"Honestly we never panicked" - Cosnefroy explains UAE confidence behind Pogacar’s Liège victory

Benoît Cosnefroy reflected on UAE Team Emirates - XRG tactical calm after helping guide Tadej Pogacar to victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, insisting the team never lost faith despite a dangerous move gaining time earlier in the race.

Speaking after the finish, the French rider explained that the situation looked more dramatic from the outside than it felt within the team.

“It may seem crazy, but honestly we never panicked,” Cosnefroy said to Cycling Pro Net. “I always thought it was better to have a high pace behind rather than one rider in front.”

Cosnefroy suggested UAE remained confident because they still had several strong riders around their leader, allowing them to control the race when it mattered most. Rather than sending one teammate into the breakaway, the team preferred to keep its strength together for the decisive climbs.

“I preferred to have all the teammates around Tadej”, he said. “When you have riders with you, it’s better to use everyone.”

The Frenchman admitted the tempo in the peloton became extremely demanding as UAE began to close the gap, with the effort taking a toll on many riders in the bunch.

“It was really hard in the peloton”, Cosnefroy said. “At one moment Pavel and I looked at each other and thought, wow, do we really have good legs today?”

That concern quickly disappeared once the race reached its critical phase and Pogacar launched the move that decided the Monument.

Everything then unfolded according to plan, with the Slovenian once again proving strongest on the climbs of La Doyenne.

“For us it was the perfect scenario”, Cosnefroy added. “The leader wins, and the whole team does its job.”

Liege-Bastogne-Liege marked another major one-day success for Pogacar, while Cosnefroy’s post-race comments highlighted the confidence and collective strength inside one of the dominant teams in the modern peloton.