Fresh from Tour of the Alps, Giulio Ciccone took an excellent second place behind Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) while Thibau Nys and Andrea Bagioli finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Everyone watching the race was waiting for the moment the move from the rainbow jersey would come and it was, as many predicted, the Côte de La Redoute that was the springboard for Pogačar’s attack.
Ciccone was, alongside his teammates Nys and Mattias Skjemose, in a great position at the front of the field thanks to the work that Lidl-Trek had put in earlier in the day.
The Italian, who won the opening stage of Tour of the Alps and arrived to the team hotel just yesterday morning, carried his strong form onto the short, sharp climbs of the Ardennes.
Instead of reacting to the infernal pace of Pogačar, Ciccone stayed calmed and took his own pace before making his own move to help to draw out a four-rider chase group.
The group’s advantage to the next, bigger bunch was never more than 30 seconds but over the hilly terrain they were able to hold off any advances that came from behind.
Giulio Ciccone flashed his power in a heads-up spring at Liège-Bastogne-Liège after holding off the peloton in a breakaway.
Eventually, just Ciccone and Ben Healy (EF Education – Easy Post) remained to fight it out behind the world champion and in the sprint for the line, the Lidl-Trek riders proved he was the strongest.
The third group on the road, was closing in fast on the finishing straight but the duo had done enough to seal the remaining podium positions while Thibau Nys and Andrea Bagioli sprinted to the line behind to claim fifth and sixth place respectively.
Ciccone’s Reaction
It was really hard, especially the first part. I was a bit tired after Tour of Alps but in the last 2 hours my feeling was much better and I really enjoyed the racing. Liege is one of my favourite races and I’m really happy to be on the podium.
I think we, as a team, did everything perfectly. We had a plan and we raced in the perfect way. Always in position and we played our cards in the best way. Finishing second behind Pogacar, I don’t want to say it’s like a victory, but it’s definitely a good feeling in the end. I knew I didn’t have the legs to follow him when he went so I just tried to mange my effort in the best way possible.
