Pressure on UAE at Liege-Bastogne-Liege according to Brian Holm: "They’re the favourites every time Tadej Pogacar lines up - and that won’t change anytime soon”

Despite the presence of the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Tom Pidcock, Thibau Nys, Mattias Skjelmose and others at the startline of Liege-Bastogne-Liege, all eyes are once again on the world champion Tadej Pogacar as he looks to claim an incredible 9th Monument win of his career to date this Sunday afternoon in the Ardennes.

For many, the question isn't if Pogacar will make a long-range attack but just how far out he'll try to go from. According to ex-pro and former Soudal - Quick-Step DS Brian Holm however, it might be time for UAE Team Emirates - XRG to come up with a slightly more reserved plan of attack, noting the recent Amstel Gold Race, where a long-range Pogacar attack was caught and the Slovenian ended up being beaten at the line, as a warning sign.

“It’s obvious - when you’ve got no teammates left, you have to go. So Julian Alaphilippe attacks, and Pogacar goes with him," recalls Holm in conversation with Feltet.dk. "But he could have just let him go and waited to attack on a climb later. It’s a very optimistic strategy.”

“I’d say that in a lot of races, yes - but the thing is, they keep winning. I thought he attacked way too early at Worlds too, and we were all shaking our heads - but he made it stick," continues Holm. “It’s not an easy strategy they’re running. I could imagine they might hold back a bit more now. But they’re still the favourites every time Pogacar lines up - and that won’t change anytime soon.”

As for rivals to Pogacar, Holm looks no further than his compatriot and the winner of the aforementioned Amstel Gold Race, Mattias Skjelmose, despite the Lidl-Trek star crashing in midweek at La Fleche Wallonne. “If there was any confusion about roles within Lidl-Trek, I think Skjelmose cleared that up at Amstel - he showed who the captain is,” Holm says. “In Liège, maybe Nys can get into an early break, but after what Skjelmose did in Amstel, I see him as the leader. Thibau Nys can play the role of a shadow captain.”

“They should be pretty good. Liège suits slightly lighter riders, since the climbs are steeper. At Amstel, the climbs are more spread out, but in Liège, it all comes in the final part,” Holm concludes, backing his compatriot to get another good result in the Ardennes. “So his chances haven’t gotten worse. But this is cycling - we all know you can have a bad day.”