Total focus on Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the colossal showdown against Pogacar: Remco Evenepoel has decided to skip the Flèche Wallonne. After his victory at the Amstel (his seventh of the season), the Red Bull-Bora Flemish rider had left open the possibility of competing in the Flèche Wallonne, but today the decision came through: no to the classic that concludes on the Mur de Huy (in 2025 he finished ninth, 16" behind winner Pogacar).

"We'll assess how I recover, but I felt good in the race, so I hope to be able to race," he said after his sprint victory over Danish rider Skjelmose. However, the team decided otherwise. Complete recovery of strength and no Flèche Wallonne, therefore, just as Pogacar had already decided to do. No advantage given to the Slovenian in terms of energy reserves.

The duel with Tadej will be a monster battle, considering that since 2021 Liège-Bastogne-Liège has been an affair between the two of them. Three victories for the Slovenian from UAE-Emirates (2021, 2024, and 2025, the latter in the world champion's jersey); two for the Red Bull Flemish rider, 2022 and 2023, the second as world champion. Liège is the oldest classic, first edition 1892. It's 259 km with 11 climbs and 4,400 meters of elevation gain: the symbolic location is the Redoute, 1,600 meters at 9.4% gradient 34 km from the finish. The final springboard is the Roche aux Faucons, 1,300 meters at 11% gradient 13 km from the conclusion. And pay attention: beyond the two giants there will also be Frenchman Paul Seixas, 19 years old, the emerging talent, ready to challenge them without fear. At his age, Pogacar hadn't won this much.