“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.”