Tadej finished the spring classics season with another big win. For the third time in a row and overall for the fourth time (2021, 2024, 2025, 2026), he was the best at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, even though he ran into trouble soon after the start of this 259.5-kilometer test.
After a mass crash in the opening kilometers, the peloton split in half and as many as 52 riders remained up front, among them one of Tadej’s most dangerous rivals, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe). The leading group rode up a four-minute advantage, but then UAE Team Emirates – XRG tightened its ranks.
Rune Herregodts, Vegard Stake Laengen, Tim Wellens, and others set off in pursuit, joined as well by teammates of Paul Seixas from the Decathlon CMA CGM team. A good 82 kilometers from the finish, they caught the breakaway riders and the exceptionally fast race—ending with a record average speed of 44.426 km/h—started anew.
»Today, a lot happened. At the beginning, I was at the back. It is always hard at the start so I just followed the wheels, I looked down and I saw we were going fast. In one moment, I looked up and the group was split. But after 20 minutes, we realised it was not so bad to let them go. These kinds of breakaways with a big group rarely have good collaboration, but of course we could still be a little scared. Remco can go from far away from that group, so we kept it under control. Vegard and Rune did an amazing job, and later also Decathlon came to help, and the rest of my team did a super job. It was all under control but you never let Remco go away,« Tadej said about the demanding first part of the race.
The initiative at the head of the peloton was then taken over by Domen Novak, and before the climb to La Redoute (1.6 kilometers, average gradient 8.7 percent) Benoît Cosnefroy rode to the front and set up Tadej’s attack a good 35 kilometers before the finish. Tadej accelerated just like in the last two years, when he then rode away alone toward the finish, but this time Seixas still followed.
The young Frenchman continued to work with Tadej in setting the pace. All the way to the final climb to Roche aux Faucons (1.3 km, 11%), where Tadej again pushed all out on the pedals. This time Seixas cracked, and Tadej rode the last 14 kilometers alone out front.
»On La Redoute, I was really going deep and I could see that Seixas was a little bit on the elastic, but on the top he came next to me. I was really impressed, and then also he was pulling quite strong all the way. We opened up a big gap which was really good for us, and then in my head I was already preparing to do a dual sprint, because he was so strong. I tried on Roche aux Faucons, I did my pace and I know the climb super well. It suits me well, and luckily he dropped. But I was prepared to go head to head in a sprint with him,« Tadej said about the duel with Seixas, who also took 2nd place at the Strade Bianche race. In Liège he finished 45 seconds back, while Remco Evenepoel was the strongest in the sprint of the chasing group and took 3rd place, 1:42 behind Tadej.
»It means a lot to win again one of the biggest races of the year in cycling, and I don’t do many races, so I don’t have a lot of opportunities to win. So it is a lot of pressure for me for today and for days like today, and I am really really happy that we succeeded. I couldn’t be more proud of the team,« Tadej added, after celebrating his 112th career victory and already his 13th in the Monument races. He raced with a black band on his arm in memory of Cristian Muñoz, a former member of UAE Team Emirates – XRG, who passed away a few days ago.
With his fourth win at the »old lady« (La Doyenne), Tadej drew level in 2nd place on the all-time list with Alejandro Valverde and Moreno Argentin. Ahead of him, with five wins, is only the race’s record holder Eddy Merckx. In the Ardennes, Tadej also capped off another exceptional season of spring classics, which he began with a win at Strade Bianche. Then he won three of four monuments (Milan–Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, Liège–Bastogne–Liège), while Paris–Roubaix he finished in 2nd place.
Now he will focus on stage races; already on Tuesday, his first appearance awaits at the Tour de Romandie, which will conclude on May 3.