UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar clinched his third Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory on Sunday after the Slovenian world champion launched a stunning solo attack 34km from the finish line.
The 26-year-old road race world champion finished a minute ahead of Italy's Giulio Ciccone and Ireland's Ben Healy.
Pogacar's main rival and champion in 2022 and 2023, Belgian Remco Evenepoel, was never in the hunt and finished more than three minutes behind the winner.
Pogacar has already done enough in his career to be considered a legend but his third win, after success 2021 and 2024, cemented his stature.
Sunday's win means the UAE Team Emirates star becomes only the second rider after Eddy Merckx to win the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the same year.
Pogacar launched his attack on the climb at the iconic Cote de la Redoute and put some distance between his rivals, finishing the 252km route with a time of six hours and nine seconds.
“It feels great to finish the first part of the season like this. I'm just happy that the whole season so far went perfect,” Pogacar said.
“It wasn't the plan (to attack on La Redoute), but it was such a hard pace before that I saw a number of teams didn't have a lot of teammates any more.
“I said 'OK, I'll test my legs a little bit and see if I can get a gap on the top' and then I'll decide if I continue or not. Then I just committed because I had good legs, also on the second climb after La Redoute.”
Pogacar now has nine monument victories which puts him joint-third on the all-time list behind Merckx (19) and Roger De Vlaeminck (11).
The 26-year-old also became the first rider to finish on the podium in six straight monument races.
Another podium at the Giro di Lombardia in October would make him the first man to finish on the podium in all five in the same year.
Pogacar's victory in Liege rounded off an intense classics campaign in which the Slovenian shone on all fronts.
His wins in the Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and Fleche Wallonne gives him four victories and he also had three other podiums, including Paris-Roubaix, in his seven races.
He will now take a break of over a month before returning to racing at the Criterium du Dauphine in June to prepare for his next major objective – the Tour de France in July where he will be aiming for a fourth victory.
Trolls World Tour
Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake
Rating: 4 stars
Scoreline:
Everton 4
Richarlison 13'), Sigurdsson 28', Digne 56', Walcott 64'
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton)
Draw for Europa League last-16
Istanbul Basaksehir v Copenhagen; Olympiakos Piraeus v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rangers v Bayer Leverkusen; VfL Wolfsburg v Shakhtar Donetsk; Inter Milan v Getafe
Sevilla v AS Roma; Eintracht Frankfurt or Salzburg v Basel; LASK v Manchester United
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
MATCH INFO
Day 1 at Mount Maunganui
England 241-4
Denly 74, Stokes 67 not out, De Grandhomme 2-28
New Zealand
Yet to bat
