Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Sunday 27 April
Distance: 252km
Begin: 10:50 BST
End: 15:10 BST
Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes
Sunday 27 April
Distance: 152.9km
Begin: 12:45 BST
End: 16:40 BST
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2025 takes place on Sunday 27 April in Wallonia, the French talking a part of Belgium. Referred to as La Doyenne, or the Previous Girl, Liège-Bastogne-Liège was first run in 1892 and is the oldest skilled biking race on the planet.
Listed below are 5 issues to look out for on the Monument, in addition to the whole lot else you might want to learn about this 12 months’s males’s and girls’s editions.
5 issues to look out for at Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Wallonia’s time
After what should appear to be weeks of Flemish dominance of the bike racing narrative, Liège lastly offers the French-speaking a part of Belgium one thing to shout about. The race takes place within the very east of the nation, within the hilly Ardennes. It’s extra Liège waffles than Flemish frites, and Orval and Chimay over Bolleke and Westvleteren when it comes to beer.
Liège end
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Regardless of the identify, for nearly 30 years the race completed in Ans, a northern suburb of Liège, on the prime of a steep climb; this discouraged solo assaults and inspired a closing, interminable dash, like a barely much less vicious Flèche Wallonne. Nevertheless, since 2019, the end has been within the centre of city, with the ultimate climb coming 13km from the end – a lone attacker can actually win now.
Dutch dominance
Within the 10 12 months historical past of a girls’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège – I do know, solely 10 years?! – there have solely been two non-Dutch winners: Lizzie Deignan in 2020, and Grace Brown final 12 months. With Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen among the many favourites, this file would possibly proceed. What’s it about Wallonia that makes the Oranje pedal so onerous?
Pogačar v Evenepoel
The final 4 years of Liège have seen two wins apiece for Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel, though intriguingly, each have by no means completed the identical race. On the one event they have been each on the identical begin record, 2023, Pogačar crashed out early. Is a real duel between the pair an excessive amount of to ask for?
Battle of the Bulge
2025 marks the eightieth anniversary of the tip of the Second World Warfare, and the eightieth anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, which was fought round numerous the route of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, most famously with the Siege of Bastogne. Nazi Germany counter-attacked by means of American traces within the Ardennes, with the offensive finally coming to nothing, however costing many lives.
(Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
Concentrate on: La Redoute
At simply over 30km from the end, the Côte de la Redoute won’t at all times be the place the race is gained, however it’s the place the successful group is shaped.
The 2km climb at a median of 8.8% won’t sound too excessive, however it comes 220km into the lads’s race, and 119km into the ladies’s.
Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar have used it as a launch pad for victory, both attacking on it, or simply after it. With many riders already out of rivalry by this level, It acts as the proper place to shred what stays of the peloton.
The place can I watch Liège-Bastogne-Liège?
It’s on TNT Sports activities within the UK and Eire, accessible by way of a TV package deal or a Discovery+ subscription. Peacock has the rights within the US, SBS On Demand has free protection in Australia, and you’ll watch your traditional providers whereas overseas with a VPN reminiscent of NordVPN.
Final 12 months’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège podiums
Males’s
1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Group Emirates)
2. Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL)
3. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Ladies’s
1. Grace Brown (UAE Group ADQ)
2. Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek)
3. Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime)
Riders to look at at Liège-Bastogne-Liège
(Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Group Emirates-XRG)
A 3rd Liège-Bastogne-Liège would take the world champion to joint-fourth on the all-time record for wins at La Doyenne, not dangerous for a person aged simply 26, it might additionally imply a ninth Monument. Pogačar would be the out and out favorite for the lads’s race – how far out will the assault come this time?
Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez)
The Dutchwoman didn’t race between San Remo Ladies and the Amstel Gold Race, as a substitute spending time coaching at altitude forward of the busy a part of her season. Two years in the past she gained all three of the Ardennes Classics, and yet another Liège would take her to a few and the outright file.
Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime)
Everyone knows about Lotte Kopecky’s punch and energy, however does the world champion have the climbing prowess to win a Monument as hilly as Liège? She has solely raced it as soon as, ending thirty eighth final 12 months, but when she is the Tour de France Femmes contender she claims to be, then she might want to begin acting on climbs like these.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Fast-Step)
A two-time winner identical to Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel might make historical past by being the primary reigning male Olympic champion to win Liège. Usually, he could be one of many two favourites, however little is understood about his situation after he was knocked off his bike and significantly injured late final 12 months. He’s actually one to look at.
Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto)
The defending Tour de France Femmes champion has at all times been close to the entrance at Liège, by no means ending exterior the highest 20 in eight makes an attempt, however has solely as soon as completed on the rostrum – her debut. The Pole is but to win a race this 12 months, and a 12 months on from her drought-breaking Flèche Wallonne victory, it’s time for one more assertion efficiency.
