Liege-Bastogne-Liege

“It was a fast race," said Jakob Fulgsang after the race, "but it was somehow the real intensive parts were quite a bit different with the big crash and ...

It is a frantic start to the race, as various riders are still attempting to bridge across to the breakaway. The distance and the history of the race just show that the strongest guy wins and hopefully as a collective team we can play our cards in the final and go for the win- that’s our objective." Of course Dylan is the rider who is in the best shape at the moment. The 23-year-old Luxembourger was in the breakaway earlier this week too at La Flèche-Wallonne, and he finished 3rd overall in the Tour of Antalya in February. We need to be smart in the final and see how he [Sergio Higuita] feels and how I’m feeling so we will see during the race and try to stay smart." Just five other riders are able to live with the pace of Vanhoucke in the breakaway. There is a crash at the back of the peloton. Evenepoel has caught Armirail, and is now at the head of the race. A small group breaks clear but no-one is willing to fully commit yet and they are caught by the peloton. Landa is still on the front of that group for Bahrain-Victorious. "It was fast in the start and the second part was blocked by the headwind. I’ve been suffering mentally and physically a lot the last year and a half and finally this year, I feel that everything is going well, everything is getting stable and I’m getting to the best Remco again.

A stunning performance from Annemiek van Vleuten (WorldTeam Movistar Team) saw her win Liege-Bastogne-Liege for the second time in her career.

She maintained a slender lead of around 18 seconds as the chasing group collaborated well together to try and close her down, but it was to no avail. The two stayed clear for a few kilometres, enjoying an advantage of 20 seconds for a while, before the chasing group were able to reel them back in. This leading group had a gap of almost two minutes at one point, but going into the penultimate climb, the Côte de La Redoute, Ashleigh Moolman Pasio led the charge for SD Worx, obliterating the lead of the front group and causing numerous splits in the bunch behind.

The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider soloed to the first monument victory of his career.

The duo held a gap of 40 seconds as they reached Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, however, the Groupama-FDJ rider was quickly distanced on the climb by the Belgian. With his team leader now out of the race, Evenepoel decided to go on the attack at the summit of La Redoute. A number of their team began to liven things up with attacks at the summit of the Côte de Desnié. The group of 11 riders built a gap of around six minutes by the time they took on the first climb of the day, the Côte de La Roche-en-Ardenne. It took a while for the break to form with Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ), Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies), Jacob Hindsgaul (Uno-X Pro Cycling), and the Lotto Soudal duo of Sylvain Moniquet and Harm Vanhoucke finally escaping after 45km. The Belgian rider secured the first monument win of his fledgling career with an attack over the top of the Côte de La Redoute that he held all the way to the line in Liège.

Julian Alaphilippe suffered a collapsed lung, two broken ribs and a fractured shoulder blade after the world champion was involved in a "nightmare" crash at ...

It was a bittersweet end to the Belgian team's classics campaign, who had Remco Evenepoel to thank after his 30-kilometre burst sealed a solo victory to remember. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe." The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl leader had been targeting victory at the Ardennes Monument but was among the group of riders caught in a mass crash with 60 kilometres remaining.

Remco Evenepoel soloed to a well-earned victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, adding a golden lining to what was almost another unfortunate day for Quick-Step ...

By the top of the Roche-aux-Faucons, Evenepoel’s advantage was over 30 seconds with just 13 km to go. He gathered up Armirail just outside 20 km to go and let the Frenchman hang on until the last classified climb of the day. Moments later, Evenepoel made his inevitable move in the peloton, a ferocious acceleration near the top of the climb that no one could match.

Young Belgian star Remco Evenepoel has won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege 'Monument' classic with a majestic break on the penultimate ascent.

Liege-Bastogne-Liege is one of the 'monuments' of cycling - the five most prestigious one-day events in the sport - along with the Tour of Flanders, Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Lombardy. Evenepoel, who recovered from a horrific crash at the 2020 Tour of Lombardy, raised his arms and buried his face in his hands as he added his name to a list of winners that includes the likes of all-time cycling greats Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault. Rising star Remco Evenepoel has posted the biggest win of his career with a solo victory in cycling's oldest classic - the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race - as Belgian riders swept the podium places.

The 22-year-old Belgian became the youngest winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in over 50 years after attacking on the Côte de la Redoute and riding solo to the ...

Forget the Tour of the Algarve, the Tour of Denmark, the Tour of Poland. Remember that attack and this win. The immediate news after the race was that the world champion was in hospital and in a stable condition. It was a manoeuvre so audacious that Remco even began referring to himself in the third person at the finish line. The Attack. A move so savage from Remco Evenepoel at the top of La Redoute, just as the road began to flatten, that his rear wheel spun out in protest. No longer staring at the seatpost of the rider in front he finally had the opportunity to look down and consider the hundreds of ‘PHIL’s that had been daubed in white paint all across the road. Philippe Gilbert rode up the Côte de la Redoute for the 17th and final time in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Just outside his home town of Remouchamps, he waved to the crowd as he dropped back from the peloton.

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) showed that she was the strongest in the race at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, attacking hard on the Côte de La Redoute to force a ...

Vollering took third to complete the podium, with Amanda Spratt capping a strong ride after attacking mid-race to finish in tenth. Van Vleuten's lead held and even increased slightly on a few uncategorised ascents, with an advantage of 17 seconds with 6 kilometres left. The catch was the signal for counterattacks, with Brown powering away on a slight downhill to go clear at the front of the race. The lead was maintained until the base of the climb, with van Vleuten again wasting little time in launching her assault. Reusser refused to take a turn in the front duo, with teammates Vollering and Ashleigh Moolman chasing behind. There was just one option, aero, time trial mode, and give everything.”

Julian Alaphilippe, the world road race champion from France, was forced to abandon Liege-Bastogne-Liege after getting caught in a mass crash.

Alaphilippe, 29, won the last two world road race titles, becoming the first Frenchman to win the race in 23 years. “It’s my first Liege and I won, it’s a dream come true,” said Evenepoel, who rides for the Belgian outfit Quick-Step-Alpha-Vinyl. “Finishing alone, with a lead of almost one minute in my favorite race, it’s unbelievable.” Evenepoel, who recovered from a horrific crash at the 2020 Tour of Lombardy, raised his arms and buried his face in his hands as he added his name to a list of winners that includes the likes of cycling greats Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault.

The hardest one-day race on the calendar delivers a race hard enough for the peloton's hardest individual: Annemiek van Vleuten.

It’s the hardest one-day race on the calendar. In 2020, the pandemic year, she rode over 32,000km and clocked up 1229 hours on the bike, an average of over three hours per day every day of the year. In a spring where most winning performances have been built on strong collective teamwork, Van Vleuten stands out as a lone ranger at Movistar. She is a rider for whom victory comes from persistently trying to be the best individual female cyclist on the planet. Van Vleuten is a rider who relies on physicality. If there’s one thing Annemiek van Vleuten wants, it’s a hard race. To be fair to Van Vleuten though, what she really wanted in those races was longer climbs and plenty of them.

Grace Brown was relieved to return to the podium on Sunday after the Australian's impressive performance earned her second place at Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

It was a victory of sorts for the Australian, who had been yearning for the podium after taking the national time trial title in Ballarat at the start of the year and earning seventh place at the Tour of Flanders. The Victorian made her move between the last two climbs but was soon met by Olympic champion Annemiek van Vleuten, who soloed her way to an astonishing 89th career win at the age of 39. Brown, who was forced to end her 2021 season early due to shoulder surgery, had shown signs of improvement with FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope and briefly led La Doyenne by as much as 20 seconds ahead of the final ascent.

It was a bold attack from Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl) with 30 kilometres remaining that saw him take his first of cycling's monuments at the age ...

He caught and quickly dropped Paul Ourselin (Total Energies) as he set off in pursuit of the lone leader, Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ), himself attacking clear of the breakaway on the Côte de La Redoute. Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) was the longest-lived of these attacks, but he was swept up on the run into the Côte de la Redoute. I think this is the best Remco since turning pro so I’m really happy and proud to win this race." Finally this year I feel that everything is going well and everything is getting stable and I’m getting to the best Remco as well. Many riders abandoned the race, with Julien Alaphilippe (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl) taken away in an ambulance, with French media reporting that he was conscious while being examined. It came down to a reduced bunch sprint for second, 48 seconds behind the winner, with Quinten Hermans (Intermarche Wanty Gobert Materiaux) showing strength to claim his first monument podium finish ahead of Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma).

Team walks away empty-handed after attacking, leading chase behind Evenepoel.

"I went away with three guys and there was still a chance to come back, but they had to commit fully. I tried four times, I think, but the collaboration was a little bit... Remco proved to be the strongest today and he deserved this win." I think we've raced relatively well as a team, but we probably should have raced a little bit more aggressively when we had the numbers there. There, the chase group, cursed by competing interests and teams, only lost time to the single-minded Evenepoel. "We would have liked to really fight for the podium there, but it just didn't quite play out the way we wanted.

Quinten Hermans and Wout van Aert sprint out of chase group for second and third to make it an all-Belgian podium.

Evenepoel knew he had it and he started to celebrate with more than two kilometers to the finish line. Amirail would only survive until the foot of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons as Evenepoel pushed on alone. Behind, it was Movistar, Bahrain-Victorious, and Ineos Grenadiers setting the pace in what remained of the peloton. Attacks continued to come off the front of the peloton as it approached the Côte de la Redoute, but nothing would stick. The pause in the action didn’t last long and Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) tried to instigate a big move with 43 kilometers to go. Alaphilippe would leave the race in an ambulance, but French television later reported that he was conscious, though he was complaining of back pain. Among the crashing riders was world champion, and pre-race favorite, Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl). As the race entered the final 70 kilometers, there was a clear tension in the bunch. It would not be an easy day out for those up front, though, and some found the effort of getting into the break left them without the energy to keep in touch. Six more riders would eventually bridge the gap to make it an 11-man move. Nobody could follow his brutal acceleration over the top of the climb and he wouldn’t be seen again. Even with slowing down in the final meters to savor his win, Evenepoel crossed the line 48 seconds ahead of the chasers.