It was an impressive image: Tadej Pogacar attacking on La Redoute in Liege-Bastogne-Liege as if he were a rocket. The Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates once again exhibited an impressive solo after that attack. He was super fast on La Redoute, although the Strava-KOM was not assigned to him. That honor still belongs to Lotto Dstny's 18-year-old talent Jarno Widar. Well, depends who you ask...
Pogacar took four minutes and three seconds to cross the Redoute on Sunday afternoon (1.5 km at 9.9%). He was one second faster than previous record holder Widar, who rode up the iconic hill like a rocket on October 1, 2023. Widar, still only eighteen years old, dethroned none other than Remco Evenepoel at the time.
However, there is one big but. Widar, 1.66 meters tall and weighing just over fifty kilograms, also has a Redoute segment to his name. Research by Het Nieuwsblad shows that Strava has two segments there with exactly the same name. However, there is a minimal difference in starting and ending points, which also created a difference in the times of Pogacar and Widar.
"Of all the slopes in the Ardennes, La Redoute is my favorite," the Flemish said in conversation with the daily newspaper. "Yet I realize that it is only a segment. So it doesn't really matter to me. Yes, I followed the race last Sunday. At home, from the couch. But certainly not full of excitement about whether or not they would ride faster over La Redoute." A good dose of realism from the Limburger, who states that he is still in possession of the KOM. "I assume that my time will be improved at some point. But then I'm just going to try to take that KOM away again."
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