Pogačar beats Van der Poel in a dominant win at Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic
LIEGE,čarbeatsVanderPoelinadominantwinatLiège–Bastogne–Liè Belgium (AP) — Tadej Pogačar proved too strong for Mathieu Van der Poel as he won the Liège–Bastogne–Liège cycling classic with a solo breakaway on Sunday.
Pogačar attacked 35 kilometers (22 miles) out to win cycling’s oldest classic for the second time, after victory in 2021, and made up for last year when he broke his left wrist in a crash.
“I’m happy that I can finally win this race again,” the 25-year-old Slovenian said. “It’s beautiful to finish like this.”
The two-time Tour de France champion waved to the crowd as he approached the finish line well clear. French veteran Romain Bardet finished second and Van der Poel led a mass sprint to the line to finish third.
Liège–Bastogne–Liège is one of the five “monuments” in one-day cycling with the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Lombardy and Milan-San Remo. Van der Poel won Roubaix two weeks ago but has not won Liège and Lombardy.