While Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is the outright favourite for Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the expectation surrounding Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) after his La Flèche Wallonne debut victory has led to him being ranked above even two-time winner Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in several markets for Sunday’s race.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Evenepoel, who will start in Liège off the back of an impressive win at Amstel Gold Race, offered a reality check on the difficulty of the course and said how “Tadej and I already have a bit more stamina,” compared to Seixas.
This will be just the second Monument appearance of 19-year-old Seixas’ career, which Evenepoel believes could make the difference. He still rates Pogačar above him, though, which is expected after his wins at the Tour of Flanders, Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche already this Classics season.
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“It is logical that he is ahead of me. Pogačar wins everywhere he starts, except in Roubaix. So he is the deserved top favorite everywhere, and it is no different here,” said Evenepoel, reported Sporza, before being asked whether he rated Seixas as above or below him as a challenger to the World Champion.
A duel in the Ardennes between Evenepoel and Pogačar at full strength has been brewing for years, as despite winning the past five editions between them, they’ve only crossed paths twice at La Doyenne so far.
In 2023, before Evenepoel won solo, Pogačar crashed and broke his wrist early in the race, and last season, Evenepoel had still only recently returned from suffering several fractures in the winter, so he was well away from his best as Pogačar attacked away to win.
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