Winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège last year in the sprint, ahead of Julian Alaphilippe and David Gaudu, Tadej Pogacar will not defend his title on Sunday.
His UAE team announced on Saturday that the 23-year-old Slovenian had to withdraw for personal reasons.
The double winner of the Tour de France returned to Slovenia on Thursday to support his partner Urska Zygart who is grieving for her mother.
He will be replaced in the Dean of the Classics by the American Brandon McNulty, said the Emirati team.
“Unfortunately, I will not be at the start of Liège-Bastogne-Liège tomorrow to defend my title.
These last few days have been difficult but I want to thank everyone for their understanding, ”said Pogacar on his Instagram account, particularly thanking his team and his director, the Swiss Mauro Gianetti.
The leader of UAE took 12th place in the Flèche wallonne on Wednesday, his recovery race since he had not run since the Tour of Flanders (4th) at the beginning of the month.
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