Marc Sergeant stunned once again by Tadej Pogacar's Liège victory: "Pogacar now gives the impression that he is not yet riding at ninety percent"

Tadej Pogacar won Strade Bianche unchallenged and in style, and repeated the same feat at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. For most spectators and analysts, it became once again very clear how much above the regular competition the Slovenian is by the way he won the Belgian monument with an attack on the Côte de la Redoute.

"Everyone knows that Pogacar is going to strike there and yet no one can follow him," Marc Sergeant said in words to Het Nieuwsblad. "I almost felt sorry for Carapaz. You see him squeezing everything out of his body at 110, maybe even 120 percent, he gets within one and a half meters, and he still can't close the gap. While Pogacar now gives the impression that he is not yet riding at ninety percent. And I'm afraid it's not just an impression. How else can you explain that his lead at the top of La Redoute is sixteen seconds and that five kilometers further he already has a full minute? Pogacar takes more time after the summit than before. Which actually doesn't make sense. But while all the others at the top have to recover, he can still make a difference."

As soon as Pogacar attacked it looked clear that no-one would be able to match the UAE Team Emirates leader, and that was the story of the race. Another victory without much tension or anticipation, the attack came exactly where most expected but still no-one had a response. The race for second place then became the highlight of the event, with Mathieu van der Poel's ride into third spot being an interesting view after what was a race always spent on the back foot. "Third, from a sober perspective, it is a very good result by Van der Poel. Yet I can imagine that he left Liège with the idea: wouldn't it be better to stay at home next year?"

"With the exception of that fall, where he had to put his foot on the ground and make up a minute, everything went well for Van der Poel. The weather, the headwind, his own coolness, the race commissioner who allowed him to return behind the support cars, and also his own Alpecin-Deceuninck team. Yet you cannot ignore the fact that even then he had to take over the role at the decisive moments and he got the most out of the race with that third place," Sergeant argues. "Did he lack freshness? Is it decompression after Roubaix? Is the competition just too tough? It may be a combination of everything."

Van der Poel has won two monuments and Pogacar one, whilst last year both won two monuments each. Truly, these two riders have avoided injuries which plagued all of their main rivals, and are soaring through the spring classics winning time and time again. "There are simply riders who stand out. Van der Poel in the Ronde and Roubaix, Pogacar in the Strade and Liège," Karl Vannieuwkerke told Sporza, arguing that there is still a lot for Pogacar to achieve this year despite everything he's already done. 

"They now each have six monuments to their name. It's phenomenal. And this one is a lot younger. He will go for something special again this year with the Giro and the Tour on his programme. And let's hope that we can all look forward to a great Olympic Games, where perhaps they will all start."