TNT Sports
Why the peloton should be 'worried' about Tadej Pogacar ahead of Liege-Bastogne-Liege - 'The best bike rider since Eddie Merkx'
By
Updated 25/04/2025 at 07:32 GMT+1
React to this story
Tadej Pogacar is the favourite for this weekend's Liege-Bastogne-Liege, according to TNT Sports expert Adam Blythe. He said, however, the Slovenian could still do some work on his aerodynamics in the road events - to which fellow former rider Steve Cummings agreed. Liege-Bastogne-Liege, alongside all the top road races this season, will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+ on Sunday.
‘That’s the one area…’ – Cummings outlines where Pogacar can improve
Video credit: TNT Sports
Adam Blythe said that other riders should be "worried" by Tadej Pogacar’s ability ahead of Liege-Bastogne-Liege, while Steve Cummings thinks the Slovenian is "scary".
Pogacar is in ominous form once again, having won La Fleche Wallonne, the Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche already this season, as well as the UAE Tour.
The next race ahead for the sport’s top riders is the Liege-Bastogne-Liege event on Sunday, live on TNT Sports and discovery+, and Blythe believes the 26-year-old Slovenian is the favourite.
He said on TNT Sports' The Ultimate Cycling Show: "It’ll be interesting, very interesting. I think it’ll be closer than we expect, but I still think he’ll win.
"I think with Amstel [Gold], Tadej made a mistake. I think he just went too early, because if you look at that attack he did, no one even tried to follow. It was only when he got to the top of that climb that they started to follow.
"I think if you look at the Fleche that’s just gone, it’s one climb again. He knows he can do that pretty much any climb. He’ll be able to drop Remco [Evenepoel] - all due respect to Remco. There’s no climb like that at Liege.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2025/04/23/image-5af58d4f-44f1-4c0b-9c0f-56eec19a0b42-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
'He's gone!' - Pogacar cracks rivals to conquer the feared Mur de Huy
Video credit: TNT Sports
"There’s La Redoute which is a bit further out, but I think he can take Remco away with him and still drop him at the finish, or even beat him at the sprint. It’ll be close, but I still think Tadej."
Blythe added that the manner of recent victories should concern his rivals, with his superiority so evident, adding: "The way Tadej won the Fleche for me is how he can win every bike range.
"The long-range attacks he goes on. Great for us to watch? Not so much. But I think it’s a demonstration that it’s not just a long-range attack that he can go on. I would be worried if I was the other riders.
"We know he’s capable of it. But it’s the way that he does it, not even getting out of the saddle today. It’s just like, ‘Ciao, see you later.’ I think that’s the worrying thing with Liege. He can just wait, he can just follow, he doesn’t need to go on a long-range attack."
Blythe did caution, though, that there are still areas where Pogacar could make serious improvements, pointing out the discrepancy in his aerodynamics between his Time Trial stance and his road racing.
He explained: "If you said you’re going to ride into a headwind at 50km/h, you’re going to go as hard as you can, you’d get as low as possible, as aero as possible.
"If you look at him there, he just doesn't look like he’s that low and that aero. If you look at him on his TT bike, that man is one of the most aero people in the peloton.
"I don’t understand how his position changes so much between road bike and TT bike, apart from the obvious. But you’d expect him to be a bit more aero."
Cummings concurred, but warned that if he were to address that shortcoming, it would only extend his advantage over the rest of the peloton.
He said: "That’s one area. This guy is probably the best bike rider since Eddie Merkx. Aerodynamics is one area, but we haven’t seen all the data from the winter. Visually, he looks like quite a big front-on area, so he looks like he could improve, which is quite scary."
- - -
- - -
Stream the cycling season live on TNT Sports and discovery+
Advertisement
Advertisement