Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as La Doyenne ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993Cycling Weekly, UK, 7 March 1992 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five Monuments of the European professional road cycling calendar;The title "monument" has no official significance; it was first used by French daily L'Équipe, to indicate a race's unchanging place on the calendar but the term has become more widespread because of television commentaries, especially in the USA usually coming as the last of the spring classics. It is held annually in late April, in the Ardennes region of Belgium, from Liège to Bastogne and back.
It is considered one of the most arduous one-day cycling events in the world because of its length and demanding course. The most successful rider with five victories is Belgian rider Eddy Merckx, trailed by Italian Moreno Argentin in the 1980s and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde in the 2000s, who both won the race four times.
Liège–Bastogne–Liège is part of the UCI World Tour competition. It is the concluding race of the Ardennes Classics series, which includes the Amstel Gold Race (not technically in the Ardennes, but treated as part of the series) and La Flèche Wallonne ('The Walloon Arrow'). Both Liège and La Fleche are organised by French owner Amaury Sport Organisation, which also organises the Tour de France and Paris–Roubaix.
It generally marks the end of the entire spring classics season, as the one-day races give way to the stage races and grand tours; Liège is generally followed almost immediately by the week-long Giro d'Italia warm-up, the Tour de Romandie. The parcours, with its multiple short, hard climbs, is seen as friendlier terrain for general classification riders and climbers than the gravelled and cobbled classics of early spring.
In 2017, the Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes was inaugurated and added to the UCI Women's World Tour, becoming the second of the cycling monuments to introduce a women's edition after the Tour of Flanders in 2014. In 2020 a third women's 'monument', Paris-Roubaix Femmes was added, creating a triple crown of women's monuments.
History
Spa-Bastogne-Spa Like many of cycling's classics, Liège–Bastogne–Liège was first organized by a French-Belgian newspaper (L'Express). The route has always stayed in the southern, French-speaking (and hillier), part of Belgium where Liège and Bastogne are located.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 April 2002
The race had its first running for amateurs in 1892, from Spa to Bastogne and back, over a 250 km distance. As bicycles were expensive in the late 19th century, cycling was considered an exclusive sport for the wealthy, and the event was considered a "gentlemen's affair". 33 riders from the Liège cycling union and the Pesant Club Liégois, all Belgians and most of them from Liège, took the start. Only 17 finished. The course halfway turn point was the train station in Bastogne, chosen because of its convenience for race officials. Some tired riders abandoned the race in Bastogne and took the train back to Spa. Léon Houa, a Liège native, won the race after 10 hours and 48 minutes on the bike. The second-place finisher, Léon Lhoest, came in at 22 minutes, the third, Louis Rasquinet, at 44 minutes. Riders kept arriving for another five hours.
Houa won again the next year, over the same course, this time by a margin of a half hour. In 1894 the first race for professionals was held, and the average speed rose from to . Houa concluded his third win, by seven minutes over Rasquinet. Frenchman Maurice Garin, who would later become the first winner of the Tour de France, finished fourth. After the inaugural three editions, the race was not organized for another 14 years, after which it was sometimes open only to amateurs and semi-professionals.
The race was resumed in 1908, with a start and finish in Liège for the first time. It was won by Frenchman André Trousselier. In 1909 the winner, Eugène Charlier, was disqualified because he had changed bikes. Victor Fastre was declared winner. The event was cancelled during World War I but resumed in 1919. The race was mainly won by Belgians, but started to attract more riders from Flanders, the bike-crazed northern part of Belgium, who began to dominate the event. Fleming Alfons Schepers gained three victories in the Interwar period.
Ardennes Classic Liège–Bastogne–Liège had some interruptions during World War II, but was again a calendar-fixture as from 1945 and began to attract some of the stars of European cycling. In 1951 the race was added to the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo, the competition that combined cycling's greatest races at the time. Swiss Ferdinand Kübler won the race in 1951 and 1952. Belgian favourite Raymond Impanis became the race's eternal runner-up, with four second places but never a victory.
In the late 1950s Fred De Bruyne won the race three times in his first three participations, equalling the former record of Houa and Schepers. In 1957 two riders were declared winner. Germain Derijcke was first over the finish line, but he had crossed a closed level crossing. Derijcke had won by a three-minute lead and judges felt he had not gained that much time from illegally crossing the railway, thereby not disqualifying him. Officials compromised to promote second-place rider Frans Schoubben to first as well.Procycling, UK, May 2000 In 1959 Liège–Bastogne–Liège became part of the Super Prestige, successor of the Desgrange-Colombo competition and early precursor of the UCI World Tour, making the Ardennes Classic one of the main cycling events of the year.
In 1969 began the era of cycling icon Eddy Merckx, who gained five victories, three of which consecutive, and a total of seven podium finishes. The 1971 race was run in appalling conditions, with snow and cold ravaging the peloton. Merckx gained one of his most memorable victories. The Belgian attacked in solo at 92 kilometers from the finish and soon had a five-minute advantage over his pursuiters. In a rare display, he suffered a sudden fatigue near the end and was joined by Georges Pintens. Pintens failed to distance a tired Merckx, and Merckx managed to outsprint his fellow Belgian to his second victory in the classic.Bouvet, Philippe (2007), De Klassiekers, Lannoo, Belgium, , p25 In 1972 the finish moved to Verviers, 15 km from Liège, but because of fans' protest, this was a one-year occasion. The edition was again won by Merckx. In 1975 The Cannibal sealed his fifth and final victory, making him the sole record-holder of La Doyenne.
French cycling great, Bernard Hinault won the race twice, both times in harrowing weather conditions. In 1977 Hinault made a late escape from a six-strong group including a faltering Eddy Merckx; three years later he won the epic contest of 1980 in torrential snowfall and glacial temperatures.
In the 1980s, Italian classics specialist Moreno Argentin won the race four times, narrowly missing Merckx's record. Argentin also gained three victories in the sister classic La Flèche Wallonne, earning him the title of King of the Ardennes in his day.
Finish in Ans In 1990, the Pesant Club Liégeois partnered with the Société du Tour de France, the organizer of cycling's flagships events of Tour de France and Paris–Roubaix. The partnership led to a more professional organization, resulting in a complete overhauling of the race course: the start and finish moved to different locations in Liège and five new climbs were included.
In the late 1990s, Italians Michele Bartoli and Paolo Bettini continued a tradition of Italian victories in La Doyenne, with two wins each. In 1997, Bartoli and Laurent Jalabert made a decisive breakaway on the climb of La Redoute, 40 km from the finish. Both riders worked together and Bartoli broke away from the Frenchman on the steep slopes in the final kilometer of the race. Jalabert, a specialist of the Ardennes races, finished second two years in a row but failed to win the Doyenne. In 1999, Bartoli sought a third consecutive win, but his effort was thwarted by young Belgian Frank Vandenbroucke who controlled the race and stunned followers with his victory.
In 2005, Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov and German Jens Voigt broke away from the peloton 80 km from the end. Although the escape seemed unlikely to stay away in modern cycling, the two riders made it to the finish ahead of the peloton, with Vinokourov beating Voigt in the sprint.
Other memorable editions were the races of 2009 and 2010. In 2009, young Luxembourger Andy Schleck produced a solo breakaway to beat a strong field and win the race. In 2010, Alexander Vinokourov concluded his second victory by outsprinting his breakaway companion Alexander Kolobnev. The victory was controversial, not only because Vinokourov had recently returned to cycling after a doping ban, but also because it was suggested he had 'bought' the victory. Swiss magazine L'Illustré published e-mail correspondence between the winner and runner-up that suggests Vinokourov paid Kolobnev €100,000 not to contest the final sprint. Both riders were later charged with bribery by Belgian authorities.
In the 2010s, Spanish allrounder Alejandro Valverde won four times, all sprint victories of a select group at the finish. In 2016, the race was affected by snow with the race partially rerouted.
Finish in Liège In 2019, the finish of the race moved back to Liège, with a flat run to the finish. In the 2020s, Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar won the race four times, with three of his wins involving a solo escape.
Route
Present course
The route of Liège–Bastogne–Liège crosses the two eastern Walloon provinces, Liège and Luxembourg, from north to south and back. Its distance is more or less fixed at 250–260 km. The race starts in the center of Liège, after which the course follows a straightforward route southwards to Bastogne, and a winding route back to Liège.
The second half of the course contains numerous climbs, such as the Stockeu, Haute-Levée, La Redoute, and the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, before finishing in Liège. In the final 15 km of the race, the course makes a remarkable transition from the meadowy and agrarian landscapes in the Ardennes to the post-industrial urban scenery of Liège.
Course changes Until 1991, the race finished in Liège's city center. In 1992, the finish moved to the industrial suburb of Ans, on the northwestern side of the city. The steep Côte de Saint-Nicolas was included in the final kilometres, along with a final climb to the finish in Ans. The move implied profound changes to the character of the race, as climbers with a strong uphill-sprint in recent years often wait until the final stretches to launch their ultimate attack.
The route usually has some minor changes every year, with some climbs skipped and others added, but the traditional finale containing the Côte de La Redoute, Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons and Côte de Saint-Nicolas was a fixture for 27 years.
In 2019, the finish line moved back into the centre of Liège, with a flat run-in towards the finish. Both the Côte de Saint-Nicolas and the final climb to Ans were thereby removed from the route. The Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons is the final named climb, topping out at 13 km from the finish but the climbing continues after a short descent off of La Roche, with the final uphill topping out approximately 10.5 km from the finish line.
Race characteristics
Demands
Liège–Bastogne–Liège is considered one of the most arduous one-day races in the world because of its length and succession of steep climbs. Every edition, about a dozen climbs – ranging in length, gradient and difficulty – are addressed, offering opportunities to attack. The British magazine Cycling Weekly stated: