Same old, same old: Lemko Evenpoel's second solo attack in 12 months in Liège-Bastogne-Liège "saved" his team's spring classics campaign once again as the Belgian won cycling's oldest one-day race.

But the second Liege victory for Evenpoel, a year older and in his world champion's kit, came two weeks before heading to the Giro d'Italia, the next big challenge in his career for the Suredal-QuickStep star and his team, It was a major morale booster.

Evenpoel, as he noted in an interview with Race TV after Liège, was pleased to have once again scored such a big win in his home town in the first competition of 2023.

But apart from speaking privately to the interviewer about his victory in La Doyenne, returning to the Giro d'Italia to add a second Grand Tour to his second Monument was always up for discussion. And Evenpoel agreed that a victory in Liège would be an ideal precursor and an opportunity for a bit of indulgence.

"Last year we had plenty of time to enjoy the Liege victory, but not this year. So frites are on the menu tonight."

Commenting on his second win in Liège, Evenpoel said, "I'm very happy to be here. Taddei [Pogachar] and the other guys fell, so I just hope they're okay."

"I have to thank the team for working so hard from the start for this great victory. This victory is theirs as well. And I'm really happy to win two out of two here in Liège."

Evenpoel's team had to take almost full responsibility for the UAE Team Emirates' logical switch in strategy after Pogachar's retirement. However, Julien Alaphilippe had a great run on the Côte de Wanne and Eau Leve, and Louis Verweke took over, supporting Evenpoel before Ilan Van Wilder ran up the Côte de la Redoute.

Evenepoel said he heard rather than saw Pogachar crash. He added, "I sincerely wish him a speedy recovery.

"It's really unfortunate that he had that crash, but it can happen to anyone, and I've been in that kind of terrible situation myself. I just hope he gets over it and recovers."

Although visually similar to the 2022 success in Liège, Evenpoel said the team had to dig deep due to an unexpected early attack by Jumbo Visma and especially by Jan Tratnik's bridge to the remnants of the break with over 80 km to go He pointed out.

However, the team and he were ultimately successful and were able to execute their game plan to attack at the top of the Côte de la Redoute, as they had done last year.

"I knew I had to go for it there because I had to make the biggest gap to the chasers there," he said, concluding, "It felt great to cross the finish line wearing this jersey." Even if Pogacár's victory is to go down in Slovenian history as the fifth rider to win the Ardennes three times in a row, there is no doubt that Evenpoel's victory is worth more than a footnote in cycling history. The Belgian is the first Liège repeater since Michele Bartoli in 1997-1998, the current world champion in Monument victories since Peter Sagan in Paris-Roubaix in 2018, and the current world He is also the first world champion to win Liège since Moreno Argentin in 1987. If he wins the Giro d'Italia, he will become the first rider since Danilo di Luca in 2007 to win both the Liège and Italian Grand Tours. But for now, two consecutive Liège victories is by all accounts an amazing feat.