A strong chase group containing Tom Pidcock, Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) fought hard to regain contact with Pogačar but he soon had an advantage of more than a minute. The World Champion time trialled into the streets of Liège to take a resounding ninth Monument victory.
Ciccone and Healy took second and third respectively, more than a minute behind Pogačar.
Speaking afterwards, Pogačar said that Remco Evenepoel's absence from the lead group on the decisive climb had been “good motivation” to press on and attack.
"It feels great to finish the first part of the season like this," he said. "The whole season so far went perfect, I'm so happy."
"No, actually it was not the plan," he added when asked if he had always intended to attack on the Côte de la Redoute. "But it was such a hard pace before that I saw a number of guys who did not have a lot of their teammates left anymore. I thought I'd test my legs a bit and see if I got a gap on the top where I would then decide if I continued or not. Then I just committed when I saw that I did as I had good legs on the second climb after la Redoute. I was so happy I could then go to the finish.
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"At first, Quick-Step were controlling the bunch and racing on the front all day. At one point they all disappeared from the front. I was thinking maybe they were saving their legs for La Redoute because you can save a lot in the bunch. But then on La Redoute I looked around and he [Evenepoel] wasn’t close on my wheel, but that was also good motivation to go at that point."
How it happened
(Image credit: Getty Images)
A 12 man breakaway formed from the start and held off a two-man chase group containing Tobias Foss and Bob Jungels, both of Ineos Grenadiers, for much of the day. Australian Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) was the most prominent rider in the lead group.
The peloton began to raise the intensity as the Ardennes climbs synonymous with the race started to come thick and fast. The breakaway began to shatter on the steep gradients of the Côte de Stockeu with riders gradually falling back before being swallowed up by the peloton behind. Only four men, including Haig, remained at the head of the race after the climb and they held a gap of just 38 seconds over the main field.
After a brief flourish from Haig, the last four men standing were finally caught on the Col du Rosier as the infamous Côte de la Redoute approached.
EF Education-EasyPost and Tudor Pro Cycling led the peloton onto the slopes of la Redoute, with Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi both prominent at the head of the bunch. Remco Evenepoel was nowhere to be seen. An immediate seated acceleration from Tadej Pogačar opened up a huge gap with 34 kilometres left to race.
Tom Pidcock and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) launched a two up move in an attempt to get across to Pogačar but he had already built up a gap of more than 30 seconds to the duo. They were both soon joined by Alaphilippe and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek).
After proving his form at the Tour of the Alps last week, Ciccone shattered the chasers at the 13 kilometre marker with a stinging attack, quickly dropping Pidcock from the group. Healy was the only rider able to get near the Italian.
Meanwhile Pogačar pushed on up ahead and did not relent in his attempts to continue his attack, powering up the final two climbs of the Côte des Forges and Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons. His lead climbed to more than a minute as he tore back into Liège.
The World Champion pointed to the sky as he crossed the finish line, paying tribute to the mother of his partner Urška Žigart, who passed away just before the 2022 edition of the race. Ciccone outsprinted Healy to take second with the Irishman completing the podium in third.
Results
Liège-Bastogne-Liège Men 2025
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Emirates-XRG, in 6:00:09 2. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +1:03 3. Ben Healy (Ire) EF Education-EasyPost, same time 4. Simon Velasco (Ita) XDS-Astana, +1:10 5. Thibau Nys (Bel) Lidl-Trek, 6. Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Lidl-Trek, 7. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Col) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, 8. Axel Laurance (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers, 9. Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, 10. Neilson Powless (Usa) EF Education-EasyPost, all same time
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Tom has been writing for Cycling Weekly since 2022 and his news stories, rider interviews and features appear both online and in the magazine.
Since joining the team, he has reported from some of professional cycling's biggest races and events including the Tour de France and the World Championships in Glasgow. He has also covered major races elsewhere across the world. As well as on the ground reporting, Tom writes race reports from the men's and women's WorldTour and focuses on coverage of UK domestic cycling.
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