"I was riding for Urska's mother today" - Emotional Tadej Pogacar dedicates victory to partner's mother on anniversary of her passing

Tadej Pogacar is inevitable. The Slovenian predicted he would attack on La Redoute pre-Liege-Bastogne-Liege and that is exactly what he did, powering to a 35km solo win on Sunday afternoon.

"It was a miserable day from the start but we kept pushing hard with the team, set a good pace to keep warm," Pogacar begins his post-race interview. "This was quite an emotional day for me. All day I was riding on the bike and thinking of Urska's (Urska Zigart, Pogacar partner ed.) mother, who died two years ago. I was riding for Urska's mother today and I'm really happy that I can win this beautiful race."

As he touched upon there, his UAE Team Emirates team were on the front throughout, keeping the pace high but also keeping their leader out of trouble. Whilst the likes of Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel were slowed by a crash, Pogacar was able to avoid it completely. "Thanks to all the team for their amazing work. I couldn't have done it without them and yeah, I am full of emotion," he adds.

"Today I had it in my mind to be careful after what happened last year (crashed and broke his wrist ed.). I was more on the safe side this year and to be more warm also I had more layers on because it was super cold," he explains. "The team did a super job. Rode fast on the climbs, safe on the downhill and on La Redoute we did exactly what we said. From then on it was suffering to the finish."

"After these kind of long races, it's super special to come to the line solo. Also with the National Champion's jersey, it's beautiful," Pogacar concludes.