The Japan Times - Pogacar vows to keep going until Seixas 'destroys' him

But he fully expects the 19-year-old to keep improving and one day blitz everyone in the field in much the same way as Pogacar has in recent years.

Seixas was the only rider able to stay with world champion Pogacar when he launched hs customary attack on the Cote de la Redoute some 35km from the finish of the gruelling 260km race through the Ardennes.

That was the ninth of 11 punchy climbs and while the rest of the field -- including Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel -- fell by the wayside, Seixas stayed with Pogacar until the final climb.

But halfway up the steep Cote de Roche-aux-Faucons, with 14km left, Seixas cracked and victory was Pogacar's.

"Having Paul entering such a big field at such a good level already at 19, it brings motivation to everybody else now to keep trying to improve," said Pogacar.

"Because, again, he's 19 now and normally your body physically is the best at 26 to 30 years old.

"So, we'll see. We keep working hard to still try to fight for the next years to win as much as we can until he destroys everybody!"

Seixas's rise over the last 12 months has been remarkable.

Although still competing as a junior last year, he achieved some impressive results in his debut senior season.

He was eighth in the Criterium du Dauphine stage race, 13th at the World Championships, seventh at the Tour of Lombardy Monument race, and won bronze behind Pogacar and Evenepoel at the European Championships.

This year he has been one of the star performers, winning the Tour of the Basque Country stage race and the Fleche Wallonne and Ardeche Classic one-day races.

He was also a narrow second to talented Spaniard Juan Ayuso at the Tour of the Algarve and has now twice finished second to Pogacar in one-day races, Strade Bianche and in Liege.

He has, in many ways, proved himself to be the second best rider in hilly one-day classics behind Pogacar.

And there is one thing he needs to finally beat the world champion.

"Power! That seems obvious," said Seixas.

"I just have to improve but we can see his level, it's extremely difficult to follow him.

"He's the greatest rider of all time."

Seixas added: "There's more work to do but that's normal. You can't skip the steps so we'll just be satisfied with that today."

- 'It's a matter of time' -

After winning the Tour de France four times, the World Championships twice and 13 Monuments, Pogacar will now look to take on new challenges.

Already this year he won Milan-San Remo for the first time and as of Tuesday he will make his debut on the six-day Tour of Romandie.

In June, he will make his first appearance at the Tour of Switzerland.

Anything other than victory in both of those would be a big surprise.

If he is successful, there would be only two major races he is yet to win: Paris-Roubaix, where he has finished twice in his two participations, and the Vuelta a Espana, where he was third in his only appearance as a 20-year-old in 2019.

But with Seixas in the mix, he knows things are going to get tougher.

"For me, I definitely know that it will be more hard and hard every year," he said.

"So, it's just a matter of time when we lose to him."

Before the race, Evenepoel had questioned whether Seixas could maintain his fine form over such a long course.

He had never won a race longer than 200km and there were an extra 60km to cover in Liege.

But Seixas proved he has the engine and stamina for a six-hour race.

"He showed again today that he is one of the best climbers in the world and he has a very good punch as well," said Evenepoel.

"The whole world can only be saying chapeau to him."

S.Suzuki--JT