While Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is the outright favourite for Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the expectation surrounding Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) after his La Flèche Wallonne debut victory has led to him being ranked above even two-time winner Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in several markets for Sunday's race.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Evenepoel, who will start in Liège off the back of an impressive win at the Amstel Gold Race, offered a reality check on the difficulty of the course and said that "Tadej and I already have a bit more stamina," compared to Seixas.
This will be just the second Monument appearance of 19-year-old Seixas' career, which Evenepoel believes could make the difference. He still rates Pogačar above him, though, which is expected after his wins at the Tour of Flanders, Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche already this Classics season.
"It is logical that he is ahead of me. Pogačar wins everywhere he starts, except in Roubaix. So he is the deserved top favourite everywhere, and it is no different here," said Evenepoel, reported Sporza, before being asked whether he rated Seixas as above or below him as a challenger to the World Champion.
"I'll leave that up to you. I have won here twice already, so that's a slight edge for me. Of course, he has never raced here before either. He is only 19, and it is 260 kilometres. Tadej and I already have a bit more stamina for this kind of race.
"We shouldn't be surprised if he struggles in the final hour. Racing for 6 hours is something different from racing for 4 hours. He is, however, definitely in the top 5 to compete for the win here."
A duel in the Ardennes between Evenepoel and Pogačar at full strength has been brewing for years, as despite winning the past five editions between them, they've only crossed paths twice at La Doyenne so far.
In 2023, before Evenepoel won solo, Pogačar crashed and broke his wrist early in the race, and last season, Evenepoel had still only recently returned from suffering several fractures in the winter, so he was well away from his best as Pogačar attacked away to win.
"Probably. In 2023, he was really good too, but unfortunately, he dropped out due to a pothole in the road. That really could have been a first duel," added Evenepoel. "Last year, I had a tougher day. I felt like I was ready for it, but that turned out not to be the case. Let's hope it stays exciting for as long as possible this time.
"I expect to be able to keep up longer than last year. I am starting with more confidence and also simply in better form."
Evenepoel last raced Pogačar at the Tour of Flanders, where he impressed on debut to finish third, but ultimately couldn't match the Slovenian or Mathieu van der Poel on the short, sharp bergs in Flanders. With Wallonia's punchy climbs presenting a different prospect, Evenepoel isn't taking too much from that last face-off heading into Sunday.
"In Strade and Flanders, he finished alone, and he won Sanremo, that says enough," he said of Pogačar. "Here you reach the top of the climb, and there is an immediate descent. Then the legs always have a chance to recover.
"It is completely different in Flanders, where you reach the top and after a 200-meter descent, you have to keep drilling. If I were to reach the top of La Redoute 10 seconds behind, I won't give up."
Evenepoel opted against racing La Flèche Wallonne during the week on Wednesday, instead hoping to arrive in Liège with maximum recovery in the legs after Amstel. He'll be expected to challenge Pogačar, as will Seixas, but has remained a step below in the hilly Classics – shown best at Worlds, Europeans and Lombardy at the end of 2025 – so will need to take a step if he's to match his rival's win tally at La Doyenne.
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