Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won Liège-Bastogne-Liège for a fourth time on Sunday, claiming his 13th Monument victory, but the world champion's post-race interview turned the spotlight onto the 19-year-old who nearly matched him. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) became the first rider to follow Pogačar's signature attack on La Redoute, and was only dropped on the Roche-aux-Faucons as the Slovenian soloed to the finish in Liège.
After the race, Pogačar spoke to the media in the race press conference, where he lavished praise on the French teenager, predicting he will eventually dominate the sport.
Pogačar said he had not encountered a stronger rival than Seixas and predicted the French teenager would eventually dominate the sport. "We will keep working hard to win as much as possible, until he destroys everyone," Pogačar said. "For me, it will naturally get harder year by year. I have been doing this for a while now and I am not getting any younger. There will come a time when my level starts to decline."
Liège-Bastogne-Liège men Results
Liège - Bastogne - Liège • Apr 26
| Pos | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Tadej Pogačar | UAE Team Emirates XRGUAE Team Emirates XRG | 5:50:28 |
| 🥈 | Paul Seixas | Decathlon CMA CGM TeamDecathlon CMA CGM Team | +0:45 |
| 🥉 | Remco Evenepoel | Red Bull - Bora - HansgroheRed Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe | +1:42 |
| 4 | Emiel Verstrynge | Alpecin-Premier TechAlpecin-Premier Tech | +1:42 |
| 5 | Egan Bernal | INEOS GrenadiersINEOS Grenadiers | +1:42 |
| 6 | Pello Bilbao | Bahrain VictoriousBahrain Victorious | +1:42 |
| 7 | Romain Grégoire | Groupama-FDJ UnitedGroupama-FDJ United | +1:42 |
| 8 | Christian Scaroni | XDS Astana TeamXDS Astana Team | +1:42 |
| 9 | Tobias Halland Johannessen | Uno-X MobilityUno-X Mobility | +1:42 |
| 10 | Filippo Zana | Soudal Quick-StepSoudal Quick-Step | +1:42 |
| 11 | Mauro Schmid | Team Jayco AlUlaTeam Jayco AlUla | +1:42 |
| 12 | Léo Bisiaux | Decathlon CMA CGM TeamDecathlon CMA CGM Team | +1:42 |
| 13 | Ben Tulett | Team Visma | Lease a BikeTeam Visma | Lease a Bike | +1:42 |
| 14 | Clément Champoussin | XDS Astana TeamXDS Astana Team | +1:42 |
| 15 | Mauri Vansevenant | Soudal Quick-StepSoudal Quick-Step | +1:42 |
| 16 | Jai Hindley | Red Bull - Bora - HansgroheRed Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe | +1:42 |
| 17 | Mattias Skjelmose | Lidl-TrekLidl-Trek | +1:42 |
| 18 | Ramses Debruyne | Alpecin-Premier TechAlpecin-Premier Tech | +1:42 |
| 19 | Alex Baudin | EF Education - EasyPostEF Education - EasyPost | +1:42 |
| 20 | Giulio Ciccone | Lidl-TrekLidl-Trek | +1:42 |
| 21 | Ion Izagirre | CofidisCofidis | +1:42 |
| 22 | Santiago Buitrago | Bahrain VictoriousBahrain Victorious | +1:42 |
| 23 | Cian Uijtdebroeks | Movistar TeamMovistar Team | +1:42 |
| 24 | Steff Cras | Soudal Quick-StepSoudal Quick-Step | +1:42 |
| 25 | Ben O'Connor | Team Jayco AlUlaTeam Jayco AlUla | +2:27 |
| 26 | Georg Zimmermann | Lotto IntermarchéLotto Intermarché | +3:43 |
| 27 | Quentin Pacher | Groupama-FDJ UnitedGroupama-FDJ United | +3:43 |
| 28 | Andreas Leknessund | Uno-X MobilityUno-X Mobility | +3:43 |
| 29 | Rudy Molard | Groupama-FDJ UnitedGroupama-FDJ United | +3:43 |
| 30 | Maximilian Schachmann | Soudal Quick-StepSoudal Quick-Step | +3:43 |
The praise went further. Asked whether he was surprised Seixas could follow on La Redoute, Pogačar said: "No, I was not surprised (that Seixas could follow me)." Pogačar said in the post-race press conference. "I was just impressed and amazed at how good he is and really chapeau to Paul, he did a really great race. For me, it was the hardest La Redoute I've done in the race so yeah, really good ride by him."
After being asked a similar question in quick succession, a confused Pogačar gave more answers. "I've got nothing but praise for the kid. He's had an amazing start to the season with incredible results and how mature he is. Like I said before, it is really good to see him so strong and I don't think I see a more strong rider than him."
Seixas has had a wonderful season but has not yet managed to beat the all conquering Pogačar. However, he has been the best of the rest in both races he has faced the world champion with the Frenchman finishing second at both Strade Bianche and now Liège-Bastogne-Liège with the latter being 15 seconds closer at 45 seconds from the winner.
When asked if the added challenge of Seixas motivates Pogačar, who has said a few times that he is maybe looking to retire sooner rather than later, the world champion gave a positive answer. "I think yes, having Paul entering in such a big field and be on that level at only 19 years old, I think brings motivation to everybody else to keep trying to improve.
"Because, if he is 19 now, normally your body is at its best at, I don't know, 25 or 26 to 29 or 30 years old," added Pogačar. "I think we keep working hard to try and fight for the next years to win as much as we can until he destroys everybody. "
How Seixas stayed with Pogačar
The decisive phase followed a pattern Pogačar has used in each of his four Liège wins: attack on the Côte de la Redoute, roughly 30km from the finish, and ride the rest alone. This time the script broke. Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) delivered a lead-out on the lower slopes before Pogačar accelerated hard enough to shed the group. Seixas alone stayed.
"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'," said Pogačar. "And then he was also pulling quite strong all the way."
Pogačar even admitted that he was wary of the sprint after losing in emphatic style to an inspired Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) at Paris-Roubaix two weeks ago.
Seixas gave Pogačar multiple turns, leading the world champion to contemplate what he would need to do in a sprint with the teenager. That changed on the Roche-aux-Faucons, where Pogačar attacked again and Seixas finally cracked.
The race had been unusually chaotic before the finale. An early breakaway of close to 60 riders, including Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), forced UAE Team Emirates-XRG into a long chase that drained energy before the decisive climbs even arrived. Pogačar acknowledged the difficulty, calling it the hardest edition he had ridden.
When asked if he was nervous about the Olympic champion going clear after a split in the peloton, he said, "I was a little bit nervous to begin with. We tried to go hard and close [the gap] immediately but then we had a think and reset the mind. We were like okay, it isn't ideal to have so many in front because it is difficult to collaborate and you never know with Remco, so we rode hard. We believed and, of course, Decathlon-CMA CGM came with two riders.
"It was a really hectic day. A lot of things happened today and it was interesting but we didn't panic as the gap was four minutes and after that it came down quite fast and we heard on the radio that there was no collaboration in the front group but yeah, the guys did a great job."
Pogačar confirmed he will race the Tour de Romandie, a stage race he has never entered before, as his next event.
Cover image credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
