Pogacar beats teen Seixas to win 4th Liege-Bastogne-Liege / Photo: MAARTEN STRAETEMANS - Belga/AFP
Pogacar beats teen Seixas to win 4th Liege-Bastogne-Liege
World champion Tadej Pogacar won a third straight Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday after a thrilling battle with teenage French sensation Paul Seixas.
Pogacar romped to his 13th Monument victory and fourth in total at La Doyenne after finally cracking Seixas with 14km to ride of the 260km slog through the Ardennes, halfway up the last of 11 punchy climbs along the route.
Seixas came home 45 seconds later with Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel winning the sprint for third place from a large group 1min 42sec back.
In what was only his fifth race this year, Pogacar claimed a fourth victory -- and three of those in Monuments -- while his only blip was a second place behind Wout van Aert at Paris-Roubaix two weeks ago.
But in 19-year-old Seixas, he now has a rival seemingly capable of pushing him to the limit.
It was Seixas's first attempt at Liege and only his second ever Monument race having finished a distant seventh behind Pogacar at last October's Tour of Lombardy.
But having won the Fleche Wallonne build-up race on Wednesday, Seixas continues to prove with every outing that he is Pogacar's heir apparent.
E.Mancini--IM
