Tadej Pogačar wins Liège-Bastogne-Liège; Paul Seixas finishes second as rising French hope
Consensus Summary
Tadej Pogačar secured his third consecutive Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory and fourth overall, finishing 45 seconds ahead of 19-year-old French debutant Paul Seixas, who took second place in his first Monument race. Pogačar’s attack on the Côte de la Redoute dropped most of the field, but Seixas held on before being dropped on the final climb to Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons. The win extended Pogačar’s dominance in cycling’s Monuments, with 13 total victories, while Seixas’s strong performance has raised expectations for France’s future in the sport. Remco Evenepoel completed the men’s podium in third, and Demi Vollering won the women’s race for a third time. Both articles highlight Seixas’s potential as a rising star, with Pogačar praising his climbing ability and maturity, though ABC adds speculation about political intervention to keep Seixas in France and deeper analysis of the pressure on young French champions.
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Key details reported by multiple sources:
- Tadej Pogačar won Liège-Bastogne-Liège for a third consecutive year and fourth overall, finishing in 5h 50m 28s
- Paul Seixas (19) finished second, 45 seconds behind Pogačar, in his debut at Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- Pogačar launched his decisive attack on the Côte de la Redoute, 35km from the finish, dropping most of the field
- Seixas followed Pogačar up La Redoute but was dropped on the final ascent to Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (14km to finish)
- Remco Evenepoel finished third in the men’s race, while Demi Vollering won the women’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège for a third time
- Pogačar has now won 13 Monument races (Milan-San Remo, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Giro di Lombardia)
- No French rider has won Liège-Bastogne-Liège since Bernard Hinault in 1980
- Seixas won the 2026 La Flèche Wallonne and three stages at the Itzulia Basque Country earlier this season
- The race distance was 259.5km
Points of Difference
Details reported by only one source:
- Pogačar called Seixas 'incredible' and said he was 'impressed and amazed' by his performance, noting Seixas is 'one of the best climbers in the world' at 19
- Pogačar acknowledged Seixas’s strength, saying he was 'preparing for a sprint duel' but managed to drop him on the final climb
- French press expectations for Seixas are 'suffocating,' with unsubstantiated rumors that President Emmanuel Macron intervened to keep Seixas at Decathlon CMA CGM
- Pogačar said Seixas’s maturity and results at 19 are 'a source of motivation' and warned rivals he may 'destroy everybody' as he improves
- Pogačar will skip the 2026 Giro d’Italia to focus on a fifth Tour de France victory, with Seixas expected to challenge him
- Seixas described the pace on La Redoute as 'insane' and said he was 'completely exhausted' but made a 'step forward' with endurance
- Pogačar compared Seixas’s potential to past French champions like Thibaut Pinot, Arnaud Démare, and Julian Alaphilippe, who struggled under pressure
- Evenepoel called Seixas ‘one of the best climbers in the world’ and said his performance was 'not surprising' given recent results
- Pogačar mentioned Seixas’s 'great punch' and said he is 'not getting any younger,' hinting at future challenges from the French rider
- Demi Vollering’s victory was her third Liège-Bastogne-Liège title (2021, 2023, 2026), and she called the race 'one of the biggest' with 'so many good memories,'
- Puck Pieterse won the women’s race sprint for second place, 89 seconds behind Vollering, with Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney third
- Vollering also won the 2026 Tour of Flanders, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and La Flèche Wallonne, completing a dominant Spring Classics campaign
- The Guardian noted this was the 10th edition of the women’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège race, which Vollering had dreamed of winning before it existed
Contradictions
Conflicting information between sources:
- ABC reports Pogačar is 27 years old, while Guardian does not specify his age but implies he is 27 (both likely correct, but ABC explicitly states it)
- ABC mentions a 'rumor' that Macron intervened to keep Seixas at Decathlon, while Guardian does not reference this claim
- ABC includes a quote from Pogačar saying 'We have to keep working hard if we want to keep fighting for victories, before he destroys everybody,' which Guardian does not include
- ABC describes Seixas as 'already in uncharted territory' due to the race length, while Guardian does not use this phrasing
Source Articles
Pogačar looks unbeatable, but Seixas could be France's next new hope
Tadej Pogačar claims a third monument win out of four for the year at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but a new power is rising in the form of 19-year-old Paul Seixas, with an unlikely Tour de France tilt seemingly on the cards.
Pogacar holds off French teen to claim third straight Liège-Bastogne-Liège title
World champion pulls clear of Paul Seixas on final climb ‘It means a lot to win again one of the biggest races’ The world champion, Tadej Pogacar, pulled ahead of the 19-year-old French debutant Paul Seixas in the final climb to secure his third straight Liège-Bastogne-Liège title on Sunday, his fourth overall victory in the race. Pogacar finished the 259.5km race in five hours, 50 minutes and 28 seconds to win the 13th Monument title of his career and his third of the year after the Tour of Fla