The last of the spring classics
Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the third and final race of the Ardennes Classics series and also the fourth monument of the year. The race, first held in 1982, is one of the oldest cycling races still held today, and it fully deserves its nickname, "La Doyenne”. Taking place at the end of April, Liège-Bastogne-Liège marks the end of the spring classics and a turning point in the calendar, with the focus now shifting to Grand Tours (La Vuelta Femenina starts on May 1st and the men’s Giro d'Italia on May 6th).
Men's Race
Route: As with all monuments, one of the defining characteristics of the race is its long distance, with Liège-Bastogne-Liège men's race covering 258 km. In addition, the route profile is a constant up and down, accumulating 4191 meters of positive elevation gain, making it one of the two monuments that best suits climbers, along with Il Lombardia. The most famous climbs on the route are Côte de la Redoute (1.6 km at 9.4%) and Côte de la Roche aux Faucons (1.3 km at 11%).
Favorites: After winning Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne, Tadej Pogačar (1200) is in a position to complete the Ardennes triple and is the top favorite for the victory once again. Defending champion Remco Evenepoel (1200) is the other top candidate on paper. The start list also includes Alexandr Vlasov (1200), Thomas Pidcock (600), Enric Mas (1000), Richard Carapaz (1000), David Gaudu (1000), Pello Bilbao (1000), Julian Alaphilippe (1000), Romain Bardet (800), Giulio Ciccone (600), Jai Hindley (800), Mattias Skjelmosje (800), Mikel Landa (600), Daniel Felipe Martínez (800), Alexey Lutsenko (600), Andreas Kron (600), and Ben Healy (200).
Women's Race
Route: The women's race covers 140 km and 2214 meters of positive elevation gain, with 8 categorized climbs, and as the men’s race, it also includes La Redoute (1.6 km at 9.4%) and La Roche aux Faucons (1.3 km at 11%) as the most prominent difficulties.
Favorites: Like Pogačar, Demi Vollering (1200) will also try to achieve a historic Ardennes triple, after convincingly winning Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne this week. The top riders who should try to stop her from doing so are Annemiek Van Vleuten (1200), Katarzyna Niewiadoma (1000), Liane Lippert (1000), Silvia Persico (800), Juliette Labous (1000), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (1000), and Elisa Longo Borghini (1200).
Photo: ASO / G.Demouveaux