Wednesday April 17, 2024 at 7:15 AM
The first part of the cycling season comes to an end on Sunday with the Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The last monument of the cycling spring is perhaps the toughest of them all. ‘Little ones’ win LBL almost never, with the exception of a few. Will we get the expected battle between Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel? CyclingFlits looks ahead!
History
Last ten winners Liège-Bastogne-Liège
2023: Remco Evenepoel
2022: Remco Evenepoel
2021: Tadej Pogačar
2020: Primož Roglič
2019: Jacob Birdsong
2018: Bob Jungels
2017: Alejandro Valverde
2016: Wout Poels
2015: Alejandro Valverde
2014: Simon Gerrans
Latest edition
Result Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2023
1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step – Alpha Vinyl)
2. Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) op 1m06s
3. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) in z.t.
4. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) op 1m08s
5. Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) at 1m24s
Course
The Liège-Bastogne-Liège route has few surprises for the riders, except for a few minor innovations. Traditionally, the drivers start again at Place-Saint Lambert in Liège, which was not possible two years ago due to road works. 254.5 kilometers later (almost four kilometers less than last year) the riders arrive back in Liège. Despite the many sloping roads in the first hundred kilometers, we should not immediately expect any differences here. The first two hours are ideal for early escapees, who can extend their lead until the turning point in Bastogne.
The riders have already completed the first (Côte de Bonnerue) of eleven categorized climbs. After more than 117 kilometers the Coast of Saint-Roch already a second slope. This is a lot shorter than the first slope, but almost twice as steep. However, the big tenors will only take action once they pass Vielsalm, after almost 150 kilometers of racing. About twelve kilometers away is the foot of the Côte de Mont-le-Soiewhich is entering a decisive phase The dean heralds. This is where the preliminary final begins.
After that slope we quickly get the succession of five well-known climbs from this monument. In a period of less than forty kilometers the Côte de Wanne of Coast of Stockeu – which we know better because of the Eddy Merckx statue – Côte de la Haute-Levée of Col du Rosier and the Coast of Desnié . All a blueprint of the previous editions.
After the Desnié, the peloton crosses a spur and a fast descent with the road they rode in the initial phase in the direction of Bastogne. Anyone who had looked to the right at that time would have seen the famous one Redoute Coast already seen. This is – just like last year – barely 1.6 kilometers long. After all, the La Rédoute makes the riders turn right about three hundred meters before the top, after which a new slope immediately follows with the Côte de Cornémone. “This change invites you to attack from the foot,” Remco Evenepoel said about this last year.
La Rédoute is therefore more than ever the referee in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and therefore the opener of the final thirty kilometers from the finish. The Côte des Forgeswhich makes the difference between La Rédoute and the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons remains relatively small. We know this slope better as the Valkenrock, the top of which is about thirteen kilometers before the finish.
Anyone who thinks that the climbing is over will be disappointed. After a short descent, the riders from Méry face a very nasty spur of the Valkenrots. On sometimes poorly bulging concrete, the drivers still have to pedal outliers of up to 10%. From Boncelles it is then another ten kilometers to the finish, which is located on the wide track in the Quai des Ardennes.
Sunday April 21, Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Liège – Liège (254.5 km)
Distance: 254,5 kilometer
Start: 10:10 am
Finish: between 4:10 PM and 4:45 PM
Slopes during Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024
- Côte de Bonnerue (2.4 km at 5.7% / after 76.2 kilometers)
- Saint-Roch Coast (1 km and 11.2% / 117.3 km)
- Côte de Mont-le-Soie (1.7 km aan 7.9% / na 161.2 kilometer)
- Côte de Wanne (3.6 km at 5.1% / after 169.5 kilometers)
- Stockeu Coast (1 km or 12.5% / 176 km)
- Côte de la Haute-Levée (2.2 km aan 7.5% / na 180.2 kilometer)
- Col du Rosier (4.4 km and 5.9% / 194.4 kilometers)
- Côte de Desnié (1.6 km or 8.1% / 297.8 km)
- Cote de la Redoute (1.6 km or 9.4% / 220.5 km)
- Forges Coast (1.3 km or 7.8%, at 231.2 km)
- Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (1.3 km aan 11% / na 241.2 kilometer)
Favorites
A monument like Liège-Bastogne-Liège deserves a monumental field of participants, and it can count on that again this year. World champion Mathieu van der Poel is making his appearance in the hill monument for the second time in his career, but he is not the top favorite in Liège.
That role is reserved for two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar, the winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2021. Pogi is in full preparation for the Giro d’Italia (his first by the way) and therefore consciously chose not to participate in the majority of the classics. But he couldn’t pass up a participation in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Last year, Pogacar fell heavily in a Walloon descent, which ultimately cost him his top form in the Tour. Pogacar could also mentally deal with the misery he had to deal with in 2023 in Liège.
Pogacar competes everywhere to win – photo: Cor Vos
Moreover, you know: wherever the Slovenian super talent starts, he will always compete for the win. Pogacar has not competed in too many races this season. The Strade Bianche (win), Milan-San Remo (third) and Tour of Catalonia (win, including stage wins in four of the seven stages), and that was it. Pogacar hopes to get to the start of the Giro fresh, and he seems to be able to do that. Liège can of course serve as an ideal stepping stone, as Evenepoel did last year. By the way, he now has to watch injured, just like Primoz Roglic. The field of participants in Liège is so slightly decapitated.
We write lightly, because the participation of world champion Mathieu van der Poel of course makes up for a lot. The only time Van der Poel attended this classic was in the Covid autumn of 2020. Liège was then scheduled the day after the BinckBank Tour. No problem for Van der Poel, who pulled off an impressive solo in the final stage of the Belgian-Dutch round, and then also competed for a place of honor the next day in Liège. Van der Poel came sixth and immediately knew that this might one day be a feasible monument.
However, Van der Poel naturally carries a few more kilos uphill than Pogacar, and will always be at a disadvantage on the slightly longer slopes. And after the Amstel we also heard him say that he no longer had that super feeling of the past few weeks. Logically, if you know that he has been competing at a very high level since Milan-San Remo. But Van der Poel is a hard worker and will train one more time in Spain this week, in the hope of winning that historic fourth monument.
Will Pidcock add another one? – photo: Cor Vos
Tom Pidcock should not place itself far below that, if he is not even at the same height in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Sometimes the talented Brit has days when there is nothing he can do. The Amstel Gold Race was one of those. In The dean the climbs are a little longer, but that does not necessarily have to be to his disadvantage. A year ago, Pidcock was the only one who could follow Evenepoel for a while, but he may have to be even more aggressive against Pogacar. Will the INEOS Grenadier rider finally succeed in winning his first monument?
The Amstel Gold Race is perhaps the most important benchmark for Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but perhaps not entirely because of the relatively passive finale. In the Brabantse Pijl the field spread out faster and then you saw Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech) a Benoit Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R) excel. For Teuns, this had been coming for a while, because he also achieved an exceptionally high level in the Tour of Flanders.
Normally the Flèche Wallonne – where he was the winner in 2022 – is a little better, but Teuns can still call himself one of the absolute top players in this work. Teammates Stephen Williams and Michael Woods can also play a key role. Cosnefroy has a slightly better punch, he was just a little too quick for Teuns in the Brabantse Pijl. However, Cosnefroy never rode in the top 10 in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in his six previous participations. With his qualities he should be able to do better there.
What was Teun’s punishment in the Tour – photo: Cor Vos
Furthermore, Groupama-FDJ has an extremely strong block in width. Romain Grégoire, Quentin Pacher and Valentin Madouas proved their strength in the Amstel Gold Race, while David Gaudu played his role in the French 1.1 races. It has not yet been David Gaudu’s season, but the Frenchman – already third in Liège – was able to regain confidence. Yet we estimate that 21-year-old Grégoire intrinsically has the best qualities.
We have not yet mentioned the numbers two and three of the Amstel Gold Race. Tiesj Benoot (third) was one of the strong holders. The only reservation we place with Benoot is his pregnant wife. If she gives birth this week, Benoot will not be able to participate in Liège. But there is certainly no lack of form for the ex-Strade Bianche winner of Visma | Lease a Bike. Marc Hirschi (the number two in Liège, UAE Emirates) must tolerate Tadej Pogacar above him. That is also the case for Juan Ayuso. Still, the two seem to be doing very well and who knows, Pogi might send them forward.
Furthermore, the list of outsiders for a place of honor is endless. Just think of Ben Healy and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Quinten Hermans and Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers), Andrea Bagioli and Mattias Skjelmose – who was a very consistent factor in the three hill classics last year (Lidl-Trek), Maxim Van Gils and Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny), Simon Yates and Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) and Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal Quick-Step).
Favorites according to WielerFlits
**** Tadej Pogačar
*** Tom Pidcock, Benoit Cosnefroy
** Mathieu van der Poel, Mattias Skjelmose, Dylan Teuns
* Marc Hirschi, Juan Ayuso, Tiesj Benoot, Romain Grégoire
Website organization
Weather and TV
The riders can expect reasonably good racing weather on Sunday with temperatures up to 12 degrees Celsius, according to Weatheronline. However, there may be some light showers near Liège during the afternoon, with a 75% chance. Furthermore, the wind is blowing from the northwest at a force of three Beaufort.
Sporza will be present on Sunday from 1:30 PM for the live broadcast of Liège-Bastogne-Liège on the TV channel GARDEN1. In the Netherlands, the race can be followed on online channels from the same time Eurosport 1 in Eurosport.nl on Discovery+. Also on NPO1 can follow the match.
2024-04-17 06:04:40
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