Remco Evenepoel: “Always special to win Liège, especially in this jersey”

April 23 ^rd 2023 - 18:28

Today’s was a super tough race on very hard conditions. It's amazing to make two out of two in Liège. The first Liège was a surprise, but this second one was a goal. It’s always special to win a race like this one, especially in this jersey. I wanted to have this picture in order to hang it framed at home. My team was super strong and controlled from the start along with UAE until Tadej crashed and we had to control ourselves. We worked perfectly and I had to finish it off.

Our Plan A was to attack in La Redoute and Cournemont, and plan B was getting a gap atop the Roche-aux-Faucons. Ilan [van Wilder] put a very fast pace up La Redoute. When I looked back and saw there were only five riders behind me, I understood the pace was very high and that I would go away if I could attack. From then on, it was all about racing full gas to the finish. I kept it safe on the last descent, though, in order to avoid a scare.

This victory is very good for myself and for my team going into the Giro. We had some bad luck in this Classics period. We were all super motivated for today as we knew we could win, and we made it with a great display of teamwork. This Liège is a very big achievement for us. Now it’s all about recovery and building up even further for the Giro.

I send my best wishes to Tadej. It was sad to hear he had crashed. I hope he is well and that he will have a quick recovery.