Tadej Pogacar, in great shape unlike several of his rivals, arrives as favorite on Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where he expects "a good fight against Van der Poel" before devoting himself to his great challenge, conquering the same year the Tour of Italy and the Tour de France. “My ambition is to win all these races. But I'm taking it step by step,” declared the Slovenian at a press conference on Friday in Bilzen, near Liège, two days before the Ardennes Monument.
“Facing Mathieu (van der Poel), it’s going to be a great fight. But the race will be very open because it won't just be the two of us. Mattias Skjelmose and Stevy (Stephen) Williams, among others, if they recover from the hell of La Flèche (Wallonne), will also be formidable,” explained the leader of the UAE team.
Contested in difficult conditions on Wednesday, the Flèche Wallonne crowned the Welshman Stephen Williams while Skjelmose, frozen by the cold and the rain, was among the 130 runners who abandoned. Pogacar expressed his “admiration for those who drove in apocalyptic conditions” on Wednesday in Huy.
Van der Poel “in the shape of his life”, he judges
“We won't have the same weather on Sunday in Liège, even if it will probably still be quite cold. This Friday, it was freezing again during the reconnaissance. But that doesn't scare me. I just came from a training course in Spain where I drove in almost winter conditions. My body got used to these temperatures,” he continued.
Regarding the scenario of the Dean of the classics, Pogacar had fun predicting “an attack with Mathieu 100 km from the line”, joking about the latest “titanic” performances of the Dutchman, winner in recent weeks of the Tour of Flanders ( attack 44 km from the line) and Paris-Roubaix (after a solitary raid of 60 km) and which “Pogi” judges “in the form of his life”.
“More seriously, I think that such a solitary effort is in the realm of the impossible in a race like Liège,” says the Slovenian, who won the Strade bianche at the start of the season by attacking more than 80 km from the arrival. “He’s the rider for major events. Even if I probably climb better than him, I feel he is capable of winning on Sunday,” said Pogacar.
Pogacar also spoke about the rest of his season and his ambitions for victory in the Tours of Italy and France. The last double dates back to 1998, signed Marco Pantani. “I feel in great shape but I only think about Liège at the moment. You have to take it step by step. My fall last year (he broke his wrist at the start of the race) reminds me that we can't predict anything,” he said, deploring the numerous falls that left their mark on them. Remco Evenepoel or Jonas Vingegaard, in particular, in recent weeks.
“I wish Jonas and Remco the best”
“I wish them to recover as quickly as possible. But I have learned from personal experience that coming back after an accident takes a long time. Your body does not recover as quickly as your head,” argued the double winner of the Grande Boucle (2020 and 2021). “We think everything is fine, but it’s not that simple. The body has its limits. »
“Despite everything, I do not consider myself the favorite of the Tour because the challenge that presents itself to me is immense,” he continued while the Belgian Evenepoel assured Friday that he would be ready for the high mass of the month of July. The Slovenian also repeated his ambition to win “all the major races on the calendar” after having already put his name on the list of three Monuments, the Tour of Flanders (2023), Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2021) and the Tour de Lombardy (2021, 2022, 2023).
“Milan-San Remo is undoubtedly the most unpredictable and complicated Monument to win. But I’m getting closer to victory after my 3rd place this spring,” he said. “As for Paris-Roubaix, which is probably the race that suits me the least, I still intend to tackle it. But it’s not yet yet,” concluded the 25-year-old phenomenon.