Highlights - #LiegeBastogneLiege 2023
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http://www.liege-bastogne-liege.be/
https://www.facebook.com/liegebastogneliege
https://twitter.com/liegebastognel
Official Hashtag : #LBL #LBLwomen
© Amaury Sport Organisation - www.aso.fr
Transcript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Evenepoel strikes.
00:09 He's going away.
00:11 It's one meter.
00:12 It's two meters.
00:13 And now Evenepoel puts in the hammer blow
00:17 and starts to ride away.
00:18 Welcome to Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2023.
00:24 This is the 109th edition of cycling's oldest monument,
00:27 first held back in 1892.
00:30 And it could well be historic, as Tadej Pogacar looks
00:32 to become just the third man to complete the Ardennes hat trick
00:35 following his victories at the Amstel Gold Race and Fleche
00:38 Wallonne.
00:39 But the Slovenian star is up against a formidable opponent
00:42 on Sunday, last year's winner and the reigning world
00:44 champion Remco Evenepoel.
00:46 The Belgian's back from altitude training in Spain
00:49 to defend his title.
00:50 I think Remco should be more under pressure
00:57 for the Liege, because he's coming off altitude
01:04 after a break.
01:05 And he won last year.
01:07 So I already have one monument this year.
01:13 So I'm quite relaxed for tomorrow.
01:16 And I will see how the race develops and then try
01:20 to do the best in the final.
01:21 Yeah, I'm excited to race, not to fight anybody.
01:25 Just excited to start the race.
01:26 And yeah, it's one month without competition.
01:30 So I'm happy to finally race again.
01:31 And especially in this race with the rainbow jury,
01:34 it's going to be special.
01:35 Pogacar and Evenepoel are certainly the big favorites.
01:38 But that doesn't mean the other 170 riders are just
01:41 here to make up the numbers.
01:44 There's always a way to win.
01:45 In a bike race, you never know really what could happen.
01:47 It's such a long race as well.
01:49 So it's all about conserving energy
01:51 better than everyone else.
01:52 And you can be the strongest rider in the world.
01:54 But if you don't use your energy well,
01:56 then you might fall off base in the last 20, 30 k.
02:00 258 kilometers, over 4,500 meters of elevation gain.
02:05 It's brutal.
02:06 The majority of the 11 climbs come in the final 100 k,
02:09 starting with the Cote de Mont-Le-Soir.
02:11 It's then over famous names such as the Cote de Stockeux,
02:14 the Col de Rosiers, and the Cote de la Redoute
02:16 before the final showdown on the Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons,
02:19 which tops out just 13 k from the finish line.
02:24 Well, the big news from the early part of the race
02:26 was that Tadej Pogacar was forced to abandon.
02:29 The Slovenian was caught up in a crash with Michel Honoré
02:31 after 84.5 kilometers.
02:34 And he injured his wrist, ending his hopes
02:36 of the Ardennes treble.
02:40 Before that incident, 11 riders got into the breakaway,
02:43 opening up a gap of around four minutes on the peloton.
02:46 Among them were Georg Zimmermann and Johan Mains,
02:48 who got into the move at Fleche Wallonne in midweek,
02:51 plus Paul Orsola, who was on the attack here last year
02:54 and breakaway regular Simone Velasco.
02:57 There was also Jason Osborne, the former Olympic rower,
03:00 who moved into professional cycling
03:01 after he won the Esports World Championships.
03:04 LeBert, van der Berg, de Varchenis, Balmert, Apes,
03:08 and Carretera completing that group of 11 riders.
03:12 With Pogacar out of commission, it
03:14 was Soudal Quick-Step doing the pacing on behalf
03:16 of Evenepoel in the peloton.
03:18 And they brought the gap down to under three minutes
03:20 before the climbs started in earnest.
03:22 The pace just creeping up as the favorites
03:27 began to set themselves for the business end of proceedings.
03:31 The former world champion, Julian Alaphilippe,
03:33 setting the temper for Soudal Quick-Step
03:35 as lots of riders started going backwards.
03:38 Liege-Bastogne-Liege, after all, is a real race of attrition.
03:43 The breakaway also being thinned out
03:44 as Jan Tratnik attacked from the peloton,
03:46 the Slovenian followed by Magnus Sheffield and Valentin
03:49 Madouas.
03:50 Some of the big names starting to struggle,
03:53 including Enric Mas and Sergio Higuita.
03:55 Mikel Landa, who was third at Fleche-Vallone midweek,
03:58 also dropped.
03:58 Well, Madouas soon sat up as Tratnik and Sheffield
04:04 caught Balmert, who had been dropped from the breakaway.
04:06 At this point, there were only six riders left up
04:08 at the front.
04:11 And six would become five on the Cote d'Astocou
04:14 as Tratnik continued to motor on alone.
04:16 The Jumbo-Visma man slowly but surely closing
04:18 that gap on the leaders.
04:21 An impressive debut showing from Tratnik,
04:23 who's been preparing for the Giro with Primoz Roglic.
04:25 He eventually caught the breakaway
04:27 and continued to set the pace on the Col du Rosier.
04:30 Only Velasco and Osborne were able to match him,
04:33 although the German soon cracked.
04:36 Further back, Soudal Quick-Step was still
04:37 pacing hard for Evanapoul.
04:39 No more Alaphilippe, but the world champion
04:41 still had Louis Fafka and Ilan van Wilde in support.
04:46 The Belgian squad continuing to pile on the pressure,
04:48 meaning the gap to the two leaders
04:50 was quickly down to just a handful of seconds.
04:53 Onto the race's most famous climb, the Cote de la Redoute,
04:56 where Tratnik and Velasco were caught.
04:59 Breakaway finally over.
05:01 Van Wilde putting in a monster turn for Evanapoul,
05:04 who was clearly getting ready to strike.
05:06 Here he goes.
05:12 The strike happens.
05:13 He played a little bit.
05:15 Pidcock immediately goes with the acceleration.
05:19 But the gap starts to go.
05:21 The head of Pidcock drops.
05:22 Evanapoul strikes.
05:24 He's going away.
05:26 It's one meter.
05:27 It's two meters.
05:28 And now Evanapoul puts in the hammer blow
05:32 and starts to ride away.
05:35 Tom Pidcock was just about holding onto Evanapoul's wheel
05:38 after la Redoute, but he was unable to give the Belgian
05:40 a turn and said goodbye on a short rise
05:43 a few kilometers later.
05:45 Evanapoul soaring away just as he did a year ago
05:48 and quickly time trialing his way into a one minute lead.
05:50 The other riders seem to accept that they would be battling it
05:58 out for second place.
06:01 The defending champion soaking up the applause
06:03 from the Belgian fans on the final climb, La Rochefoucauld,
06:06 while further back Ben Healey attacked from the chase group.
06:09 The Irishman looking to enter his second place last week
06:12 at the Amstel Gold Race.
06:14 Santiago Buitraga was able to follow,
06:16 unlike Pavel Sivakov, but Pidcock
06:18 managed to get across for the Ineos Grenadiers.
06:21 These three riders set to contest the remaining two
06:23 podium places, with a rampant Remco already starting
06:27 to celebrate on the run into the edge.
06:29 Remco Evanapoul conducts his own celebration.
06:39 The world champion wearing number one.
06:42 He joins the greats of Belgium.
06:44 He joins Eddie Merckx as a back to back victor of Liege,
06:49 Bastogne-Liege.
06:51 He puts his fingers up.
06:52 It's two wins in Liege, Bastogne-Liege.
06:56 He's ready for the Giro d'Italia.
06:58 Remco Evanapoul wins.
06:59 That is now two appearances and two victories
07:04 for Evanapoul at La Douaien.
07:06 And it's the first time the 23-year-old has won
07:08 while wearing the rainbow jersey.
07:11 Evanapoul showing he's ready for his upcoming clash
07:13 with Roglic at the Giro d'Italia after taking
07:15 his fourth win of the season.
07:17 And it was a team masterclass from Soudal Quick-Step,
07:20 giving them something to celebrate
07:21 after an underwhelming classics campaign.
07:23 I have to thank my team for this beautiful victory,
07:31 because they pulled off a great show, working for me
07:35 from the start.
07:36 And yeah, it's their victory as well.
07:41 But I'm just so happy to take two out of two here in Liege.
07:43 It's an amazing feeling, especially
07:46 with this beautiful jersey.
07:48 Evanapoul coming home over a minute clear of Pidcock
07:51 and Buitrago, who both make the podium of a monument
07:53 for the very first time.
07:55 Healy had to settle for fourth ahead of the French pair,
07:57 Marouas and Guillaume Martin, while Marc Hirschi
07:59 rounded out the top 10 for UAE after they lost Pagaca.
08:04 Today was all about Remco Evanapoul,
08:06 though the first man to go back-to-back at Liege-Bastogne-Liege
08:09 since Michele Bartoli in the late 1990s.
08:13 He will now look to imitate the great Eddy Merckx, among others,
08:16 by trying to complete his Liege hat trick in 2024.
08:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:24 [GRUNTS]
08:27 (dramatic music)
08:30 (thunder)