It was the most hyped showdown of the 2023 season but ended before it even began when Tadej Pogačar crashed out of Liège-Bastogne-Liège before he could take on defending champion Remco Evenepoel.
While Pogačar was being diagnosed with two fractures in his left scaphoid and one to the lunate bone - both small bones in the wrist - Evenepoel stormed to victory with another long-range attack on the Côte de la Redoute before cementing his winning margin on the Cote de Cornémont.
Pogačar had been one of the two main favourites along with Evenepoel to win La Doyenne after claiming the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne.
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Instead of duplicating Demi Vollering's feat of winning all three Ardennes Classics, Pogačar was out of the race after just 84 kilometres of racing.
UAE Team Emirates medical director Dr.Adrian Rotunno described Pogačar's fracture as "comminuted" (broken into several pieces) and said the surgery to realign the bone fragments with a small screw was successful.
"Due to the nature of the injury, it’s approximately six weeks recovery. Though he will start with immediate rehab, and some training on an indoor trainer in the coming days."
Pogačar posted an upbeat message to Instagram, congratulating Evenepoel and writing "our battle will wait until next time".
"Well, shit happens. I am lucky it just broken wrist, considering crazy crash that happened."
The crash happened before television cameras were filming so it is unclear exactly how it transpired but UAE Team Emirates suggested that EF Education-EasyPosts's Mikkel Honoré double-punctured and sparked the incident.
Pogačar expressed his condolences to the Dane. "I really wish the best recovery to @mikkelhonore who went down way harder than me."
"It’s hard to describe how happy I am, to receive such a support and help from all the fans, family, friend, @uae_team_emirates and especially hospital staff. I am truly amazed and so grateful for that. I hope to see you all really soon," he concluded.
