"If there is one person from whom we can expect a counterweight to Pogacar, it is Evenepoel" - José de Cauwer

Remco Evenepoel has won Liège-Bastogne-Liège last year with a perfectly timed attacked over the summit of La Redoute. To repeat that would be near impossible as his rivals will be ready, however if anyone is to match Tadej Pogacar in the difficult climbs of the Ardennes it'll be the World Champion according to José de Cauwer.

"Surely there will come a day when Pogacar's form gets a little less? On the other hand, will Remco be okay immediately when he comes down from his [altitude] camp?" de Cauwer told Sporza. "I think there will be no choice. Remco will try to ride Pogacar off. Or vice versa. Otherwise it will come to a sprint. You would then be inclined to give Pogacar the advantage, but Remco's sprint is also getting better."

Read also

Remco Evenepoel was scheduled to race Flèche Wallone but "he opted to make the best possible use of his time on Teide", DS Peeters reveals

On paper Pogacar would be the fastest of the two in a sprint, but he would also be faster than virtually the entire list of contenders who are expected to fight for the win. Taking into consideration how well Pogacar has been climbing this spring it'll be hard for other teams to calculate how to take a win in a race that is regularly controlled until the final ascent. The Slovenian is expected to also attack the race as he has throughout all of the spring classics he's participated in, and he starts as the man to beat this Sunday.

"Naturally! No one has so much self-confidence that he thinks: I'll ride that off later. I think they both have a lot of respect for each other, maybe even a little bit of fear," de Cauwer argues. "But if there is one person from whom we can expect a counterweight to Pogacar, it is Evenepoel."

Read also

Tadej Pogacar admits Roubaix debut is in sights, but "for now I will continue to focus on the competitions where I have proven that I can handle it well"

"Beating Pogacar was definitely not an option" - Mikel Landa 'super happy' with podium result at Fléche Wallone