Tadej Pogacar one away from Ardennes sweep after La Fleche Wallonne victory, Liege-Bastogne-Liege awaits
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Updated 19/04/2023 at 15:14 GMT
Tadej Pogacar was pushed all the way to the line on the Mur de Huy – but no one could stop him from adding La Fleche Wallonne to his bursting palmarès. Pogacar, who had previously only cracked the top 10 once in three previous visits to the race, will look to claim a second Liege-Bastogne-Liege title on Sunday before turning his attention to winning a third Tour de France in July.
'Two out of three!' - Pogacar wins again ahead of Ardennes treble bid
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) will head to Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday targeting the Ardennes sweep after taking another fine victory at La Fleche Wallonne.
The Slovenian, who ticked off part one at Amstel Gold on Sunday, hit the front on the steep ramp of the Mur de Huy, dropping a short but devastating attack that left his rivals squabbling for second. Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) won the battle behind ahead of Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious).
“I left it all on the climb. It was super hard and it was a spectacular finish,” said Pogacar, who was quick to praise his UAE team-mates after they marshalled the peloton for the entire race.
“It gives me a boost when the team do such an amazing job. Today there were a few times I was like ‘what good guys I have in front of me and I need to pull it off, otherwise the good work is for nothing’. It gives me more motivation,” he continued.
“It was really nervous but the team did a really good job in keeping me in the front. There was one moment where I almost crashed. It was quite hectic but we really pulled it off.”
Pogacar is now one win away from joining Davide Rebellin (2004) and Philippe Gilbert (2011) as the only riders to win all three Ardennes classics in the same season. He is the undisputed top rider in the men’s peloton right now, having also won Paris-Nice and the Tour of Flanders this season.
“For everybody, you don’t get bored crossing the line first. I really enjoy that and I’m really grateful that I have this moment now in such great shape so I’ll enjoy this moment while I can,” he said.
The day’s eight-man breakaway was eventually whittled down to the lively Soren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Samuele Battistella (Astana-Qazaqstan) and Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep).
The trio had 40” with 10km remaining but with two climbs – the Cote de Cherave and the iconic Mur – it was a lead that never looked like holding.
UAE drove a fierce pace on the first of those climbs, preventing attacks from Pogacar’s rivals, as Kragh Andersen and Battistella were hoovered up. Only Vervaeke was able to keep the peloton at bay as the Belgian set off alone towards the foot of the Mur. It only delayed the inevitable.
After the race came back together, there was an enormous scrap to get on the back wheel of Pogacar, who duly moved towards the front of the pack. Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) and Romain Bardet (DSM) made bold moves as the gradient increased, but it was Pogacar – who had cracked the top 10 just once in three previous outings – who dealt the decisive blow in the closing stages.
He will head to the fourth Monument of the season at Liege-Bastogne-Liege targeting a second title and a rare sweep. On this evidence, he will take some stopping... but defending champion and Belgian sensation Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) will be plotting exactly that.
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