Tadej finished the spring part of the 2025 season in great style. At the 111th Liège–Bastogne–Liège, after an exceptional job done for him by his teammates from the UAE Team Emirates, he attacked on the climb to La Redoute. He rode the last 35 kilometers alone and celebrated the victory with a minute advantage over Giulio Ciccone (Lidl Trek) and Ben Healy (EF Education – Easy Post).
Thus, Tadej celebrated his third victory at »La Doyenne«, the oldest classic in the world, which was first organized in 1892. He was already the best in 2021 and last year, when he dedicated the victory to Darja Žigart, the late mother of his fiancée Urška Žigart.
This time too, the victory was dedicated to Darja, who passed away on April 21, 2022, just a few days before the Liège–Bastogne–Liège race. »For you D«, was written on Tadej’s number 1 race bib, with which he embarked on the 252-kilometer race with more than 4,300 meters of elevation, where he was again too strong for his competitors.
»It feels great to finish the first part of the season like this. I’m just happy that the whole season so far went perfect,« Tadej said after his seventh victory this year and the 95th in his career. »It wasn’t the plan, but it was such a hard pace before that I saw a number of teams didn’t have a lot of teammates anymore. I said, ‘OK, I’ll test my legs a little bit and see if I can get a gap on the top,’ and then I’ll decide if I continue or not. Then I just committed because I had good legs – also on the second climb after La Redoute. I could go to the finish, so I’m super happy,« Tadej said about the decisive attack. Before he went his teammate Domen Novak particularly stood out, setting the pace at the front of the peloton for 60 kilometers.
This was Tadej’s last race in the spring part of the season, in which he celebrated seven victories in 14 days of competition. In February, he won the UAE Tour with two stage victories, in March Strade Bianche, and in April the Tour of Flanders, the Fleche Wallonn, and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. In addition, he finished 3rd at Milano–San Remo and 2nd at Paris–Roubaix and Amstel Gold Race. In Liège, he became the first cyclist in history to reach the podium in six consecutive monuments. Otherwise, this was his ninth victory in the biggest one-day races, with which he climbed to third place on the all-time list.
He shares it with Sean Kelly, Fausto Coppi, and Costante Girardengo, with only Roger De Vlaeminck (11) and Eddy Merckx (19) ahead of him. »I’m mostly happy because I can go home,« said Tadej, who is looking forward to a short break, and then preparations for the Tour de France, which will start on July 5. Before the peak of the season, he will test his readiness at the Critérium du Dauphiné from June 8 to 15.