2023-04-23 16:59:30
By @amatiz12
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) retained his Liège-Bastogne-Liège crown, which in this edition had 258.1 kilometers around Liège. The Belgian was spared with a distant attack in La Redoute and crushed his rivals without much difficulty, among whom was not Tadej Pogacar, who left due to a fall.
That was precisely the bitter pill at the beginning of La Dean. The Slovenian crashed at km 85 and could not recover, being forced to retire. The incident was serious, since it caused several fractures in his left wrist, including the scaphoid, for which he will have to undergo surgery.
Official: Tadej Pogačar, fractured after his fall in Liège-Bastogne-Liège
With ‘Pogi’ out of the game, all the favoritism fell on Evenepoel, who had already turned heads at the start with the innovation of his rainbow outfit, where he wore white shorts instead of the usual black.
As for the race, 11 runners took off with a 4’30” advantage over the lot sponsored by QuickStep. Osborne (ADC), Le Berre (ARK), Van den Berg (GFC), Ourselin (TEN), Zimmermann (IWC), Dversnes (UNO), Velasco (AST), Meens (BWB), Balmer (JAY), Apers ( TFB) and Carretero (EKP) made up the breakaway.
As the terrain became more broken and the hills appeared more frequently, the race became selective on its own. The escape was falling apart, while some favorites lost their way, such as David Gaudu (GFC) or Enric Mas (MOV) -due to illness- as well as Mikel Landa (TBV), who had been on the podium on Wednesday in Flecha.
The only anticipation movement would be carried out by Jan Tratnik (TJV), who, 84 km away, launched from the peloton with an initial response from Valentin Madouas (GFC) and Magnus Sheffield (IGD), who would not last long at the wheel of the Slovenian, who would progressively give hunt down the five remaining escapees.
Tratnik resisted alongside Velasco until La Redoute, where the ‘Wolfpack’ was already giving the final sprint through Ilan Van Wilder for Remco Evenepoel’s withering attack. The Belgian waited as long as possible and accelerated at the top with a reduced group.
Initially, only Thomas Pidcock (IGD) could be in his wake, but the young Englishman would not last long, as another change of pace from the world champion eliminated him completely and sent Remco heading to an exhibition to sign his second consecutive Liege.
In a matter of nothing, he was already endorsing Pidcock’s group for a minute, which included two Trek, Giulio Ciccone and Mattias Skjelmose. They would be neutralized by the favorites squad, which was surrendered to the superiority of the defending champion.
The last point uphill was the Roca de los Falcones and there the largest group saw action with a burst from Pavel Sivakov (IGD), to which Ben Healy (EFE) -a great sensation from the Ardennes- and Santiago Buitrago (TBV) responded. , which was forging a run. The last two would follow their path not so much with the purpose of catching Evenepoel, but to separate themselves from that lot and thus maximize their chances of getting into an honor drawer.
The Irish and the Colombian would be joined by Pidcock, who with his talent for this terrain, helped to make the gap over the others 30″ with 3000 meters to go before the decision. At that point, the chances of the three of them playing for the podium were high.
In the sprint, Buitrago threw 250 meters and deflated Healy, who could not follow the charge. The man from Bogotá would be surpassed by Pidcock, but he would sign a podium for history anyway, as it was the first time a Colombian had achieved this Monument.
Outside of that battle, Evenepoel arrived alone – as in 2022 – in Liège, welcomed by a local crowd that witnessed his first rainbow-clad success. The triumph of a man who is always ambitious and who, with his style, is one of those who delivers the most spectacle in cycling.
Classifications:
Alejandro Matiz
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