Quite apart from Van der Poel’s moving into the upper echelons of the very best all-time Classics riders thanks to his Flanders-Roubaix double, Alpecin-Deceuninck’s newly established record as the first team ever to take all three of these Monuments in the same spring make them the squad to beat for next Spring's Classics as well.

Both riders have been in Spain to prepare with warmer weather and altitude for Sunday’s contest. Van der Poel flew to Alicante just hours after finishing the Amstel Gold Race to 'recharge batteries' and Pogačar was in the Sierra Nevada with some time in Monaco for the past three weeks after winning the overall at Volta a Catalunya in March.

Tadej Pogačar proves too strong for Mathieu Van der Poel as he wins the Liège–Bastogne–Liège cycling classic with a solo breakaway

The World Champ acknowledged Pogačar’s superiority, while Pidcock praised INEOS-Grenadiers teammate Egan Bernal for a gritty performance at the Monument.

Bastogne-Liège! It's the showdown we’ve all been waiting for, between the two riders of the year so far: Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel. They’ve been virtually unstoppable in every race they’ve completed in this spring,

In the last spring monument, today's Liège-Bastogne-Liège debuts under less than optimal weather conditions. The brisk temperatures had riders like Van der Poel starting in cold weather gear covering gear that covered his rainbow stripes.