. They were aware that following Pogačar on a climb like La Redoute was going to be impossible: the best chance they had was getting ahead.
The British team took what seemed like a prime chance to put UAE under pressure. They tried to force Pogačar’s team to spend energy chasing the break, aiming to disrupt their tactics and, at least, do something other than watching and waiting for a trademark, detonating Pogačar attack. However, no one else joined Ineos at the front of the race. It only takes one look at how Pogačar performed on the Mur de Huy during Wednesday’s Flèche Wallonne to know what he can do on the steep gradients of the Ardennes, yet teams appear reluctant to take action to stop that from happening. No one can follow the UAE Team Emirates rider when goes, but very few are prepared to try and do anything else.
Arguably an even more questionable tactic than waiting in the peloton for Pogačar’s attack, Lidl-Trek actually came to the front to help UAE chase the break when Ineos were up ahead. Rather than challenging the pre-race favourite and letting his team do the work, they were helping him (despite the likes of Thibau Nys and Giulio Ciccone clearly having the legs to make a difference in this race). Likewise, Soudal-Quick-Step assisted UAE in controlling the race for Remco Evenepoel – they all played into the hands of Pogačar.
The Slovenian rider himself even appeared confused at what Quick-Step were doing in his post-race interview: “They controlled the whole day then suddenly disappeared from the front of the peloton,” Pogačar said with a shrug. “I thought they were maybe saving energy for La Redoute but when we got there and I looked around [Evenepoel] was not near me. That was good motivation.”
As soon as Pogačar crested the summit of La Redoute alone and tucked into that aerodynamic, efficient position that has taken him to so many victories over the last few years, the gap went up and up. From 20 seconds at the top of the climb, to 40 seconds, to over one minute. Behind, the likes of Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Pidcock tried to work together, but, unsurprisingly, they didn’t make any inroads into Pogačar’s lead. In the end, Healy was rewarded with a podium finish and Trek’s Ciccone managed to secure second place – respectable results for both riders – but it felt as if they were racing in an entirely different category to this year’s Liège–Bastogne–Liège winner.
“The start of this season went perfect,” Pogačar grinned after the race.
It’s true that UAE Team Emirates could not have asked for much more in this unprecedented Classics campaign from their star rider. Perfect Pogačar, as always. For everyone else, it is a fight to be the best of the rest. Based on what happened in this year’s edition of Liège–Bastogne–Liège, it seems like the peloton is starting to accept this. Are they taking to the start line prepared to race for second place? Professional cycling is one of the toughest sports in the world, and there’s no denying that every rider in Liège–Bastogne–Liège today worked incredibly hard, but could they be using their energy in better ways?
It has never been more evident that following a Pogačar attack is impossible, so new tactics are needed: it is time to try and get ahead. Solving the problem of how to beat Tadej Pogačar is not an easy equation, but please, for the love of good bike racing, can we see more teams trying to find the answer?
