The final of the Spring Classics, Liege-Bastogne- Liege, will cover 258km and presents multiple riders with their last opportunity to salvage something from their Classics campaign.
It’s hard to look past three-time winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) as the strong favourite but with almost 4,000 metres of climbing on the menu there are plenty of chances for other riders to challenge him.
The oldest of the five cycling Monuments, you can be sure Liege-Bastogne-Liege will be captivating race with the winner likely not decided until the last metres. Be sure to check out our in-depth preview here. And take a look at the following gallery of images collected over the years from “La Doyenne”.
This is an updated version of an article that was first published in 2013.
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- Eddy Merckx managed to win five editions of Liege-Bastogne-Liege (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1975), the most of any rider.
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- Gibi Baronchelli won 94 professional races in his illustrious career but never managed to win Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
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- Herman van Springel gets a helping hand from a couple of supporters during the 1980 edition of the race.
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- The 1980 edition of the race was affected by snow that started moments after the start. The British magazine, Procycling, reported: “Riders struggled on, with hands to faces to keep a view of the road. The race was an anonymous mass of plastic jackets and windcheaters. Spectators stood in goggles like upmarket snowmen, red-faced in the bitterness. Within the hour some teams had barely a man left on the road.”
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- Bernard Hinault, the winner, was one of few to finish the course in 1980. It took three weeks for proper movement to return to two fingers of his right hand.
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- Claude Criquielion and Stephen Roche go head to head in the 1985 edition. They would end up finishing 2nd and 3rd to Moreno Argentin respectively.
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- Sean Kelly on his way to winning his second Liege Bastogne Liege in 1989.
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- Guy Nulens pictured during the 1990 version of the oldest classic.
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- Gert-Jan Theunisse after finishing 8th in 1990.
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- Moreno Argentin is second only to Eddy Merckx in Liege-Bastogne-Liege victories. His four victories included a hat-trick between 1985-1987. He is pictured here in 1991 out-sprinting a strong group including Miguel Indurain and Belgian National Champion Claude Criquielion.
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- Marc Madiot pictured before the 1992 edition. He now is the director of French WorldTour team FDJ .
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- Michael Boogerd, Frank Vandenbroucke and Maarten den Bakker fill the 1999 podium.
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- Lance Armstrong raced Liege-Bastogne-Liege on five occasions. His best result was second, which he achieved twice: in 1994 and 1996.
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- Tyler Hamilton winning the 2003 LBL. He would go on to finish 4th overall at the Tour de France later that year.
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- Alexandre Vinokourov has won LBL twice, including in 2005 (pictured here) where he outsprinted Jens Voigt to the line.
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- Michael Boogerd gets out of the saddle in the 2007 LBL, a race that Danilo Di Luca would go on to win.
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- The course profile leaves little rest for riders as they constantly battle for positions leading into the climbs.
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- Danilo Di Luca celebrates after winning the 2007 edition of Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
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- Michael Boogerd is surrounded by the press after finishing sixth in 2007.
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- The peloton in Liege, moments after the start of the 2008 edition of the race.
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- The race heads through the narrow, windy roads of Wallonia.
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- Paolo Bettini goes on the attack in 2008. Bettini is a two-timer winner (2000 and 2002) but in 2008 he finished ninth, 1:03 behind winner Alejandro Valverde.
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- A strung-out peloton in 2008.
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- Cadel Evans grits his teeth in trademark fashion in the 2009 edition, before finishing 16th in the main field.
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- Whilst Andy Schlecks career may have come to an abrupt end after multiple injury issues, at this time in 2009 he was in stellar form, winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege by more than a minute.
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- Then-world-champion Cadel Evans is shadowed by Frank Schleck in 2010. Evans finished fourth, Schleck finished eighth and the race was won by Alexandre Vinokourov.
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- Laurens ten Dam digs deep in 2010 before finishing 32nd, 1:45 behind Vinokourov.
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- The peloton climbs through a sea of people on the Cote de Saint-Roch.
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- The climbs of Liege aren’t as numerous at, say, the Tour of Flanders. But they are tough.
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- Philippe Gilbert, Alejandro Valverde and Cadel Evans sprint for third place in the 2010 edition of the race. Valverde picked up the podium place but was later stripped of the result following a doping violation.
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- The peloton hits the Cote de Saint-Roch climb during the 2011 Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
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- Philippe Gilbert was victorious in 2011, outsprinting Frank (second) and Andy Schleck (third) for the win.
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- Gilbert gets mobbed by the media after winning his first and (so far) only LBL in 2011.
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- Frank Schleck, Jens Voigt and Andy Schleck ahead of the 2012 race.
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- The peloton hits the final climb of the 2012 edition, just 300 metres before the finish line. Maxim Iglinsky went on to win ahead of Vincenzo Nibali and Enrico Gasparotto.
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- Maxim Iglinsky won the 2012 edition by 21 seconds over Vincenzo Nibali who attacked with 20km to go.
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- Dan Martin won in 2013 after getting away from Joaquim Rodriguez on the final ascent to Ans.
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- Dan Martin was on track for a repeat victory at the 2014 Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the race’s 100th edition, before he crashed on the final corner.
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- Simon Gerrans wins the 100th edition of Liege, and becomes the first Australian to do so, edging out Valverde.
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- Alejandro Valverde wins his third Liege-Bastogne-Liege. A frustrated Julian Alaphilippe finishes 2nd again after his runners up result in La Flèche Wallonne midweek.
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- Riders battled tough conditions in the 2016 version where heavy snow fell through large parts of the race.
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- Wout Poels of Team Sky wins the 2016 version. The defending champion won’t be back this year due to injury.
