Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2025 – Analysing the contenders

The fourth Monument of 2025, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, marks the explosive finale of the Spring Classics and one of the most prestigious one-day races of the season. As such, it's a target for the sport's top male and female riders and two riders in particular are laser-focused on the race: World Champions Tadej Pogačar and Lotte Kopecky.The fourth Monument of 2025, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, marks the explosive finale of the Spring Classics and one of the most prestigious one-day races of the season. As such, it's a target for the sport's top male and female riders and two riders in particular are laser-focused on the race: World Champions Tadej Pogačar and Lotte Kopecky.For Kopecky, claiming her maiden Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes could be a bit more complicated. The Belgian named this race as her number one target of 2025, as one of the only major races missing from her palmares.Yet there are at least six, if not more, riders capable of out-competing Kopecky at La Doyenne. Read on for Cyclingnews' full list of Liège-Bastogne-Liège favourites.

Tadej Pogačar might have shown he was human in the Amstel Gold Race, missing out in a three-man sprint behind Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), but he was back in alien form in La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday.

The acceleration Pogačar threw in on the steepest part of the Mur de Huy made his fellow competitors look like amateurs. So dominant was his ride that he finished a full 10 seconds ahead of second-placed Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).

You'd have to look back at the 2003 edition won by Igor Astarloa to find a larger gap from the winner to second place in Flèche, and Astarloa won from the day's early breakaway, competing against only one other rider up the final Mur.

Add that fact to his most recent results: second in Amstel and Paris-Roubaix, victorious in the Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche and third in Milan-San Remo, it's almost ludicrous how far above his rivals he is at the moment.