Tadej Pogacar closed out the spring classics in style, storming to his third career win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. After conquering the Tour of Flanders earlier this month, the world champion added a second Monument to his 2025 season—and left no doubt who rules the Ardennes.

When asked how it feels to finish the first part of the season with another win, Pogacar said, "It feels great to to finish the season like this. I mean the first part of the season like this and just happy that everything went the whole season so far went perfect and I'm just yeah so happy."

About the attack, Pogacar said, "No, actually it was not a plan but yeah it was so hard paced before that yeah I saw that number of teams don't have a lot of teammates anymore and yeah I said okay I test a little bit my legs. and see if I get the gap on the top. I and then I decided if I continue or not. But yeah then I just committed because I had good legs also on the second climb after La Redoute. So yeah I could go to the finish. I'm super happy."

When asked if he is happy that the classic campaign is now over, Pogacar said, "Yeah I'm happy that I can go home."

Remco Evenepoel, meanwhile, endured a complete off day. The highly anticipated duel never materialized. 

"I don't know," Pogacar said about Evenepoel not looking good. "Just at first they they were controlling the bunch, Quick Step. They were racing on the front all day and then at one point all the Quick Step disappear from the front. I don't know why I was thinking maybe you know they're saving the legs for the climb. I was thinking this but then the La Redoute I look around he was not close close on my wheel. So that was also a good motivation to to go at that point."

Pogacar Joins Monument Greats

Sunday's win means the UAE leader becomes only the second rider after Eddy Merckx, still considered to be the greatest of all time, to win the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the same year.

The reigning world champion, who wrote a note in felt-tip pen on his race number in memory of the mother of his partner who died three years ago, is even the first rider to finish on the podium of six consecutive Monuments.

The Slovenian now has nine Monument wins — the five biggest classics on the calendar — to his name, joining Fausto Coppi, Sean Kelly and Costante Girardengo in third place on the all-time list.

Merckx holds the record with 19 Monuments, including five Liège-Bastogne-Liège wins.

Historic Classics Campaign

Pogacar's victory in Liège rounded off an intense classics campaign in which the Slovenian shone on all fronts.

His earlier wins in the Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and Flèche Wallonne give him four victories, and he also had three other podiums, including Paris-Roubaix, in his seven races.

The 26-year-old will now take a break of over a month before returning to racing at the Critérium du Dauphiné in June to prepare for his next major objective — the Tour de France in July, where he will be aiming for a fourth victory.

How the Race Was Won

All eyes were on Pogacar and Evenepoel before the start. But once the race hit La Redoute, it was clear only one man had the legs.

Evenepoel, normally explosive on the key climbs, struggled to position himself even before the final hour. On La Redoute, he was already adrift. Pogacar, sensing the moment, launched his trademark acceleration—and that was that. Julian Alaphilippe tried to respond but couldn’t close the gap. Pogacar didn’t need much. Ten seconds became twenty, and the gap only grew from there.

Behind him, a chasing group featuring Ben Healy, Giulio Ciccone, Tom Pidcock, and Alaphilippe found themselves nearly a minute down. Evenepoel trailed even further, stuck without teammates and running on empty.

With 20 kilometers to go, Evenepoel briefly rallied to latch onto a chase group with Carlos Rodriguez and Mauro Schmid. But on the Roche-aux-Faucons, he cracked again. The Olympic champion would eventually finish nearly four minutes behind Pogacar.

Up front, it was a coronation. Pogacar soloed to the velodrome in Liège, capping another masterpiece in a spring that already includes Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, Flèche Wallonne, and now Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Giulio Ciccone outsprinted Healy for second place at 1:30 behind, while Pidcock’s group battled for fourth. In a surprise, Thibau Nys finished a brilliant fifth in his Monument debut, just behind Astana’s Simone Velasco.

With Evenepoel’s off day, it was Thibau Nys who emerged as the top Belgian. At just 21 years old, he showed incredible maturity and climbing strength to secure a top-five finish in his first Monument.