Liège-Bastogne-Liège match-up: Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel finally meet again

Tadej Pogačar wins the 2021 Liege Bastogne Liege

(Image credit: Getty Images / Baz Czerwinski)

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published 18 April 2024

The oldest Monument returns to herald an end to the Classics this weekend, with the men’s and women’s races interestingly poised. The finalé to the Ardennes races is traditionally one for the climbers, with 11 categorised climbs for the men, and 10 for the women.

Injury has robbed Liège-Bastogne-Liège of a potential hat-trick of victories for Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), the rider who has won the men’s race for the last two seasons, but a fascinating matchup between Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) is to be expected, in what will be their first meeting since Milan-San Remo.

Van der Poel, the world champion, comes into La Doyenne off the back of historic exploits at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, where he became the first man in rainbow bands to win both in the same season. His tilt at Liège will be just his second attempt at the race, and although he finished sixth before in 2020, the race will be a test of his climbing ability, and probably at the very edge of races he could win.

Elisa Longo Borghini
Lidl-Trek
*****
Such is the Italian’s focus in this block of racing that she skipped Paris-Roubaix - a race she has won before – to stay safe for the Ardennes. Longo Borghini won Brabantse Pijl last week by dropping Vollering, and will hope to do exactly the same on Sunday. Her season is already complete, with victory at the Tour of Flanders, but she will want to keep winning.

Kasia Niewiadoma
Canyon-SRAM
****
So often the nearly-woman of racing, Niewiadoma once again finished on the podium of a big race with second at the Tour of Flanders at the end of March, before going on to claim her first win in five years at La Flèche Wallonne. The Pole is targeting Ardennes week, and if she picks the right time to attack, she might finally take that Monument win that she craves.

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Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling on tarmac, he's happy. Before joining Cycling Weekly he spent two years writing for Procycling, where he interviewed riders and wrote about racing. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds. Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to cycling.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège match-up: Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel finally meet again

Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024: contenders

Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024: men's start list

Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024: women's start list

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