The reigning Tour de France champion showed his class and ice-cold nerves in the sprint finish after a hard race to just beat Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) in the sprint finish to win the first monument of his career.
"I'm without words," said Pogačar. "I really love this race and to win here like this against these names is unbelievable. The last sprint, I knew Alaphilippe was going longer, I stayed and I was lucky that it was a good wind for me. I was coming from behind and coming with speed... it's unbelievable. I'm living the cycling dream."
Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates were uncertain starters for the race after being pulled from Fleche Wallonne after two members of the team returned positive COVID tests, which the team said were false positives. They were allowed to compete in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour de France champion made the most of his opportunity to take the victory.
"We were really disappointed that we couldn't start Fleche because we had really good riders for that race with last year's winner Marc (Hirschi)," said Pogačar. "We were really motivated for this race so we're happy that today went like this."
In the early stages of the race it was Laurens Huys, Mathijs Paasschens (both Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB), Loïc Vliegen, Lorenzo Rota (both Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Sergei Chernetski (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto Soudal) and Aaron Van Poucke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) who formed the early break of the day.
Laurens Huys and Mathijs Paasschens (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB), Loïc Vliegen and Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Sergei Chernetski (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto Soudal) and Aaron Van Poucke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise).
With 80 kilometres to race and the climbs coming in regular and quick succession, small attacks and aggression off the front of the peloton peppered the ascents as riders tried to form tactically significant moves between the early break and the main bunch.
Eventually, an attack containing Mark Padun (Bahrain Victorious), Mark Donovan (Team DSM) and Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal) fought its way clear of the peloton with 57 kilometres to go, quickly eating their way into the gap over to the seven-man front group.
As the riders hit the main challenge of the day, the Cote de La Redoute, the initial break split apart to just two riders, Rota and Huys, while INEOS Grenadiers led the charge up the steepest sections of the climb from the peloton. That forced a split at the top of the famous climb, as the second group on the road was swept up.
Rota and Huys were rejoined by Vliegen and Marczyznski at the front of affairs, but their time away from the peloton looked limited. The INEOS-led split had reformed into a select group of some of the best riders in the world, with some testing attacks being responded to and neutralised.
Vliegen attacked and was solo at the front of the race before cramping dramatically and fading back, but his former breakaway companions weren't to last much longer by themselves as an attack from Adam Yates (INEOS Grenadiers) dragged out some of the best climbers in the race into an elite group with 23 kilometres to race.
Carapaz was part of that 10-strong group and attacked over the top to go solo at the head of affairs and quickly establish a lead of 25 seconds. He hit the base of the final climb of the Roche-aux-Fachons with 14 kilometres to go with a similar lead, but as there was a generally regrouping behind him the pace increased greatly on steep sections of the climb as Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates) drove the pace for his team leader Pogačar.
Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) jumped away in an attack and soon just five riders were left, with Pogačar, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) able to join the Canadian.
Chasers lined up behind in dribs and drabs, with defending champion Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) leading the way in the chase behind, but the disrupted nature of the chase meant that the gap stretched out.
Woods tried an attack on an uncategorised tough climbing section, but all the riders at the front were able to rejoin following the attack. Despite the aggression, the quintet worked well together from there into Liege, maintaining their lead to contest the final kilometres among themselves for the win.
It was a cagey finale as the front group measured the distance to the chasers behind and finally launched the sprint, with Valverde launching the sprint into a headwind. Alaphilippe looked the winner at one stage, but Pogačar was in his wheel and came round the current world champion just before the finish line to win.
Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) was the highest placed Australian in the race as he finished 17th, part of the third group on the road into the line.
