Stars of Liège-Bastogne-Liège (M): Same favorites in Stade Bianche, Van der Poel in second row

The giant duel you dreamed of with Remco Evenepoel will never happen again.

Last year, Tadej Pogacar watched the Liège-Bastogne-Liège final from his hospital bed. A fall after 85 kilometers was the culprit.

The previous year, the Slovenian did not initially appear due to the death of his mother-in-law.

After 4 weeks of training, Pogacar hopes to stand on the podium today carrying the wreath of victory.

Then Pogi will have to deal with Tom Pidcock. The Briton has been thinking about Liège for months. Checking out the memorial is his big goal this spring.

In the Amstel Gold Race, Pidcock proved his form was more than good. Hopefully the cold in Flèche Wallonne was a “parkour accident” for him.

Pogacar may be more cautious than Mathieu van der Poel.

The world champion dreams of a third consecutive monument. But it was at the Amstel Gold Race that he showed signs of weakness for the first time. Or was that intentional?

The first Belgian on the favorites list is Maxim van Gils (Lotto-Dsnty). With his third place finish in the Flèche Wallonne, the Lotto-Destny leader proved he is growing back into his Strade Bianche status.

We would never have doubted Matthias Schilmoz at the Amstel Gold Race. But images of the trembling Danish champion, swept up in the Flesch Walloon tournament, have somewhat eroded that confidence.

Fortunately for Skjelmose, the weather gods are more temperate today. Last year he already played a leading role for La Doyenne in the battle for second place. Will he play again today?

Tiesj Benoot came to smell the biggest glass of Amstel beer at the Amstel Gold Race. Our compatriot also kept himself on the wall of the hue.

Rest assured that Benoot will maintain the Visma-Lease a Bike honor again today in the classic in which he has already finished in the top ten three times.

The French are betting on perforators Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon-AG2R) and Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B).

Kosnefroy has already taken victory in the Brabantse Beagle this spring. Vauquelin could also have delivered the same punch to Huy's wall. But he started his engine a little late and finished second.

We conclude our list of stars with a duo from Bahrain – Muntaser.

Wout Poels has been running the cold version of Liège-Bastogne-Liège for 8 years. In the Alpine Tour, the 36-year-old climber showed last week that he is still not exhausted.

Fellow Colombian Santiago Buitrago was on the third podium in Liège last year. This leaves you wanting more.