Six each in the Monuments for Van der Poel and Pogačar – GCN Racing News Show

With a turn of pace that we have long become accustomed to, Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the most predictable fashion on Sunday. Sauntering out of his saddle and moving his hips from side to side – you can picture the scene – the Slovenian motored away from his rivals and would not be seen again.

It was the second Liège title of the 25-year-old's career and took him to six Monument victories in total, making him the youngest rider to do so since... you guessed it, Eddy Merckx. The calls lauding Pogačar as the greatest cyclist of all time continue with aplomb, but the great Belgian won his sixth Monument just weeks before his 24th birthday.

Read more: Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Tadej Pogačar wins with 35km solo attack

Nonetheless, what Pogačar is achieving is no doubt generational and such is his ruthless streak that, although he began his career as a breakthrough Grand Tour revelation – finishing third at the Vuelta a España at the age of 19, before winning two Tours de France – the Slovenian has arguably become the best one-day rider in the world.

It can be considered somewhat of a side quest for Pogačar as he continues to seek Grand Tour success, with the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in his sights this year, but the Slovenian now has as many Monument victories as the man often dubbed as the 'greatest Classics rider of his generation', Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

With Van der Poel successful at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix this spring, before finishing third behind Pogačar and Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL) at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he and Pogačar are going tit for tat in the most prestigious one-day races on the calendar.

Their dominance of the Monuments in recent seasons has been a sight to behold and in this week's GCN Racing News Show, Dan Lloyd details the extraordinary achievements of both riders, as well as revealing his best rider of the Spring Classics.

Spoilers: it is neither Van der Poel nor Pogačar, so stay tuned above!

As opposed to the men's edition, Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes carried drama with it to the last, with Grace Brown of FDJ-SUEZ picking up the biggest victory of her career in a six-rider sprint that went right to the wire. Her win came from a group containing two of the women's peloton's current heavyweights.

Read more: Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Grace Brown sprints to big victory after day in breakaway

Both Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) were at the front of proceedings heading into the final kilometres, but it was Longo Borghini who had the wherewithal to be on the front foot.

The Italian made a bid for glory on the home straight, but this opened the path to victory for Australia's Brown, who capitalised from Longo Borghini's slipstream. Still reeling from that finish, Dan looks back on a tremendous edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes in this week's show.

Elsewhere on the agenda, there are two grim editions of La Flèche Wallonne to cast an eye over, with riders reduced to trembling shadows of their former selves as the rain, wind and snow battered the men's and women's races last Wednesday. There was similar treatment reserved for the riders at the Tour of the Alps in Italy, where Lidl-Trek's Juan Pedro López claimed his first couple of career victories.

The Italian enjoyed a lengthy spell in the Giro d'Italia's pink jersey just a couple of years ago and in his home country, López really caught Dan's eye over the past week as he rode to the overall victory. Might the 26-year-old be an outside shout for the Giro's overall podium in May?

Check out the full GCN Racing News Show at the top of this page and give us your thoughts and comments down below!