Tadej Pogačar’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory didn’t end at the line. The Slovenian has been handed a hefty 5,000 Swiss franc fine in the aftermath, tied to an alleged breach of podium protocol. The good news is that his prize money can probs cover it. Still, there are many questions.
Jersey boo-boo
The sanction centres on “incorrect placement of advertising on the rainbow jersey” during the ceremony, though officials have yet to spell out exactly what crossed the line. For a rider who’s stood on plenty of podiums in that same kit, the lack of clarity stands out almost as much as the size of the penalty.
Fines of this scale are…well, rare for ceremonial issues, and neither the race jury nor the UCI has offered further detail. That silence has only fuelled debate, as you can imagine
Social media is of course having a whole lotta fun with it. One widely shared theory points to the spacing between the UAE Team Emirates logo and the rainbow bands on Pogi’s jersey, reportedly tighter than regulations allow. If that’s the case, it’s a fine margin, but an expensive one. Pretty sure, at least, the Slovenian and his UAE team can afford the little donation to the UCI.
La Doyenne delivers
In terms of the actual race, Sunday was a helluva day. Liège-Bastogne-Liège unfolded in chaotic fashion before settling into a familiar script. An early break of more than 50 riders, including Remco Evenepoel, Hugo Houle and Michael Leonard, lit up the opening hours, but the climbs gradually tore it apart.
UAE Team Emirates took control heading into the finale, setting up Tadej Pogačar on the Côte de La Redoute. Only Paul Seixas could follow the initial move, the 19-year-old briefly matching the world champion. It was actually pretty darned impressive, chapeau to him.
But on the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, Pogačar’s second acceleration finally snapped him, sealing a fourth victory in La Doyenne. However, it also confirmed that Seixas is perhaps the rider that will some day dethrone the unbeatable world champ, in the one-days, or Grand Tours. As Emperor Palpatine said at the end of the Phantom Menace, “We will watch your career with great interest.”
Pogi, like most of the peloton, now starts thinking about Grand Tours. The Giro d’Italia is around the corner, and Tour de France prep races like the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse are coming up fast.