Discover the highlights of Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2025!
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More Information on:
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https://twitter.com/liegebastognel
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© Amaury Sport Organisation - www.aso.fr
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SportTranscription
00:00Welcome to Liège-Baston-Liège. La Doyenne, the oldest classic in cycling. This 111th edition
00:09sees the two men who've won the last four editions go head-to-head. It's Remko Ebenopoul
00:14versus Tadej Pogacar and the Slovenian surely starts as the favourite after his demonstration
00:20at Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday.
00:22It's a big monument, a long race, a hard race. It all depends on the legs. We hope for great
00:34legs from all the seven riders in the team, then we can make a nice race for us.
00:39The last three editions have been one solo, with Ebenopoul soaring away on the Côte de
00:44La Redoute in 2022 and 2023.
00:48Nowadays racing, when big moves go, you have to be in. You should be awake from when the
00:55final starts and then just trust in my own legs, power and have confidence for the final.
01:04Plenty of riders will be trying to spoil Pogacar and Ebenopoul's party, although that's easier
01:09said than done. Tom Pidcock finished third on the Mieux de Huy in midweek and he says it's
01:14important for the outsiders to keep believing in their chances.
01:19Everyone's outlook on races has changed a little bit, you know, like you can be dealing with
01:25the next Eddie Merckx or whatever, so sometimes you can be happy with second, but no, that's
01:32not my mentality, you know, of course we try to win. It's not all over before we start.
01:38175 riders setting off, including four former winners, Pogacar, Ebenopoul, Bob Jungels and
01:44Jakob Fuglsang. It's 252 kilometres with 4,400 metres of elevation gain, one of the most punishing
01:51races on the calendar. The Côte d'Aussure returns for the first time in 30 years, but the majority
01:57of the climbs come on the run into Liège, with the Côte de Mont-le-Soy kicking off what
02:01is always a spectacular finale. All eyes will be on Pogacar and Ebenopoul when they hit the
02:06Côte d'Aussure, although the action could kick off well before that. The top contenders will have
02:11to be switched on at all times. The racing underway then in pleasant spring sunshine, a welcome change
02:18after the reign of Fleche Wallonne.
02:28Twelve riders got into the day's breakaway, including Mathis Lebert and Johan Mainz, who
02:34already went up the road here two years ago. Wildcard team Wagoner-Bazin had three men up front,
02:40including Cyril Desal, who crashed in the breakaway at Fleche Wallonne in midweek. Total Energies had
02:45two riders up there with Ryan Boulahouat and Valentin Retailleau, and the biggest name among
02:50the dozen was no doubt Jack Haig of Bahrain Victorious, a former podium finisher at the Vuelta
02:56a Espana. A strong group anyway, and they led by over five minutes as the peloton reached Bastogne
03:02and began to ride north back towards Liège. UAE team Emirates XRG and Soudal Quickstep setting
03:10the tempo for Bougacar and Ebenopoul, with Bahrain Victorious also up there on behalf of Santiago
03:15Buetrago.
03:22Well, things were pretty settled until the Col de Horsier, where the Ineos Grenadiers decided to
03:26shake things up by sending two riders up the road. First was Bob Jungels, the 2018 winner,
03:32and then Tobias Foss, who did the same thing on Wednesday at Fleche Wallonne. They quickly pulled
03:37a minute clear of the peloton, but a lot of teams weren't happy with this situation and began to up the pace.
03:45The gap between the breakaway and the main bunch was down to under three minutes as they entered the
03:51final 100 kilometres, with the Ineos duo at 1.45. The climbs were set to come thick and fast once
03:58they hit Mont-le-Soir, and the favourites would soon be taking centre stage.
04:02Foss and Jungels were eventually reeled back in just after the Côte de Horsier, with the peloton
04:09only a minute behind the breakaway now. Next up was the short but steep Côte de Stucca,
04:15climb number five of 11, with Total Energies driving the breakaway.
04:19Foss dropping back as UAE continued to drive the bunch for Pogaccia, who was just biding his time.
04:30Haig then went solo at the front, with four men chasing him down, Sepulveda, Lolan,
04:35Bulohuat and Lubert. But the writing was on the wall for these escapees, because slowly but surely,
04:42the dragsters back in the peloton were closing in. The last of the breakaway riders were caught on
04:51the Côte de Rosier, climb number seven, and while various other teams had a stint on the front of
04:56the peloton, UAE Team Emirates XRG were back in control before the race's key moment, the decisive
05:03climb of the Côte de l'Aradoute.
05:12UAE massing at the front, with Evenepaul a long way back, when Pogaccia made his move.
05:24Here goes the attack, the world champion just starts to ride away and no one follows.
05:32Pogaccia simply in a league of his own as he powered away from the rest, with Evenepaul out of
05:38position and no doubt some way off his best after that long injury layoff.
05:44Four men were giving chase, Ben Healy, Tom Pidcock, Giulio Ciccone and Julien Alaphilippe.
05:50While further back, Evenepaul was looking for allies as he tried to close the gap.
05:55Pogaccia embarking on the final climb of the Roche au Faucon with a handsome lead of a minute and 20
06:00seconds. Everybody else was battling for second place.
06:04Big attack of the king of the mountains of the Tour de France. Ciccone makes his move now to try and go
06:12across. But this was one climb too many for Evenepaul, beaten for the first time at Liège-Baston-Liège.
06:24But then how do you solve a problem like Pogaccia? The Slovenian closing on his seventh win in 14 race
06:30days this year. Ciccone and Healy would fight for second and third with a big group further behind
06:36set to contest the minor placings. It was another monument masterpiece from the world champion.
06:44This rider attacked with 34.6 kilometers to go. It wasn't really an attack, he just literally rode away.
06:58The high fives of the crowd now for the world champion because this year in all four monuments
07:04he's been on the podium and now he wins three Liège-Baston-Liège. Ciccone out sprinting Healy for second place
07:16while Simone Velasco was the best of the rest. The Italian fourth ahead of Thibonese.
07:21Well once again Tadej Pogaccia reigned supreme rounding out his spring classic season with another
07:32monument victory his second this year and the ninth in total. The Slovenian's shown he can win any race
07:39on the calendar and he's no doubt circled Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix in 2026 but there are several
07:45others to win between now and then. It's great to finish the season like this I mean the first part
07:54of the season like this and yeah just happy that everything went the whole season so far and perfect
08:02and I'm just yeah so happy. A solo winner at Liège-Baston-Liège for the fourth year running with
08:08Pogaccia over a minute clear of Ciccone and Healy. Pidcock made the top 10 just ahead of Nielsen Paulus
08:15with Evander Paul finally 59th over three minutes down.
08:23Only two men in history have now won more monuments than Pogaccia as he continues to rack up the records
08:29but now he will turn his attention to defending his crown at the Tour de France. Join us again next time
08:35and thanks for watching.
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08:51you
08:53you