Pogačar Drops Seixas On The Roche-Aux-Faucons To Win Fourth La Doyenne, Evenepoel Third As Slovenian Joins Valverde And Argentin On Four
Tadej Pogačar won his fourth Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday afternoon, dropping 19-year-old Paul Seixas with a searing acceleration on the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons before riding solo into Liège for a third straight victory at La Doyenne. The reigning world champion's win moves him level with Alejandro Valverde and Moreno Argentin on four career victories at the oldest of the Monuments, with only Eddy Merckx (five) standing ahead in the all-time roll call.
Seixas was the story of the day for almost the full 259.5 kilometres. The Decathlon CMA CGM teenager — already the youngest Flèche Wallonne winner in history three days earlier — matched every flicker on the Côte de Stockeu, the Côte de la Redoute and even into the final selection on the Roche-aux-Faucons before Pogačar's third surge with 13.9km to go finally cracked him. Seixas held it together brilliantly to come home in second at 45 seconds, the first Monument podium of his career and a result that will rewrite the Tour de France 2026 GC market by Monday morning.
Behind, Remco Evenepoel won the sprint for third from a six-rider chase at 1'42", his first Liège podium since his 2023 victory. The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe leader had spent most of the day shadowing Pogačar but was unable to match the world champion's last attack and was dropped on the Roche-aux-Faucons in the same move that distanced Seixas. The Belgian admitted afterwards that the gap to Pogačar at peak power had been "two or three watts per kilo, on the wrong side of the line".
Pogačar wore a black armband through the race in memory of UAE Team Emirates-XRG's former rider Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros, who died on Friday from complications following a knee injury suffered in a fall earlier in April. The Slovenian pointed to the sky as he crossed the line. "It means a lot to win again here, but today is for Camilo and his family," he said in the post-race press conference. "He was a brother in our team. This one is his."
The decisive phase began on the Côte de la Redoute at 36 kilometres to go, where Tom Pidcock's long-range attack reduced the front group to twelve riders. Pidcock, riding for Q36.5-Pinarello in his first Monument since the Volta a Catalunya ravine crash in March, was dropped on the Côte des Forges and finished tenth at 4'18". João Almeida, working as Pogačar's last lieutenant, was the rider who set the tempo on the Roche-aux-Faucons that finally isolated his leader against Seixas and Evenepoel.
The fourth Liège-Bastogne-Liège title closes Pogačar's spring at four wins from five Monument starts in two years (Liège 2024-2026, Lombardia 2024). The world champion now turns to a four-week training block before the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de France 2026 Grand Départ in Barcelona on 4 July. Seixas, meanwhile, continues a debut spring that has now delivered Flèche Wallonne, second at Liège, and a top-ten at Amstel — the most decorated Ardennes campaign by a 19-year-old since records began.
Pogačar was later fined 5,000 Swiss Francs by the UCI race jury for an exuberant podium celebration in which he sprayed champagne onto an official before the anthem ceremony, though the fine was rescinded later in the evening. The post-race controversy did little to dim the historical weight of the victory: with his fourth La Doyenne added to two Tours of Flanders, two Lombardies, and a Milan-San Remo, Pogačar's Monument count climbs to nine, drawing within sight of Sean Kelly (nine, all between 1983 and 1992) and the long-distance markers of Roger De Vlaeminck (eleven) and Eddy Merckx (nineteen).