Tadej Pogacar closed out the spring classics in style, storming to his third career win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. After conquering the Tour of Flanders earlier this month, the world champion added a second Monument to his 2025 season—and left no doubt who rules the Ardennes.
When asked how it feels to finish the first part of the season with another win, Pogacar said, "It feels great to to finish the season like this. I mean the first part of the season like this and just happy that everything went the whole season so far went perfect and I'm just yeah so happy."
About the attack, Pogacar said, "No, actually it was not a plan but yeah it was so hard paced before that yeah I saw that number of teams don't have a lot of teammates anymore and yeah I said okay I test a little bit my legs. and see if I get the gap on the top. I and then I decided if I continue or not. But yeah then I just committed because I had good legs also on the second climb after La Redoute. So yeah I could go to the finish. I'm super happy."
When asked if he is happy that the classic campaign is now over, Pogacar said, "Yeah I'm happy that I can go home."
Remco Evenepoel, meanwhile, endured a complete off day. The highly anticipated duel never materialized.
"I don't know," Pogacar said about Evenepoel not looking good. "Just at first they they were controlling the bunch, Quick Step. They were racing on the front all day and then at one point all the Quick Step disappear from the front. I don't know why I was thinking maybe you know they're saving the legs for the climb. I was thinking this but then the La Redoute I look around he was not close close on my wheel. So that was also a good motivation to to go at that point."
Sunday's win means the UAE leader becomes only the second rider after Eddy Merckx, still considered to be the greatest of all time, to win the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the same year.
The reigning world champion, who wrote a note in felt-tip pen on his race number in memory of the mother of his partner who died three years ago, is even the first rider to finish on the podium of six consecutive Monuments.
The Slovenian now has nine Monument wins — the five biggest classics on the calendar — to his name, joining Fausto Coppi, Sean Kelly and Costante Girardengo in third place on the all-time list.
Merckx holds the record with 19 Monuments, including five Liège-Bastogne-Liège wins.
Pogacar's victory in Liège rounded off an intense classics campaign in which the Slovenian shone on all fronts.
His earlier wins in the Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and Flèche Wallonne give him four victories, and he also had three other podiums, including Paris-Roubaix, in his seven races.
The 26-year-old will now take a break of over a month before returning to racing at the Critérium du Dauphiné in June to prepare for his next major objective — the Tour de France in July, where he will be aiming for a fourth victory.
All eyes were on Pogacar and Evenepoel before the start. But once the race hit La Redoute, it was clear only one man had the legs.
Evenepoel, normally explosive on the key climbs, struggled to position himself even before the final hour. On La Redoute, he was already adrift. Pogacar, sensing the moment, launched his trademark acceleration—and that was that. Julian Alaphilippe tried to respond but couldn’t close the gap. Pogacar didn’t need much. Ten seconds became twenty, and the gap only grew from there.
Behind him, a chasing group featuring Ben Healy, Giulio Ciccone, Tom Pidcock, and Alaphilippe found themselves nearly a minute down. Evenepoel trailed even further, stuck without teammates and running on empty.
With 20 kilometers to go, Evenepoel briefly rallied to latch onto a chase group with Carlos Rodriguez and Mauro Schmid. But on the Roche-aux-Faucons, he cracked again. The Olympic champion would eventually finish nearly four minutes behind Pogacar.
Up front, it was a coronation. Pogacar soloed to the velodrome in Liège, capping another masterpiece in a spring that already includes Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, Flèche Wallonne, and now Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Giulio Ciccone outsprinted Healy for second place at 1:30 behind, while Pidcock’s group battled for fourth. In a surprise, Thibau Nys finished a brilliant fifth in his Monument debut, just behind Astana’s Simone Velasco.
With Evenepoel’s off day, it was Thibau Nys who emerged as the top Belgian. At just 21 years old, he showed incredible maturity and climbing strength to secure a top-five finish in his first Monument.
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EF Pro Cycling is ready to attack cycling’s oldest Monument
This Sunday is oldest classic of them all – Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Ask them and they will tell you that Liège-Bastogne-Liège is often the hardest of all the Monuments
If fans call Paris-Roubaix The Queen of the Classics
Liège will always be the grande dame: La Doyenne
The race is feared and respected by every rider in the peloton
the course travels through the Ardennes forest in French-speaking Belgium
where climb after fearsome climb lie in wait
and Côte de la Roche aux Faucons are among the hills that have been made famous over a century and more of cycling history
Read our riders thoughts ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
It is a race that's so, so hard and so long. The climbs are significantly longer than any of the Monuments that we've done so far this year
It feels good when we are deep into the race and the climbs get selective and you're still there
It's going to be over six hours of racing on hard roads
First things first is just basically sacrificing the entire team to get one
because that's typically where the fireworks start and favorites go
He is probably going to be our main leader
I'm hoping to be there with him deep in the finale
or if I have the legs so we can play a double leader strategy
I'll gladly sacrifice myself for him and hopefully we’ll land on the podium
if you can have two cards to play in the last ten kilometers
there's a really good chance you can land someone on the podium
It is super cool to ride for guys like Neilson and Ben
There have been a lot of laughs at the lunch and dinner table
I want to do my best and try to help Ben and Neilson as much as I can
but I hope I can go really far into the race to help them
The fact that it's a Monument obviously puts it right up there with the coolest races
but for me the fans on La Redoute and Roche aux Faucons just take it to the next level
When you're suffering up there and it's just a wall of sound
It's all about saving everything you can and then hopefully you have the good legs to follow on La Redoute
it’s about saving again until Roche aux Faucons
The roads in the Ardennes are narrow and twisty and up and down
the further you can sit forward in the peloton
That takes some leg power to do and that's what the guys will do for me on Sunday
That is what I've tried the past couple of years and it seems to work out
It’s just about trying to race a smart race and spend the pennies when you can in an efficient way
I can do the positioning in the finale by myself
It is very hard from the start of the race
it can be really selective and I think that is the beauty of the race
You need to have good legs to be in the front
I think we need to make sure the race is hard enough and that it's selective enough
I think for sure that if we race well as a team
We were successful last year at the Tour when we raced on the parcours
so I'm excited to see what we can do this year
because it's a hard pace the whole time
Alex is a punchy climber, who excels at sustained, explosive efforts like the Ardennes classics demand. His favorite race that he has done so far is the Clásica de San Sebastián. He also likes the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal and Québec, because his uncles, who now live in Canada, can come to cheer. But Alex always returns home to the Alps and the roads he has been riding ever since he was a child.
He first fell in love with cycling when he was four-years-old. His dad was a racer and would take him up into the mountains to watch the Tour de France whenever the race neared their Albertville home. Alex was soon tearing up climbs like the Cormet de Roselend with his father, emulating the heroes he’d seen attacking through the colorful crowds. His dad was his first coach and had to tell him to slow down.
As Alex got older, he began to train harder and soon established himself as one of the most promising young climbers in France. The mountains are where he is most at home.
As soon as snow falls in the Alps, Alex heads to his local cross-country trails. Gliding across meadows and through forests is a great way for him to build his fitness and get away from it all.
To fuel all his time outside, Alex also loves to cook. His favorite meal is a local speciality: croziflette, a cheesy, bacony gratin made with crozets, a small, square pasta from the Alps, which he saves for the off-season. When he is done cycling, Alex thinks he might become a chef.
For now, his focus is 100 percent on cycling. He wants to fly in his first year in pink.
Archie RyanEvery time the peloton hits a climb, Archie Ryan wants to put on a show. The Irishman burst into the pro peloton with a stage win at Coppi e Bartali in his first WorldTour season. An explosive finisher, who loves to be the life of the party in the final kilometres of a race, he is looking to build on his rookie year success in 2025 and go for more big wins.
As an under-23, Archie beat WorldTour competition uphill, when he won a mountain stage at the Tour of Slovakia, and earned victories at the Coppa Citta' Di San Daniele and a stage of the Tour de l’Avenir, as well as second places at the U23 version of Il Lombardia and the Eurode Omloop.
For his second WorldTour season, he has got his sights set on the Ardennes classics and would love to go to his first grand tour to show what he can do against the best climbers in the world in the high mountains.
At the moment, Archie lives in Girona, where enjoys the sunny Catalan weather, smooth roads, and a great group of training buddies. But, for Archie, Ireland will always be home. His favorite roads run through hills around Wicklow, on the windblown coast by the Irish sea. That’s where he first learned to ride and still returns to ride whenever he can and where the whole cycling community will toast Archie Ryan when he wins.
Harry SweenyHarry Sweeny joined our team in 2024 and quickly became a key rider for us in the classics and grand tours. This will be the 26-year-old Australian’s fifth season as a pro.
He came to cycling late. As a kid growing up in Brisbane, where his family moved when he was a child, he played soccer and rugby and did gymnastics and swam. He took up triathlon as a schoolboy, but focused on cycling when he was a junior and was recovering from a running injury. He started out racing local crits. His athleticism soon shone and he was picked to race the world championships in Richmond, Virginia for the Australian national team.
He moved to Europe to race, first for a small junior team in Belgium, and then for two years with the Australian Institute of Sport squad, which was then based in Italy, before moving back to Belgium for his final year as an U23. Those years opened up new worlds for Harry.
EF Education-EasyPost’s open-minded international character is a big draw for him. On the teams he has raced for in the past, he has often been one of the few foreigners. Our team is made up of riders and staff from dozens of nationalities. Most of them know what it is like to build a life far from home and can help with all of the little difficulties that come with that. Our multicultural make up helps us to expand our outlook and think beyond traditional ways of doing things too.
Harry is a lot more than a bike racer. He is a keen cook and he loves to go camping and hiking with his girlfriend, an environmental scientist, near their adopted home in Andorra. In the winters, he loves to ski. And he is a YouTuber.
Watch out for Harry on RaceTV. He brings an exciting perspective to our team.
That’s how Kasper loves to race, too – when the peloton explodes, and he has to make split-second decisions on the fly, pick his moment to go, and then ride with everything he has got to the line, he comes into his own. That’s why he loves the spring classics. Kasper can’t wait to lead his new teammates onto the cobbles at races like Flanders and Roubaix.
He learned how to race when he was a kid in Denmark, where he started out riding for the local club in Kolding, the small university city where he now lives with his wife and which he will always call home. Before he took up cycling, Kasper rode horses. From the age of four, he competed in dressage. He still draws on his childhood equestrian experience now as a pro bike racer. It taught him discipline: the value of showing up and putting in the work no matter what.
Bike racing was tough for him at first. Kasper didn’t win a race for his first three years. He loved the sport nonetheless and was soon making fast progress. Now, he is one of the best one-day racers in the world.
Still, Kasper’s love of the sport is what drives him. Being a pro comes with pressures and hard times, but he knows that it is a privilege to be a bike racer. He races better when he is enjoying the sport, and he enjoys the sport most on a winning team.
Neilson got his 2025 season rolling in a big way at Dwars door Vlaanderen, where he took the victory in a three-versus-one sprint.Neilson lives in Nice, France with his wife and young daughter during the racing season. He enjoys exploring their adopted city and relaxing on the beach after hard rides through the Alps.
Samuele BattistellaSamuele Battistella is ready to attack 2025 with EF Education-EasyPost. It’s his first season with our team and he is excited for a new challenge. Hailing from Veneto, Italy but now residing in Monaco, the 25-year-old adds versatility to our squad along with his enthusiasm and never-surrender attitude.
The Italian shot to fame in 2019, winning the rainbow jersey in the U23 World Championships road race in Yorkshire, England and has raced in the WorldTour for the last five seasons. A former winner of the Veneto Classic one-day race, Battistella is impressed by how our team takes to the start of every race determined to go for victory.
He has racked up over a dozen top tens in the last two years, with high placings in races such as the Tour de Pologne, Itzulia Basque Country and Paris-Nice. His aim is to transfer those results into podiums and wins with his new teammates. His favorite races are the Ardennes classics and the Giro d’Italia.
Samuele has just become a father and is extra motivated now to race for his family.
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With 8.4 w/kg climbs and a 7.4 w/kg late in the race
Pogačar’s LBL numbers are straight up absurd
We already knew that Tadej Pogačar was the best bike rider in the world
and one of the greatest cyclists of all time
and there is always a chance that his attack will be caught
Pundits questioned the world champion’s early-season race schedule. If he is showing signs of fatigue at Amstel Gold, why is he continuing to race? Then Pogačar dropped everyone at La Flèche Wallonne
He created a massive gap with one seated acceleration on the Mur de Huy
Liège-Bastogne-Liège is a completely different race from La Flèche Wallonne
but it is one that Pogačar has conquered before
The world champion entered as race favorite
but there was a formidable start list that included the likes of Remco Evenepoel
And if you ever thought that he only dominated because it was a weak start list
Pogačar set the fastest time ever on La Redoute
and followed up with some of his biggest numbers ever on Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons
The first 150 km of Liège-Bastogne-Liège is all about managing fatigue
there isn’t much that typically happens in this opening phase of the race
and then the teams come to the front of the peloton to control the pace
it is worth pointing out the ridiculous pace in the peloton
keep these numbers in mind as the pros are nose-breathing with over 100 km to go
we will use Brandon McNulty’s power file from Strava
The rider from UAE Team Emirates-XRG was Pogačar’s shadow for much of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
They rode side-by-side or one in front of the other
They made the same efforts on the opening climbs to maintain their positions in the UAE Team Emirates-XRG train
we can assume that Pogačar is making the same relative efforts as McNulty
especially in terms of w/kg on the steep climbs of LBL
From the midpoint of the race to the base of La Redoute
UAE Team Emirates-XRG began to increase the pace in the peloton
the peloton stretched further and further down the road
McNulty is pushing well over 400w on the climbs
and he rides an hour and a half at a Normalized Power of 373w
This would be enough to dominate almost any amateur bike race; in LBL
As the peloton arrived at the base of La Redoute
But the world champion was probably pushing over 600w at the time of the acceleration
It was much like Pogačar’s seated attack at La Flèche Wallonne: in the saddle at ~90 rpm
The world champion rode to the crest of La Redoute in three minutes and 58 seconds
That was a time of 4:08 with an average power of ~530w (8.2w/kg)
and he really didn’t have much of a leadout
The numbers suggest that Pogačar’s 3-5 minute power numbers are higher than ever
they are among the highest w/kg I have ever seen
pushed 544w (~8w/kg) on La Redoute and was still six seconds slower than Pogačar
Tadej Pogačar had plenty of work to do before the finish in Liège
Pidcock and Ben Healy were among those chasing
and a large peloton started to reform in the chase
Next on Pogačar’s list was the Cornemont Climb
where he took the Strava KOM and a few seconds to his gap
The World Champion pushed the pace again on the Côte des Forges
climbing at nearly 2,000 Vm/h over the three-minute segment
A few kilometers later was the last remaining climb of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
The Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons is 1.3 km at an average of 10.2%
and it is often the second-hardest climb of LBL after La Redoute
This was the final opportunity to flip the race on its head
he was at risk of getting caught by a large group of chasers
But if the world champion flew up the climb
as Pogačar climbed the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons just as fast as the chasers
the world champion was doing VO2 Max intervals at nearly 7.5w/kg
Pogačar cruised to the finish after the final climb and was still more than a minute ahead of the nearest chase group
The world champion high-fived fans before he crossed the line
taking his third Liège-Bastogne-Liège and finishing a tire’s width away from winning the Ardennes triple
The world champion now enters his longest break of the season
not returning to race until the Critérium du Dauphiné on June 8th
Pogačar must be happy with his start to the season
In his seven starts in the classics this season
he took four victories and never finished worse than 3rd
His performance at Liège-Bastogne-Liège suggests he is pushing his best power ever
and there is still more than two months left to prepare for the Tour de France
We saw Tadej Pogačar smashing climbing records at last year’s Tour
and all the evidence is pointing towards the same happening this year
Power Analysis data courtesy of Strava
Strava sauce extension
What’s it like to be an American cyclist living in France
Watch to get professional road cyclist Joe Dombrowski’s view
The cycling excitement continues in Belgium with the 2025 Liège-Bastogne-Liège this Sunday, April 27. Coverage begins on Peacock at 6 AM ET
All eyes will be on three-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar and Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel
who have claimed the last four editions of this historic race
Pogačar earned victories in 2021 and most recently in 2024
while Evenepoel won back-to-back in 2022 and 2023
See below for answers to all of your questions about the 2025 Liège-Bastogne-Liège
and additional information on how to watch cycling on Peacock
Click here to sign up for Peacock!
RELATED: Tadej Pogacar surges to victory at Flèche Wallonne with trademark attack
The 2025 Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes will also take place on Sunday
The total distance is 252 kilometers (approximately 156 miles). Click here to find the official route map.
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The final 2025 race in the Spring Classics has arrived
We've put together everything you need to know about how to watch Liege Bastogne Liege
Below are all the details for watching Liege Bastogne Liege
including how to live stream the race from anywhere with a VPN
All the options we recommend will live stream several other major cycling events throughout the year
but you can upgrade to Peacock Premium Plus for $13/month to unlock ad-free on-demand content and NBC live streams
You can also find some savings by signing up for annual plans
you'll need to sign up for the Premium tier
This plan also includes access to sporting events like the Champions League
SBS Viceland will show Liege Bastogne Liege in Australia, which means it will be available to live stream on SBS On Demand
This is a free streaming option; users just need to create an account if they don't already have one
you'll find it hard to access your free streaming option
you can access websites and apps from anywhere by changing your virtual location with a VPN
VPNs are easy-to-use tech tools that are especially popular among those hoping to use their usual services while abroad or upgrade their cybersecurity
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Picture by 2013 Getty ImagesBy William ImboLiège-Bastogne-Liège (LBL, affectionately known as "La Doyenne" (The Old Lady), is the oldest Monument in professional cycling
As the final classic before the Grand Tour season
it challenges riders with the relentless climbs of the Ardennes region
The 2025 edition – as well as the ninth edition of the LBL Femmes – scheduled for Sunday
promises to continue this tradition of endurance and strategy
As we look ahead to the 2025 races, both courses present a blend of heritage and new challenges, setting the stage for another thrilling chapter in Liège-Bastogne-Liège history.
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The 111th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège features a classic route with a few intriguing updates
The race starts at the Quai des Ardennes in Liège
heading south to Bastogne before looping back north to finish in central Liège
Côte de Saint-Roch (1 km at 11.2%) – Appears at 70.7 km into the race
Col de Haussire (3.9 km at 6.8%)– Reintroduced for the first time since 1995
Côte de Mont-le-Soie (1.9 km at 7.7%) – Begins the final 100 km of racing
and Côte de Haute-Levée (2.2 km at 7.5%) – A challenging trio within a 15 km stretch
Col du Rosier (4.5 km at 5.9%) – The longest climb
Côte de Desnié (1.7 km at 7.8%) – A relatively new addition
Côte de la Redoute (1.6 km at 9.5%) – A legendary climb
Côte des Forges (1.4 km at 7.5%) – Located 23.3 km from the finish
Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (1.4 km at 11.4%) – The final climb
is often a launchpad for race-winning moves
favouring strong finishers who can survive the punishing climbs
The ninth edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes follows a 152.9 km route from Bastogne to Liège
mirroring key segments of the men's course
Côte de Saint-Roch (1.1km at 10.7%) – An early challenge 15.8 km into the race
Côte de Mont-le-Soie (1.9 km at 7.6%) – Marks the beginning of a series of climbs
and Côte de Haute-Levée (2.3 km at 7.3%) – A demanding sequence within a 15 km span
Col du Rosier (4.5 km at 5.9%) – The longest ascent
Côte de Desnié (1.7 km at 8.1%) – Introduced in 2021
Côte de la Redoute (1.6 km at 9.5%) – A pivotal climb
Côte des Forges (1.4 km at 7.5%) – Located 23.2 km from the finish
Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (1.4 km at 11.5%) – The final climb
the course features a short descent followed by a false flat and a final incline before the flat finish in Liège
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Rouleur looks at the contenders for the fourth Monument of the season
Rounding off the week of Ardennes Classics is Liège-Bastogne-Liège
And like the four other most important one-day races
it is one of the most gruelling — yet prestigious — races of the year
La Doyenne signals the end of the spring Classics and so for many riders
it’s the final chance for one-day glory ahead of a period predominantly comprised of stage races
it is the opportunity to add one of cycling’s oldest and most illustrious races to a rider’s palmarès
The man with the most impressive palmarès in the sport’s history
holds the record with five Liège wins in his career — an achievement no rider has come close to matching except the now-retired Alejandro Valverde
there are two riders who could make it a hat-trick of victories at this year’s race; Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel have shared the last four editions
and it is likely that one of them could narrow the gap to Merckx
who perhaps looked the better of the two at Amstel
was certainly outclassed on the steep final climb at Flèche
where he had to settle for ninth while Pogačar disappeared up the road
They may be the two favourites but there are a number of riders who could challenge
and there is always scope for an upset as proved by Skjelmose’s victory at Amstel
As per tradition the 2025 race starts in Liège and heads south to Bastogne on relatively flat parcours before looping back to the start city taking in a number of Ardennes climbs — nine challenging ascents in total in the last 100km
The most pivotal climbs are the final trio: the Côte de la Redoute and its gruelling 20% max gradient
the Côte des Forges and the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons — a brutal 1.3km-long climb with an ascent of 11% — before a short ascent and false flat that leads the riders to the descent into Liège
where the last 2km of the race is flat to the finish line
Liège is perfect for him and on his day there is no one who can match him over its demanding parcours
he has triumphed in different manners; in 2021 he won the sprint from a small group
beating strong finishers like Julian Alaphilippe and David Gaudu in the process; in 2024 he went solo 34km out on the Côte de la Redoute in typical Pogačar style
given Evenepoel has proved his finishing sprint to be on form
although Pogačar will not want to make the same mistake as he did at Amstel Gold
Pogačar’s main rival is another generational talent
Evenepoel will have been disappointed with his race at Flèche
where he was unable to match the seated acceleration from Pogačar
it was not a race that suited him as much as the road world champion
both in its parcours and the day’s rainy conditions
the forecast for Liège suggests it will be dry on Sunday
Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) may have dropped out of Flèche
but the neutrals will hope that this was just a precaution after his previous experience at the race
which he had to drop out of last year due to hypothermia in similar rainy conditions to Wednesday
Skjelmose will benefit from the dry and warm weather forecast at Liège on Sunday
including winning the Tour de Suisse in 2023
has one top 10 at Liège on his palmarès also from 2023 and will be supported by a strong Lidl-Trek squad
who have consistently been one of the impressive teams at the Classics so far this season
One week on from the biggest one-day win of his career
Skjelmose will be hoping to cause another upset and get the better of the two main favourites
Mattias Skjelmose leading Remco Evenepoel at the Amstel Gold Race 2025 (Image: Zac Williams)
he’s yet to get a big win that matches these triumphs
but that isn’t to say 2025 hasn’t already been a success for the 25-year-old at his new team
He bided his time on the Mur de Huy at Wednesday’s Flèche Wallonne
choosing not to try and follow the other moves
until he kicked on himself to claim a third-place finish behind Pogačar and Kévin Vauquelin
Liège will be a different kind of challenge to Flèche’s watts-per-kilo test on the final kilometre
so Pidcock will have to be well-positioned and have the legs to hang onto the likes of Pogačar and Evenepoel to win on Sunday
he will likely still be able to challenge for another podium spot at the race
Ben Healy and his EF Education-EasyPost squad are a match made in heaven, where both rider and team are intent on pursuing an aggressive style of racing. It’s an approach that has paid off with some significant results for the Irishman, including a Giro d'Italia stage in 2023
second at Amstel Gold in the same year and most recently an astonishing stage win at the Itzulia Basque Country earlier in April
The synergy is not only apparent between the rider and the team but also in his characteristics that are perfectly suited to the Ardennes Classics — Healy is powerful on the climbs
has considerable endurance and an astute race sense
which are all important assets over the challenging parcours of Liège
the Irishman has finished 10th and fifth and will be hoping to continue this consistency at the most important of the three
Ben Healy during La Flèche Wallonne 2025 (Image: Zac Williams / SWpix.com)
The best of the rest at Flèche was Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)
although was unable to match the punch of Pogačar
showed some seriously impressive form to take a standout second-place
Another Tour stage winner (from last year) who has been racking up a number of wins so far in 2025
including three stages and two GC wins at some of the French 2.1 races
at the Etoile de Bessèges in February and the Pays de la Loire Tour earlier in April
Flèche was his biggest result all season and will have given his Arkéa-B&B Hotels a valuable haul of UCI points in the scrap to remain in the WorldTour
but Vauquelin himself is thriving and is delivering on his promise shown at that breakout Tour stage win last year in Bologna
He could bring more points for the struggling team on Sunday with a big result at the Monument
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Tiesj Benoot finished eighth at Amstel Gold and he can rely on the support from another strong outsider Ben Tulett as the squad look to secure their first Classic of the year
Thibau Nys and Giulio Ciccone will be supporting their Lidl-Trek teammate Skjelmose
but if the Dane were to come into difficulty
both will hope to make it far enough into the race to play a role in the finale
Thibau Nys at the finish of La Flèche Wallonne 2025 (Image Zac Williams / SWpix.com)
Guillaume Martin and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) will be dual leaders for their squad and could feature in the top 10
the impressive Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty) will want to continue his fine form
which resulted in a sixth-place finish at Amstel Gold
Romain Bardet (Team Picnic PostNL) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) are all capable of transferring their GC potential into one-day races and have all finished on the podium of a Monument (Mas at Il Lombardia 2022
Bardet and Buitrago at Liège in 2024 and 2023
The way Pogačar rode away on the final climb at Flèche is an ominous sign for his opponents
and we believe he will claim his second consecutive
Rouleur takes a look at the contenders to win the Maglia Rosa in Italy this month
Alexander Vinokourov's team are making the impossible rather quite possible
All the essential information about the first Grand Tour of the year
While the former Olympic and World champion is relishing new ventures in retirement
she is keen to ensure more support is in place for those..
From SD Worx-Protime's continued success to Canyon-SRAM's disappointment
Rouleur takes a look at how each squad performed at the Spring Classics
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GOAL has everything you need to know about how to watch 2025 Liège-Bastogne-Liège cycling race
The cycling spotlight stays firmly on Belgium this Sunday
with the 2025 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Nicknamed La Doyenne ('the old lady') for its rich legacy — first raced back in 1892
predating even the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix — LBL remains one of the toughest and longest one-day battles in the sport
All eyes will once again lock onto three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar and Belgium's own Remco Evenepoel
who have dominated this classic in recent years
while Evenepoel went back-to-back with wins in 2022 and 2023
GOAL below answers to all of your questions about Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2025 cycling race
and additional information on how you can watch the cycling race
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2025 will take place on Sunday
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2025 will be aired live in the United States on NBC Sports through Peacock
The coverage starts at 6:00 am ET on Sunday
Fans can catch the action with a Peacock Premium subscription
which is available for $7.99 per month or $79.99 annually with ads
priced at $13.99 per month or $139.99 per year
broadcasting rights for the Tour de France until 2029
The 111th running of Liège-Bastogne-Liège sticks to its classic roots but spices things up with a few fresh twists
Riders will roll out from the Quai des Ardennes in Liège
heading south to Bastogne before swinging back north for a thrilling finale in the heart of Liège
Côte de Saint-Roch (1 km at 11.2%) – Makes its earliest race appearance since 2004 at the 70.7 km mark
Col de Haussire (3.9 km at 6.8%) – Returning to the route for the first time since 1995
Côte de Mont-le-Soie (1.9 km at 7.7%) – Kicks off the brutal final 100 km stretch
and Côte de Haute-Levée (2.2 km at 7.5%) – A punishing triple punch packed into just 15 km
Col du Rosier (4.5 km at 5.9%) – The day’s longest climb
Côte de Desnié (1.7 km at 7.8%) – A newer obstacle
Côte de la Redoute (1.6 km at 9.5%) – A legendary battleground
Côte des Forges (1.4 km at 7.5%) – Just 23.3 km from the line
and often the springboard for race-winning attacks
it's a flat-out sprint to the finish in Liège — but only the hardiest riders will still have gas left in the tank
🚴♂️ #LBL 2025 🚴♂️⛰ 11 côtes/climbs 🔎 Nouveautés notables : la côte de Saint-Roch en début de course et le retour du Col de Haussire. 🔎 New features: the côte de Saint-Roch at the start of the race and the return from the Col de Haussire. pic.twitter.com/aq1hZknMhe
the world’s largest express transportation company
is reinforcing its transatlantic network from Belgium with the addition of a nonstop cargo flight between Liège and Memphis (USA)
This strategic enhancement underscores FedEx’s continued commitment to its footprint in Wallonia and the further development of its intercontinental freight hub in Liège
which plays a growing role in the company’s global operations
the addition of this flight increases the frequency of the Liège–Memphis route from five to eight times per week
capable of transporting up to 150,000 lbs of freight per flight
The role of Liege in the FedEx air network has shifted in recent years to being a dedicated intercontinental freight hub
part of a global strategy to redesign the air network to improve density and network utlilisation
The increased frequency enhances the role of Liege in the global network and comes as FedEx continues to focus on its strategy to grow in the sizeable $80 billion global air freight market
“The increased frequency of the Liege-Memphis air route underscores the strategic role Liege hub plays in our global air network
being the intercontinental freight hub for Europe
This development reflects our commitment to a strong and sustainable presence in Wallonia
while strengthening Belgium’s role at the heart of international trade flows,” says Rudi Loontiens
FedEx’s first launch of the Liège–Memphis connection took place in April 2017
the company has expanded its nonstop transatlantic offering from Liège with new routes to Indianapolis and Oakland
these connections reinforce the Belgian hub’s importance as a gateway between Europe and global markets
and reinforcing Belgium’s position within global supply chains
Its long-standing presence also benefits the local community by supporting direct and indirect jobs
and fostering long-term economic stability in the region
This also includes providing essential logistics support to local small and medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs)
enabling them to reach new markets and grow internationally
FedEx is the largest employer at Liège Airport
more than half of whom come from nearby communities
FedEx created 130 new positions and contract-increases at the Liege site
the company has invested significantly in the site
including in specialised equipment to ensure the safe and efficient handling of freight
with a continued focus on the safety of employees
It was his third victory overall at the spring classic race, which is also one of the five “monuments” in one-day cycling along with Paris-Roubaix on the cobbles, the Tour of Lombardy, Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders. Pogacar now has nine “monument” victories.
Read moreThe Slovenian was so far ahead on Sunday that he even had time to turn and smile at the roadside camera filming him
then touched hands with fans near the finish before raising his arms in the air with victory assured
Pogacar won in just over six hours and finished 1min 3sec before Italian Giulio Ciccone in second and Irishman Ben Healy in third
Ciccone and Healy contested a sprint to the line for second place
Pogacar’s UAE Team-Emirates teammates increased the speed at the front of the main pack and the peloton caught a small group of frontrunners with 60km to go
and with the main favourites still in contention
But when Pogačar surged ahead on the Côte de La Redoute climb
when Pogacar launched a trademark uphill attack to win the Flèche Wallonne classic for the second time
It was a disappointing race for the two-time champion Remco Evenepoel as the Belgian rider was dropped by Pogacar on the Redoute climb
Evenepoel could not gain any time back and instead dropped down to finish in 59th place
View image in fullscreenTadej Pogacar greets fans on his way to a comfortable victory
Photograph: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/APThe Mauritian rider Kim Le Court won the women’s race for the first time as four riders contested a sprint finish
attacked first but Le Court countered her and then held off Dutch rider Puck Pieterse
Pieterse finished second ahead of her compatriot Vollering and the French rider Cédrine Kerbaol in fourth
The four riders completed the 152.9km (94.8-mile) route in 4:15:42
It was the first classics win for the 29-year-old Le Court
Kerbaol broke away near the end and led by 14sec with 11km left and threatened to extend her advantage
could not follow and cracked in the final climb up Roche aux Faucons
Vollering and Le Court caught Kerbaol with a few kilometres remaining to make it a four-way sprint finish
Puck Pieterse and Demi Vollering lead the way up the Côte de La Redoute
and Kerbaol to take the biggest win of her career
The 29-year-old beat Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez)
and Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) on the line.
Le Court found her rhythm on the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons
and was able to bridge up to Vollering and Pieterse
The trio then reeled Kerbaol back inside of the final 10 kilometres
Vollering led the quatuor into the finale with Le Court on her wheel
only started to believe that she could take the victory in the final sprint.
"To be honest when I bridged the gap of Roche-aux-Faucons I really felt strong compared to the others
When I bridged to them I saw they were really suffering
of course I was suffering too but for me to make that effort to bridge to them I knew I had maybe a bit more legs," Le Court said.
"I really didn't know [that I could win] until I got to the sprint and I just kicked and I just never looked back
"It's been always so close this whole season and I've actually aimed for Liège-Bastogne-Liège this whole season
It's been really the last classics I really wanted to win
so I can't believe we made it all together as a team."
On the ninth running of the women's Liege-Bastogne-Liege
with a star-studded peloton heading to Liège
The race started in the town of Bastogne with a course of 152.9km heading to Liege
Debora Silvestri (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi)
Julie Vlyminck (DD Grou) and Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM-Zondacrypto)
There was one group of five riders that tried to make an early breakaway
but they were caught just a few minutes after forming
A nasty crash early on saw both Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) and Liane Lippert (Movistar) come down
with the former being forced to abandon a few moments later
just after the first of 10 classified climbs
Three riders got a gap on the peloton with just under 130km to go they were Tiril Jørgensen (Coop-Repsol)
Constance Valentin (Winspace-Orange-Seal) and Victoire Guilman (Cofidis)
with Laura Molenaar (VolkerWessels) going for a bridge
Another counter move went away with Solbjørk Minke Anderson (Uno-X Mobility)
Sylvie Swinkels (Roland) and Danielle De Francesco (Arkea-B&B Hotels) getting a gap
All three groups came together with 112km to go
forming an eight-rider group which held a maximum gap of four minutes.
The breakaway was dragged back after it lost cohesion with just over 70km to go
with FDJ-Suez controlling the peloton for their leader
Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) was one of the riders who did get away with 50km to go
Valentina Cavallar (Arkea-B&B Hotels) launched a counter move to try and bridge.
Both were caught just before and during the infamous Côte de la Redoute with a major shock with Italian champion
A group of 15 riders went clear on the Côte de la Redoute
The big favourites didn't commit to any attacks with just over 30km to go
Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) launched a move on the flat after the descent and got a small gap with Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime)
Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM-Zondacrypto) and Kerbaol joining the Dutch climber at the front of the race.
FDJ-Suez did set a good tempo in the chase
but then Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease A Bike) tried a move which was marked
Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) pushed hard and started working hard to bring the leaders back
Niedermaier was quick to drag her back to reform the group of four
They had over 20 seconds with 20km to go.
Movistar went all out to try and bring the leaders back before the final climb of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons
Van der Breggen and Kerbaol held on for the longes but Rooijakkers dropped back to bring her teammate
Puck Pieterse up to the front along with Kopecky and Vollering
Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM-Zondacrypto)
Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and the rest all left behind.
Vollering used the steepest gradients to try and drop Kopecky
the world champion held on along with Pieterse and Kerbaol
Kopecky managed to hold on over the top of the Roche-aux-Faucons with a gap of about 10" over the closest chaser
Kerbaol went clear with 12km to go as the other three riders looked at each other
Just before a large chasing group joined the group of Vollering
Le Court rejoined the main group with Kopecky and Reusser both getting dropped.
Pieterse and Le Court with just over 8km to go
The French rider then sat on the back with the chasing group just around 30 seconds down.
and it all came down to a sprint with Vollering leading out
and the extremely powerful Mauritian rider was too fast for Pieterse
with Kerbaol missing out on the podium.
Kopecky led the chasing pack home 24 seconds back on the leading group in Liege.
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Men's race coverage starts: 11.00am BST / 6.00am ET
Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the climber's monument
a savage race set on a 252km course in Wallonia
This year the 111th edition of the race packs in 3700 meters of climbing with the final ascent the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons coming 13 kilometres from the finish line
Liège-Bastogne-Liège brings the curtain down on the spring classics in the most violent fashion possible with multiple horrendous climbs set at regular intervals throughout the second half of its 260km distance
and finally the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons
wear down the riders leaving only the very strongest able to fight for the win
With no Mathieu van der Poel to challenge him
the overwhelming favourite is last year's winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG)
Hoping he has a rare off day will be Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) looking for his first monument win
and the returning double winner Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step)
Liège-Bastogne-Liège is streaming on lots of platforms around the world
but what if you're abroad and don't want to take out a new subscription just to watch the race
There's a good reason you've heard of NordVPN. We specialize in testing and reviewing VPN services and NordVPN is the one we rate as the best VPN
It's outstanding at unblocking streaming services
it's fast and it has top-level security features too
A subscription will set you back $7.99 per month
which will help you access your Peacock subscription from anywhere
UK flagWith Eurosport no longer available in the UK, the only place to catch the cycling action is now on TNT Sports
though BT Broadband customers can get a discounted rate
You will also have access to the Premier League
Champions League and Europa League football plus rugby
A subscription will set you back CAN$150 for the year or CAN$29.99 on a monthly basis
Australian flagAs mentioned above, cycling fans in Australia can watch the 2025 Liège-Bastogne-Liège on SBS for FREE
Forget about them – some of the most epic racing of this Classics season is on the horizon
This article is part of a series called ‘A love letter to…’
where Cycling Weekly writers pour praise on their favourite aspects of cycling
In a quick survey of a peloton's worth of cycling fans
I'd wager if I had a pound for everyone who said the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix
I'd be able to buy the plane ticket to go and watch next year
The attraction of seeing powerful bike riders beat the stuffing out of each other over terrain that would make even a UK road inspector blanche will never grow old – but for many they are where the Classics season ends
Am I really alone in thinking Liège-Bastogne-Liège deserves a little more love
A massive day – 170 miles / 270km – in the big hills
with the vertical ascent of a Tour de France mountain stage
It's even nicknamed 'La Doyenne' by virtue of being the oldest Classic on the calendar
a full four years before Paris-Roubaix and beaten only by
where brain-meltingly strong beer and triple-cooked chips with mayo are still available
after mid-April with the big cobbled events finished with
you'd be forgiven for thinking that the Classics are over
Liège becomes – a bit like the overcooked broccoli on the table at Sunday lunch
or that rock concert bass solo – an afterthought
To be fair, it wasn't until I took part in the Liege-Bastogne-Liège challenge ride 10 years ago that my eyes were truly opened to exactly how awesome this race is
Having seen all 170 miles of it at road level
which always offers a more visceral perspective than the TV images
I realised how much beauty there was in the scenery
and how steep – and long – many of the climbs are
industrial face of the finale in the Liège suburbs – in a bleak juxtaposition with much of the rest of the race – is somehow all the more special for it
Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič over the past five years
The women's winners tell the same story – Demi Vollering, Annemiek van Vleuten, Grace Brown and Lizzie Deignan… and now that another former winner
has emerged from retirement and returned to the fray
her presence on the start list offers another tantalising possibility for a win
and fell in love with the world's oldest Monument
Pour yourself a trappist beer and get involved
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James ShrubsallAfter cutting his teeth on local and national newspapers
James began at Cycling Weekly as a sub-editor in 2000 when the current office was literally all fields
in 2016 he switched to the job of full-time writer
James's racing days (and most of his fitness) are now behind him
both on the road and on the gravelly stuff
how to watchThe 111th men's Liège-Bastogne-Liège and ninth LBL Femmes will take place on Sunday (27 April)
They are the last major spring outings for teams before the year's first Grand Tours begin in May
On Sunday (27 April), the 111th LBL – as well as the ninth edition of the LBL Femmes – will bring the Ardennes classics to a close as teams start to prepare for May's first Grand Tours: the men's Giro d'Italia and women's Vuelta a España Feminina.
The men will begin in Liège and race southwards to Bastogne before turning back northwards, finishing in Liège after a 252km (156.5-mile) race. Meanwhile, the women's race starts in Bastogne and heads straight for Liège in a 152.9km (95-mile) contest, joining the men's course at Salmchâteau with approximately 106km to go.
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how to watch","section_level_1":"news","section_level_2":"liege-bastogne-liege-2025-preview-full-schedule-how-to-watch-live","discipline":"discipline-cycling-road","odf_id":null,"module_instance":"CTAs - Blue Link","module_id":"6b5b27f5-708a-44ed-9fef-bd97d03d35b5","link_tag":"Olympic Membership - Free Live Stream Sports & Original Series - join now
The rainbow jersey holder won the race last year
but agonisingly lost at both Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race
He'll have the Flèche Wallonne in midweek before heading to LBL and could be entering on a win to end his mini-drought
Including a win at the Flèche Brabançonne and an expected start at the Flèche Wallonne
this will be just the Olympic champion's fourth race since returning from a serious injury – though his form makes it seem like he's never been away
There is a third previous champion expected on the start line in the form of Luxembourg's Bob Jungels
the women's defending champion Grace Brown isn't back – the Australian retired at the end of last season
a successful one which included Olympic time trial gold
The races will be available on live TV and streaming services
and domestic television broadcasters in other countries
Liège-Bastogne-Liège podium: second-place Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek)
winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and third place Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost)
Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) and Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-B&B Hotels) lead the breakaway
UAE Team Emirates-XRG' Domen Novak sets the pace at the front of the peloton
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) powers away on La Redoute
Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) edges out Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) for second place
Giulio Ciccone edges out Ben Healy to take second as Remco Evenepoel fades on La Redoute
going clear on the Côte de La Redoute and soloing the final 35km to take a ninth Monument win
a chase group made up of Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor)
and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) had formed on La Redoute
while the other pre-race favourite Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) showed that he has yet to hit top form after his long injury layoff
Healy and Ciccone emerged as the strongest riders in the chase on the Roche-aux-Faucons
going clear on the 11% slopes and extending their advantage on the descent towards Liège
The pair carried a 25-second lead into the final kilometres of the race
setting up a two-man battle to the finish for the two podium spots behind Pogačar
Over one minute after the world champion rolled across the line to round off six hours of racing with his 95th career victory
Healy led Ciccone into the final 500 metres
with the Italian coming around before the line to nab second place
Simone Velasco (XDS-Astana) led the larger third chase group home for fourth at 1:10 down
while Thibau Nys completed a good day for Lidl-Trek to take fifth place as the top home finisher
“It feels great to finish the first part of the season like this
I’m just happy that the whole season so far went perfect,” Pogačar said after his win
“It wasn’t the plan [to attack on La Redoute]
I saw a number of teams didn’t have a lot of teammates anymore
I’ll test my legs a little bit and see if I can get a gap on the top’
and then I’ll decide if I continue or not
“Then I just committed because I had good legs – also on the second climb after La Redoute
The oldest Monument in cycling ran its 111th edition on Sunday
with the day featuring a 252km route spearing south from Liège towards Bastogne and then back up to Liège again
4,300 metres of climbing lay ahead of the riders at the start as 11 major climbs filled the route
and the final test of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons
The battle for the day’s breakaway began almost as soon as the flag dropped to start the race
with a 46kph average speed over the first half hour signalling the riders’ intent
The break of the day was set within the first 30km as 12 men made it up the road well before the race’s first climb
Wagner Bazin WB placed three men in the move in the shape of Ceriel Desal
Johan Meens and Henri-François Renard-Haquin
while TotalEnergies had Rayan Boulahoite and Valentin Retailleau out front
The quintet were joined by Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious)
Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)
and Sakarias Koller Løland (Uno-X Mobility)
Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Gil Gelders (Soudal-QuickStep) took control of the peloton on behalf of race favourites Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel
leaving the break to race five-and-a-half minutes up the road
a rider who may have had high hopes for a top position after finishing fourth last year
didn’t make it as far as the Saint-Roch
The Belgian sadly abandoned an hour into the race
still feeling the after-effects of a crash at Amstel Gold Race
There were few other events of note during the run down towards Bastogne as the break pushed on over the Côte de Saint-Roch (1km at 11.2%) and towards the Col de Haussire (3.9km at 6.8%) with a five-minute lead
the break remained fully intact at 5:30 up on the peloton
while back in the main group the Ineos Grenadiers pairing of Tobias Foss and 2018 winner Bob Jungels mounted a two-man counter-attack
The duo quickly built a minute’s advantage over the peloton
which provoked an upping of the pace from behind to bring the gap to the original break under three minutes
the next climb of the Côte de Mont-le-Soie (1.9km at 7.7%) would begin the series of climbs making up the race finale
with the next 20km bringing the trio of the Côte de Wanne (3.6km at 5.1%)
and the Côte de Haute-Levée (2.2km at 7.7%)
Florian Vermeersch and Pavel Sivakov took over the pacemaking for UAE on the Mont-le-Soie
bringing the gap to the leaders under two minutes as the two Ineos men battled on at just 30 seconds up the road
helping close to within sight of Jungels and Foss
Boulahoite led the race past the Eddy Merckx monument midway up the steep slopes of the Stockeu
and Løland with him as the breakaway broke apart
though no big moves were forthcoming with five climbs and 78km still to run
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) tried a brief move on the Haute-Levée
though UAE swiftly regained control as the gap to the leaders ebbed under 40 seconds
The break survived much of the Col du Rosier (4.5km at 5.9%)
but didn’t make it to the top before getting caught
meaning the peloton was all together heading into the final 60km
continued to lead through the town of Spa and up the Côte de Desnié (1.7km at 7.8%)
it was the famous climb of the Côte de La Redoute (1.6km at 9.5%) which brought the big move of the day
Pogačar floated to the front and rode off the front with ease and without getting out of the saddle
fellow double Liège winner Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was nowhere to be seen
Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) led the charge to the top
and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) coming across to make a four-man chase group
A 10-second deficit at the top of La Redoute grew to over 30 in the following kilometres
while Evenepoel led the next group on the road
On the penultimate climb of the Côte des Forges (1.3km at 7.7%) with 34km to go
Pogačar had a minute in hand over the chasing quartet
attacks flew – including from Evenepoel and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)
though there was little cohesion in group three
Pogačar hit the final climb of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (1.4km at 11.4%) with victory in the bag
The larger group were closing in on Alaphilippe
moving to within 10 seconds of the quartet
Healy and Ciccone went clear on the way up as Alaphilippe and Pidcock dropped back into the larger chase group
dropped off the rear of the group and looked to stop at the roadside partway up the climb
Despite the best efforts of Jayco-AlUla – riding for Michael Matthews – and Israel-Premier Tech in the chase 25 seconds behind Healy and Ciccone
the pair would stay away into Liège to contest the final podium places among themselves
There were no cat-and-mouse games on the final run to the line
with Ciccone and Healy determined – and successful – in their mission to stay away to capture second and third
Dani has reported from the world's top races
She has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars
and her favourite races are the Giro d'Italia
Don't miss the action as the peloton tackles 11 climbs and a flat finish in Liège for the final Ardennes
Hello and welcome to the 2025 men's Liège-Bastogne-Liège
What has been an especially thrilling spring classics season comes to an end today with Liège-Bastogne-Liège
the oldest and one of the most prestigious of them all
The spring has been centred around one man above all others - Tadej Pogačar
as at his dominant displays to take Strade Bianche
the Tour of Flanders and La Fleche Wallonne,
he’s been at the heart of all the drama
The one man most likely to stop Pogačar today is Remco Evenepoel
The Belgian has won on both his previous two Liège-Bastogne-Liège appearances
and between them Evenepoel and Pogačar account for all four of the last editions of this race
The stage is set for what has been a long-awaited battle between these two riders at this race
Evenepoel was not present in either of the years Pogačar won
while Pogačar crashed out of the 2023 edition won by Evenepoel
If last weekend’s contest between the two at Amstel Gold is anything to go by
They and the rest of the field will be racing soon
They’re currently in the neutralised one waiting for the flag
There's one non-starter today - George Bennett
Riders are using the uphill road that begins the race to try and get up the road but nothing’s stuck so far
with blue skies greeting the riders at the start.
Loïc Vliegen has managed to go clear on his own and establish a small gap
Three riders have now managed to gain about ten seconds on the peloton - Sakarias Koller Løland
but still none manage to form a definitive breakaway.
This looks more promising - a large group of ten riders have a gap
Mathis Le Berre and Johan Meens have also jumped out of the peloton in the hope of joining those ten riders
The ten riders’ lead is growing - it looks like this could be the break of the day
Kamiel Bonneu (Intermarché - Wanty)
Sakarias Koller Løland (Uno-X Mobility)
Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Wagner Bazin WB)
They've been joined by Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) and Johan Meens (Wagner Bazin WB)
so we now have a group of twelve riders leading the race
Those twelve riders have a lead of over 2-30
Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates - XRG have taken control at the front
They’ve allowed the break’s lead to grow to 3-30
and therefore no need for the peloton to keep the break on too tight a leash
We have our first abandon of the day and it’s a big name - Max Van Gils
but has been unable to find that form this spring
with just over a fifth of the race now completed.
Soudal-QuickStep are also making their presence known at the front of the peloton
Remco Evenepoel might not quite share equal status with Pogačar as race favourite
Still the gap between the break and the peloton continues to go in only one direction
the pair’s battle with one another can allow other riders to go under the radar and steal the glory from them.
Having only had to deal with rolling roads so far
the break have now reached the first of the day's 11 climbs
The second climb isn't for about another 50km
but the wearing down process that makes Liège-Bastogne-Liège such a punishingly arduous race has begun
who at this rate will out in front for a long time yet
The pace is slow enough in the peloton for Pogačar to enjoy a chat with Bob Jungels
they are the only four former winners riding today
The riders have arrived at Bastogne thus completing the first phase of the race’s name
Unfortunately for them the trip back into Liège is a lot longer
and the gap is just shy of 6 minutes.
That’s almost 100km completed already
For the first time in a while the gap has decreased a bit
it seems he’s making some kind of history - today
it’s in relation to victories in the Ardennes Classics
surpassing Davide Rebellin and equalling Philippe Gilbert
Only Aljandro Valverde has more in the last 30 years
As well as UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Soudal-QuickStep
Bahrain-Victorious are the other most prominent team towards the front of the peloton
and has both a strong record here having placed third place last year
and is in good form with a sixth-place at La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday
As we approach the day’s second climb
but very much typically Liège-Bastogne-Liège
in that it's long for a hill in a one-day race (at 3.9km) while also being steep (7.2%)
The peloton reach the climb about 5 minutes after the leaders
Tudor’s leader is Julian Alaphilippe
who has already played a key role this Ardennes campaign by being the man who initiated Pogačar early - and ultimately unsuccessful - attack at Amstel Gold
That appeared to be a move from somebody trying to force themselves into better form than they really are
Liège-Bastogne-Liège is a race that eluded the Frenchman even during his peak years
once in 2020 celebrating in the belief he’d won before being pipped on the line
does he still hope and believe he can still win it
We have some activity in the peloton for the first time in a while
This has become a typical move from Ineos Grenadiers with Tobas Foss often embarking on these mid-race attacks out the proton despite their being a break much further up the road
Johan Meens from the breakaway has needed a bike change
Tobias Foss has also jumped out of the peloton
and bridged up to his Ineos teammate Jungels
and are already nearly two minutes ahead of the peloton
Lidl-Trek are also contributing to the pace-setting in the peloton now - a sign of faith in their leader and Amstel Gold winner Mattias Skjelmose
indicating that he's feeling good despite his Flèche Wallonne injuries
It's all change since the Jungels / Foss attack
The peloton is travelling much quicker now
and have brought the break’s lead down to four minutes
The one who went the wrong way managed to bunny-hop over to ensure he didn’t lose any ground.
The women's race is about to get underway - you can follow all the action here
Magnus Cort has had a mechanical. He’s riding for Uno‑X Mobility who are, for one day only, competing as 7-Eleven
Giulio Ciccone has been held up with a mechanical
as evidenced by the fact a rider waited for him while he got it fixed
and is in good form having won a stage at the Tour of the Alps
The peloton have the leaders to within 2-30 now
while Foss and Jungels have been brought back to 45 seconds
and Magnus Cort are all back in the peloton again
The riders are nearing the Côte de Mont-le-Soie
after which the climbs come thick and fast all the way to the finish - there will be 9 in the final 95km
while the favourites have moved towards the front of the peloton as they near it
but some riders are being dropped on this climb
who clearly still isn't feeling good after his difficult Flèche Wallonne title defence on Wednesday
The peloton too are over the climb and descending
2 minutes behind the leaders and 30 seconds behind the Ineos duo
Foss and Jungels have been out there for a while
but are struggling to make progress since the peloton started seriously chasing
Stan Van Tricht is dropping out of the break on the climb
Both Pogačar and Evenepoel are down a man after that climb
the former losing Florian Vermeersch and the latter Louis Vervaeke
Evenepoel's teammate Pieter Serry was also dropped
but is making his way back on on the descent
There’s a move from Tudor Pro Cycling on this descent
with Marco Brenner taking off the front and Julian Alaphilippe on his wheel
Foss and Jungels have been caught by the peloton
The Côte de Stockeu climbs for 1km at 12% - a potental launchpad for a bold long-range attack
Domen Novak leads the peloton on the climb
The Slovenian has done much of the work for the past kilometres
Stan Van Tricht has been brought back into the peloton
having been dropped from the break earlier
Rayan Boulahoite has attacked the break on the climb
with only about five riders staying with Boulahoite
and is now clear alone by about ten seconds
and Løland are the four riders together behind Haig
as a couple of Bahrain-Victorious rides suddenly accelerate.
but they've knocked the pace off again and UAE have resumed control
The rest of the riders who had been in the break originally have been swept up by the peloton
Boulahoite has been dropped out of the front group
there’s only one more before the famous Côte de la Redoute
where in recent years the decisive attacks have been made
Will anybody try to get ahead of Pogačar and Evenepoel by attacking them before?
He's done a huge shift today working for Pogačar
the Col du Rosier they’re currently negotiating isn’t the steepest
Haig has accelerated on the climb and has a gap
Løland and Sepúlveda have bridged up to Haig
It’s all moot now though - all three have been brought back by the peloton
Novak leads the peloton over the Col du Rosier
There are just four categorised climbs left to complete
Pogačar’ UAE team have this race under control
For now though it’s Lidl-Trek who have taken over at the front of the peloton
a long line of riders bringing it towards the foot of the next climb
Things are getting tense as we enter the final
Tudor take over at the front as they begin climbing the Côte de Desnié
and this time he has Pogačar right on his wheel
Pogačar also has two teammates with him in addition to Novak
It seems La Redoute will once again be the race's key moment
The’ye riding along a plateau right now following the top of Côte de Desnié
Soon they will descend for a few kilometres
at the end of which they will arrive at the foot of the famous Côte de la Redoute
The pace is up and there's a big battle for positioning from multiple teams.
Pogačar is about 10th in line as they near the start of the climb
Evenepoel is further down the peloton that Pog
He'll want to move up before the start of the climb
UAE lead onto the climb with Sivakov and McNulty
He's about ten seconds ahead of Alaphilippe
Pog reaches the top with a lead of 10 seconds
Evenepoel is in a group about 10 seconds behind these chasers
Pidcock and Healy have struck out and are ahead of the other chasers
to summarise: Pogačar leads; Pidcock and Healy are 19 seconds behind; Alaphilippe
Romain Grégoire Louis Barré at 36 seconds; the Evenepoel group at 38 seconds
It's up to 30 seconds on Healy and Pidcock
It’s difficult to see Pog being brought back from here - but then again we said the same thing at Amstel Gold
Ciccone and Alaphilippe have joined Pidcock and Healy
having attacked out of the chase group behind
That'll give this group strength in numbers as they try to chase Pogačar
Here's the World Champion attacking on La Redoute
Ciccone and Pidcock have attacked and gone clear of Healy and Alaphilippe
If that group wants to have any chance of catching Pogačar
you sense they have to work together rather than attack each other
That attack has coincided with another increase in the gap
Pogačar starts the penultimate climb of the day
Alaphilippe and Ciccone are all back together again
Behind them is a 5-man group about 20 seconds behind: Carlos Rodríguez
Those five riders have now been caught by the next group on the road
Pog's lead is over a minute for the first time
Pogačar leads the chasing four by 1-06
Ciccone and Alaphilippe are working together
but unable to make any inroads They're 1-08 adrift.
Already on La Redoute, Pogačar was out of sight
Pogačar leads the race onto the final climb of the race
and the final climb of this year's Ardennes Classics
He's been dropped out the peloton on the climb
but Pidcock and Alaphilippe are distanced.
but the peloton behind is only 10 seconds adrift.
Meanwhile Guillaume Martin and Mauro Schmid have attacked out of the peloton and are in pursuit
Alaphilippe has been dropped out of the peloton
he seems to be paying for going deep.
There looks to be at least 30 riders still in the peloton
Martin and Schmid have were caught by the peloton earlier
Ciccone and Healy only have 20 seconds on the peloton
1-30 remains Pogačar's lead as he enters the final 5km
That's only 9 seconds less than his winning margin from last year
it’s looking good for Healy and Ciccone
and are maintaining a lead of over 20 seconds
He's going to end his spring campaign just as he began it at Strade Bianche - winning by a huge margin
He's gone under the kilometre to go banner
Meanwhile Ciccone and Healy's gap has come down to under 20 seonds
This could be a tense finish for the podium spots.
There's doubt about who the winner is going to be though
Ciccone and Healy are going to be good the podium spots
Ciccone comes around him in the sprint to take second
Simone Velasco edged out Thibau Nys in the sprint for fourth-place in the peloton
Remco Evenepoel rolls in behind the peloton
We await to hear what the explanation is for his off colour showing today
Pogačar’s winning margin of 1-03 wasn’t quite as big as last year’s 1-39
or Evenepoel’s 1-06 a couple of years ago
comfortable win that never really felt in doubt the moment he made his move on La Redoute
putting him joint-third on the all-time list - only Eddy Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck have more
And this is his third career Liège-Bastogne-Liège title
Moreno Argentin and Alejandro Valverde have bettered
He also becomes the first rider in cycling history to make the podium in six successive monunets
With Il Lombarida to come later this season
he has the chance to become the first man to podium in all five during the same year
These are achievements not even Eddy Merckx ever accomplished
Less historial but still unprecedented in recent years
he also becomes the first man to do the Liège-Bastogne-Liège / La Flèche Wallonne double since Alejandro Valverde in 2017
Enough about Pogačar - what of the podium finishers
Giulio Ciccone was a bit of a surprise in second-place
but adds a Liège-Bastogne-Liège to the other monument podium he managed at Il Lombardia last year
The Italian seems to have found a niche for himself in the hilly monuments
this is a first monument podium having knocked on the door for a couple of years now
Third-place beats his previous highest finish of fourth
and firmly establishes him as one of the top puncheurs in the world
In terms of spectacle the race really needed Remco Evenepoel firing on all cylinders and taking on Tadej Pogačar
but the Belgian was clearly lacking something today
Or maybe the additional length of Liège-Bastogne-Liège compared with Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold was too much for him
as he still brings himself up to full fitness following his long injury layoff
We’ll find out when he talks to the press
Lidl-Trek complete a very successful Ardennes campaign which most notably included victory for Skjelmose at Amstel Gold by placing no less than 3 riders in the top 6 - Ciccone in 2nd
As the now very familiar tune of the Slovenian national anthem plays on the podium
Thanks for joining us today, and for the whole Spring classics season, which has served up a mixture of stunning individual rides and thrilling battles. Be sure to switch over to the women’s race, which is ongoing as we speak
and come back again for more live coverage as we enter the next phase of the season
Olympic champion continues to improve at first stage race of the season
sits sixth overall heading into final 3 stages
The Olympic champion is currently racing at the Tour de Romandie as he continues with his return from injury and build-up to the Tour de France
having missed the first three months of the season
Evenepoel lost 56 seconds to a group of five in the final of stage 2 on Thursday
as new race leader Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) led the attack and Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) won the day.
But Evenepoel was unfazed when he spoke post-stage
having had his team control for most of the stage
won the sprint for sixth and had a teammate
but my dip in Liège seems to be behind me now and I'm on the rise again
Let's hope that I can make progress until Sunday and that nice things will come out of it."
Evenepoel was slightly disappointed to have lost time and not made the most of an 18-rider group making it over the last climb to La Chaumont together
he knows that the difference in the race for overall victory will be made on Saturday's Queen stage to Thyon 2000 and Sunday's 17-kilometre ITT in Geneva
"It's a bit of a shame because if we had been riding well in that group
we would have gained three or four minutes on everyone
which is only logical in such a final," said Evenepoel
"It was great to see what [Lecerf] did at the front
So I think it was a successful day for us; it was pretty ideal
we will try to keep Junior with us for as long as possible
The time trial on Sunday should also suit him
He should try to finish as high as possible."
Evenepoel's young teammate will start Friday's stage in second overall to Baudin
likely the biggest threat to Evenepoel and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Van Eetvelt has just under a 50-second advantage over the two pre-race favourites in the GC
with stage 3 also primed for more GC action on an undulating 183km route that ends with an uphill kick to the finish in Cossonay
there is another difficult finish on Friday
Maybe I can already get some bonus seconds," said Evenepoel
who is confident that if he can stay close to the lead on stages 3 and 4
he can do the damage in the final time trial
"I was also able to ride my sprint in the second group [on Thursday]
Now I just have to make sure I don't lose any time
and then I can try to pull out all the stops in the time trial on Sunday
I can then gain a lot of time on the men at the front."
The best Remco Evenepoel is yet to be seen in 2025
but the Olympic champion seems to be on an upward trajectory
with more than enough time to reach his peak for the Grand Départ of the Tour de France on July 5 in Lille
during which time he also wrote for Eurosport
Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert
he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby
Mauritian rider takes surprise victory in sprint finish against Demi Vollering
Pre-race favourites including Demi Vollering and Puck Pieterse lead
The riders have set off for the neutral start with the flag scheduled to drop for the official start at 13:45 local time
This is the final race for this season's Ardennes Classics. The week has brought some surprise winners and some disappointment for other riders and teams. Who will take the honours at this last stop of the Spring before the calendar turns towards stage racing?
Other favourites on the start list today include La Flèche Wallonne winner
Tour de France Femmes Champion Kasia Niewiadoma of Canyon//SRAM - zondacrypto
and UAE Team ADQ's Elisa Longo Borghini who has shown incredible form this Spring.
Chloe Dygert of Canyon//SRAM - zondacrypto
Debora Silvestri of Laboral Kutxa - Fundación Euskadi
and Julie Vlyminck of DD Group Pro Cycling Team have not started the race today.
The peloton are still all together after 10 km
Seriously, what a lineup!#UCIWWT #LBLwomen pic.twitter.com/jsXcEFLAqFApril 27, 2025
Liane Lippert of Movistar and Silvia Persico of UAE Team ADQ have crashed
The peloton are all together as they approach the first climb of the day
Silvia Persico has been forced to abandon the race following an earlier crash
The peloton have crested the first climb and are all together still.
The three riders have a 20 second lead
The breakaway riders are Victorie Guilman of Cofidis
Tiril Jørgensen of Team Coop-Repsol
and Constance Valentin of Winspace Orange Seal
Laura Molenaar of VolkerWessels Women's Pro Cycling Team is chasing
she is 10 seconds behind the breakaway.
Another group comprised of Solbjørk Minke Anderson of Uno-X - Mobility
Danielle de Francesco of Arkéa - B&B Hotels
and Sylvie Swinkels of Roland have also broken away from the peloton in pursuit of joining the break.
The gap between the leading trio and the peloton is now 2'15" with Molenaar at 15 seconds and the other chasers at 35".
Laura Molenaar has been swept up by the chasing group who are now 20 seconds behind the leading trio
The peloton are now 3 minutes behind the leaders.
The eight rider breakaway is comprised of: Victorie Guilman of Cofidis
Constance Valentin of Winspace Orange Seal Laura Molenaar of VolkerWessels Women's Pro Cycling Team
Danielle de Francesco of Arkéa and Constance Valentin of Winspace Orange Seal
Four minutes now for the leading group of eight.
The breakaway are just a few kilometres from the foot of the next climb
The gap is down to 3'20" on the approach to the next climb
The breakaway's advantage is down to 2'10"
The riders are descending towards Vielsalm before they will take on the next climb
which is 3.5 km long with an average gradient of 5%
and Danielle de Francesco of Arkéa B&B Hotels are dropped from the breakaway
The four riders are 15 seconds behind
The remaining breakaway riders; Solbjørk Minke Anderson of Uno-X Mobility
Laura Molenaar of VolkerWessels Women's Pro Cycling Team
Tiril Jørgensen of Team Coop-Repsol and Constance Valentin of Winspace Orange Seal maintain an advantage of 1'55" over the peloton.
Fariba Hashimi and Danielle de Francesco have been dropped from the second chase group.
Hashimi and De Francesco have been caught by the peloton
The gap between the peloton remaining quartet is now 1'05"
Laura Molenaar has now been dropped from the breakaway
Solbjørk Minke Anderson of Uno-X Mobility
Tiril Jørgensen of Team Coop-Repsol and Constance Valentin of Winspace Orange Seal still hold onto a 45 second lead
The next climb is the Côte de la Haute-Levée
Molenaar is now caught by the peloton and the remaining two riders are just 15 seconds from being absorbed by the peloton
Tiril Jørgensen of Team Coop-Repsol and Constance Valentin of Winspace Orange Seal remain in front by 25 seconds
After the Côte de la Haute-Levée the remaining breakaway riders have been caught
The peloton are heading towards the Col du Rosier
The men's edition of the race has just finished.
The peloton are at the foot of the Col du Rosier
After that there are four more climbs to tackle before the finish:
Maeva Squiban of UAE Team ADQ has a 15 second advantage over the peloton
the young French rider now has a 35 second advantage over the peloton
Squiban's advantage is down to 30 seconds now
FDJ SUEZ are pulling the peloton with Elise Chabbey
Austrian rider Valentina Cavallar of Arkéa - B&B Hotels Women is in pursuit of Squiban
she has a 20 second lead over the peloton and is 20 seconds behind Squiban
FDJ SUEZ continue to lead the peloton
Canyon//SRAM - zondacrypto lead the peloton
The riders are nearing the Côte de la Redoute
Squiban's lead is 30 seconds at the foot of this key climb
The Côte de la Redoute maxes out at 15% gradient
will one of the pre-race favourites use the climb as a launchpad?
SD Worx Protime are putting pressure on the peloton as riders are dropping
Antonia Niedermaier of CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto is also positioned at the front of the peloton
Elisa Longo Borghini of UAE Team ADQ is dropped from the peloton
The Italian national champion looks to be struggling with the pace on this tough climb
Lotte Kopecky and Elise Chabbey come to the front as the climb reaches some of the steepest slopes
Kasia Niewiadoma and Puck Pieterse are also positioned at the front
Puck Pieterse of Fenix - Deceuninck leads over the top of the climb
The young Dutch rider won a stage of last year's Tour de France Femmes finishing here in Liège
Pauliene Rooijakkers of Fenix-Deceuninck attacks
Antonia Niedermaier of Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto
Anna van der Breggen of SD Worx - Protime and Cedrine Kerbaol of EF Education - Oatly join Rooijakkers at the front
The leaders have an 11 second advantage as FDJ SUEZ
FDJ SUEZ continue to lead the reduced chase group which also contains Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of Visma | Lease a Bike
Liane Lippert and Marlen Reusser of Movistar and Kim Le Court of AG Insurance - Soudal as well as Lotte Kopecky
Elise Chabbey of FDJ SUEZ puts pressure on the chase grup on the Côte des Forges
The gap to the leading quartet is down to 9 seconds
The chase group is whittled down to just 15 riders now
Liane Lippert leads the chase group over the top of the climb
Movistar continue to drive the chase group
The lead group are back together as Kerbaol and Niedermaier are caught
7 km until the bottom of the final categorised climb
The leading quartet now have an advantage of 26 seconds
Nienke Vinke of Team Picnic PostNL is dropped from the chase group.
Movistar lead the chase group but the gap remains at around 20 seconds
Anna van der Breggen comes to the front of the leading group at the bottom of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons
The gap between the leaders and the chase group is down to 10 seconds
Niedermaier and Rooijakkers are caught
Kerbaol and Van der Breggen remain in front by a small margin
Kasia Niewiadoma is dropped from the chase group
Van der Breggen and Kerbaol are caught
Cedrine Kerbaol and Lotte Kopecky are the only remaining riders at the front of the race now
Demi Vollering is setting the pace and putting pressure on Kopecky and Kerbaol while Pieterse is glued to her wheel
The leading quartet crest the top of the climb and Lotte Kopecky comes to the front
The remaining three riders are looking at each other to chase
The hesitation from behind allows Kerbaol to quickly gain an advantage as Marlen Reusser of Movistar joins the group
Nobody is willing to take up the chase as more riders approach from behind
Puck Pieterse attacks the chase group and is followed by Vollering and Kopecky
Kim Le Court and Kasia Niewiadoma catch up to Pieterse and Vollering as Kopecky is dropped
Kerbaol leads by ten seconds followed by Demi Vollering
Kerbaol is nearing the top of the final climb of the day
Pieterse and Le Court by just five seconds
The chasing trio are working well together and look likely to catch the French rider
Karbaol manages to stay with the group as they continue to work together to maintain their advantage over the chase group
Kastelijn and Trinca Colonel are 28 seconds behind
Kopecky leads the chase group but the leaders maintain a 27 second advantage
30 seconds still for the leading four
It's looking like the win will come from this leading quartet as we approach the final 2 km
The leading quartet approach the flamme rouge
Vollering continues to lead as none of the rider open their sprint yet
Le Court launches first with Pieterse on her wheel
Kim Le Court of AG Insurance Soudal takes the win
Puck Pieterse takes second and Demi Vollering third
of course I was suffering too but for me to make that effort to bridge to them I knew I had maybe a bit more legs
Of course there was the effort to bridge to cadre first
she’s such a good rider and also on the downhills I almost died five times but I really didn’t know until I got to the sprint and I just kicked and never looked back
I could see I think Puck’s jersey but I just didn’t stop."
it’s been so close all season and I actually aimed for this race this whole season
it’s been really the last classic I really wanted to win so I can’t believe we made it all together as a team."
also our team was really good in the front and they retied to help as good as possible
I think Anna in the break before Roche-aux-Faucons was really good for us but it’s sad that she got caught already and couldn’t make it over it
For myself I had a pretty good beginning of the last climb and the last km was a bit too much but it is what it is."
"I think we set goals and we try to challenge ourselves so I think we need to keep doing that
I think it is a race that I can win in the future but just not this year."
"The first hour was very slow and then once we hit the hills it was all out
It seemed like there were quite a lot of teams who wanted to make the race hard and the pace was very brutal and with a natural selection
Actually it was super hot today as well so that’s another factor that after a spring of racing and training in the cold it was a little shock to the body but it was really hard."
I lost my legs in the final and on the little final kick I almost got to the front when the girls hesitated and were not riding but then once Demi attacked I went backwards again
I think for the future it’s all about being on altitude before the races otherwise you can just say goodbye to the front group."
Thanks for joining our live coverage of Liège-Bastogne-Liège femmes!
Riders refuse race in downpour at the Tour of Turkey
while Geraint Thomas left gobsmacked by Tadej Pogačar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège: 'He's at another level.'
Geraint Thomas has seen a lot in his long career, but even the 2018 Tour de France champion was left in awe by Tadej Pogačar’s nonchalance while pumping out 420 watts in the opening salvo of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Speaking on his podcast “Watts Occurring,” Thomas revealed an anecdote early in Sunday’s demolition derby when Pogačar rolled up beside him
We were riding at more than 400 watts,” Thomas said
G Thomas,’ I look behind and it was Pog
and then he comes up and just starts talking to me,” Thomas said
“He’s talking to me about going to bloody Richard Mille tomorrow to get a new watch or something.”
Thomas — in his final season as a pro and racing Tour de Romandie this week — could only do a double-take
I really don’t want to have a conversation,'” Thomas said with a laugh
That “other level” became painfully obvious a few hours later when Pogačar obliterated the race to end the spring classics with an exclamation point
“No chance he was going to get beat,” Thomas said
“I heard him say afterwards that people said he was getting worse at Amstel Gold Race and he said that they don’t know anything about cycling
People saying that know something about cycling
but they don’t know anything about Pogačar
Riders refused to race Thursday in torrential rain at the Tour of Turkey and forced organizers to cancel the stage
but riders joined forces to strike what was deemed unsafe race conditions
“In the end, the riders took matters into their own hands,” Lotto Dstny’s Jasper De Buyst told reporters from Het Nieuwsblad
“The problem is that the Turkish roads are absolutely not suitable for rain,” he said
I say the the jury takes a cabrio car today so they can make a better decision with this weather #TUR2025
— Tibor Del Grosso (@tibordelgrosso) May 1, 2025
Riders were already tense following rain on Wednesday and the even heavier downpour Thursday raised the ire of the bunch
Organizers proposed neutralizing part of the stage but riders pushed back
“What’s the use to ride 70km behind a car and then start the rest of the ride totally dazed
Because the riders were quite open to a compromise
Why not find a point halfway on the course
pull there with the whole caravan and then start?”
organizers and race commissaires eventually supported the riders’ decision
but it’s the latest episode of rising tension between the peloton and demands for safer racing
World champion Pogačar solos home after La Redoute stomping
Tadej Pogačar signed off his classics campaign with a flourish Sunday, dominating Liège-Bastogne-Liège and taking the race for the third time in his career
blasting clear on the Côte de la Redoute with 34.8km to go with the same kind of seated acceleration which won him Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday
His rivals were completely unable to respond, with Ben Healy (EF Education-Easypost) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) combining to chase and later being joined by Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling)
2022 and 2023 winner Remco Evenepoel was expected to be Pogačar’s main rival but was in nothing like the same form as one week earlier in the Amstel Gold Race
He was about halfway back in the peloton starting La Redoute and well behind Pogačar at the summit and while he showed brief flourishes of form
he cracked and was dropped from a large chase group with over 14km remaining
Pogačar had no issues and ploughed onwards alone to win the race
“It feels great to finish the first part of the season like this,” he smiled at the finish
“I am just happy that the whole season so far went perfect
“It was not a plan to attack at La Redoute
and I saw that a number of teams didn’t have teammates any more
So I said to myself I would test my legs a little bit and see if I get a gap on the top
because I had good legs also on the second climb after La Redoute
The victory marks the ninth monument of his career
Fausto Coppi and the Italian Constante Girardengo
who took his victories just over a century ago
Liège-Bastogne-Liège is known as one of the hardest classics
with this year’s edition combining 252 kilometers and 11 climbs for a total of over 4000 meters of ascent
building a maximum lead of almost six minutes
2018 Liège winner Bob Jungels (Ineos Grenadiers) and his teammate Tobias Foss joined up together to try to bridge but they were caught after the Côte de Wanne with slightly more than 80km to go
The break reduced to Rayan Boulahoite (Total Energies)
Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa – B&B Hotels)
Sakarias Koller Løland (Uno-X Mobility) and Eduardo Sepúlveda (Lotto)
However everything was back together with 60km left in the race
Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG team drove the pace onwards towards La Redoute
Evenepoel’s Soudal Quick-Step was absent from the front
and it became clear he wouldn’t be a contender
“First Quick-Step were controlling the bunch
Then at one point all the Quick-Step disappeared from the front,” he said
I was thinking maybe they were saving their legs for La Redoute because you can save a lot in the bunch
He was not close on my wheel so that was also good motivation to go at that point.”
Pogačar hit the gas with 34.8km to go and powered clear in the saddle
He got an immediate gap and went over the top ten seconds ahead of Pidcock
Those two joined up and were in turn joined by Ciccone and Alaphilippe with 30km remaining
But while those four were working together
He was 45 seconds ahead with 25km to go and
paying more attention to an aerodynamic position than at Amstel one week earlier
Evenepoel was in a chasing group behind but despite a couple of strong flourishes there
his legs cracked with over 14km remaining and went out the back of his group
He finished well clear to take his seventh win in 14 days of racing
while Simone Velasco (XDS Astana Team) beat Thibau Nys and Andrea Bagioli (both Lidl-Trek) for fourth
With that the 2025 spring classics season ended
The focus will shift to stage races such as the Giro d’Italia
while Pogačar will begin training for the Tour de France
'A race like this doesn't lie' Belgian says after finishing 59th
with the world champion soloing to a third career victory as the Belgian suffered in the final before finishing 59th
Sunday's race saw Evenepoel take on only his fourth race back from a long layoff after suffering multiple injuries in a dooring incident last December
who also had two Liège triumphs on his palmarès heading into the weekend
and hand along with a dislocated collarbone and nerve damage in the incident
He returned to the peloton with a win at De Brabantse Pijl nine days ago
but he couldn't make an impact in the final of La Doyenne
"A race like this doesn't lie," Evenepoel told Het Laatste Nieuws after finishing
but it's a shame that I didn't feel at my best in the final of this race
I have to accept it – I can't expect miracles
and I haven't been able to train properly yet
He'd later be seen dropping out of the second chase group
on the day's final climb of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons
Evenepoel eventually came to the finish in 59th place
who had been among the first chasers behind Pogačar
Simple," was Soudal-QuickStep directeur sportif Klaas Lodewyck's summary to Het Laatste Nieuws at the finish
World Champion Tadej Pogacar soloed to a decisive victory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday
continuing a season in which the 26-year-old Slovenian has dominated the sport
Italian rider Giulio Ciccone outsprinted Irishman Ben Healy to finish second
while home favourite and two-time winner Remco Evenepoel failed to compete with Pogacar in front of the Belgian crowds
Kim Le Court became the first ever Mauritian to win a Monument
timing her sprint perfectly to overcome a high-class lead group that included Dutch pair Demi Vollering and Puck Pieterse
Jacob Whitehead dissects the key moments of the day
Liege-Bastogne-Liege is the most venerable of cycling’s five Monuments
its history betrothing it with the moniker of La Doyenne — roughly translated as the Old Lady
Closely following the Amstel Gold race and Fleche Wallonne
the trio are collectively known as the Ardennes Classics
sharp hills of southern Belgium (French-speaking Wallonia) towards Bastogne on the Luxembourg border — a location initially chosen so 19th-century race organisers could hop on a train to staff a midway checkpoint
A succession of climbs intensifies in frequency — five categorised in the final 50km — as the riders return on a far more winding loop towards Liege
the eventual winner had separated themselves from the peloton with around 30km to go
“Liege is a race that creeps up on you,” former winner Simon Gerrans once said
“It gets tougher and tougher as the day goes on.”
The women’s race begins in Bastogne before matching the majority of the men’s route for 153km back to Liege
Liege-Bastogne-Liege has a reputation for being played out amid the changeable Wallonian weather
but the bright sunshine of Sunday’s edition brought the feeling of high summer instead
With the average pace as high as the mercury
the day’s breakaway never seriously threatened
Though INEOS attempted a move with Bob Jungels and Tobias Foss midway through the race
the peloton was together until 35km remaining
He quickly opened a gap without leaving his saddle
holding a 10-second lead over the top of the 1.6km climb
there was not a plan,” Pogacar said at the finish line
I saw that a number of teams don’t have a lot of team-mates anymore
I’ll test my legs and see if I can get a gap at the top’.”
a chase group formed of Q36.5’s Tom Pidcock
Evenepoel was stuck in a fourth group after positioning himself poorly on La Redoute
would have fancied their chances of overall victory had they bridged to Pogacar
It was over one minute with 20km remaining
before the chase group splintered entirely
Alaphillippe in particular paying for his early efforts
Pogacar’s victory was never seriously in doubt
Ciccone outsprinted Healy for second place
with the pair managing to hold off a quickly closing larger chase group
he became the first man in the sport’s history to finish on the podium of six Monuments in a row
The Ardennes Classics are meant to be the point in the season where climbers overtake powerhouses as the favourites
but the 26-year-old has been dominant for two months
He has won one Monument (the Ronde van Vlaanderen)
finished on the podium in two others (Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix) and won two other high-profile events (Strade Bianche and Fleche Wallonne)
Any sign that his increased mastery of the cobbles has affected his climbing
Pogacar celebrated the return of the season more suited to his skill set with a demolition of his rivals at Fleche Wallonne
blowing open the race with an unprecedented early attack from the base of the Mur de Huy
Sunday’s victory means he has become the first rider since 2017 to do the Fleche-LBL double
to do the double while wearing the world champion’s rainbow jersey
Tadej Pogacar cruises to victory on the Mur de Huy – nobody else ever looked close to challenging the world champion! pic.twitter.com/NyBDdK4DQq
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) April 23, 2025
“I wish Pogacar would just take a bit of a break and give us all a chance,” INEOS Grenadiers’ Geraint Thomas had joked pre-race
himself a former Tour de France winner riding his final Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Merckx was the last rider to enjoy this type of dominance across both the Monuments and Grand Tours
The only thing that stopped him from winning five straight editions of Liege-Bastogne-Liege was when the De Vlaeminck brothers reportedly blocked him in the closing kilometres in the 1970 race
the mood among the peloton was that a similar manoeuvre might be their only chance of stopping Pogacar
it was only two years ago that Pogacar lay on the floor
after crashing in this race with just 80km of it ridden
The injury ruined his preparation for the 2023 Tour de France
where he would go on to lose comprehensively to Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard
but this victory was arguably even more dominant
remaining in the saddle and putting one minute into his chasers at will
🚀 @TamauPogi part en solo dans la côte de la Redoute
🚀 @TamauPogi goes solo on the côte de la Redoute ! pic.twitter.com/JCauzzcyba
— Liège-Bastogne-Liège (@LiegeBastogneL) April 27, 2025
just two riders are able to regularly challenge Pogacar: on the flat
they continue to hoover up the sport’s honours
one of the sport’s greatest assets has been the variety of its champions — now
the flowers invariably fall at the feet of one unassuming Slovenian
but Pogacar’s style is currently holding that at bay
He rides with the freedom of an athlete who wins because he is utterly unafraid to lose
On the rare occasion that he is caught and beaten — as he was at Amstel Gold last weekend — he shrugs and attacks from 5km further out on the next occasion
Whether exasperation ever emerges from Pogacar’s supremacy remains to be seen
but there is a common assent that this is a rider whose legacy will sit alongside Merckx — and possibly even exceed it
🎙Écoutez les premiers mots de @TamauPogi après sa victoire
🎙️Tune in to the interview with the winner of #LBL 2025 pic.twitter.com/kK0UeUB0Bz
— Liège-Bastogne-Liège (@LiegeBastogneL) April 27, 2025
Liege-Bastogne-Liege was Evenepoel’s first appearance in a Monument since a horrible training collision with a postal van in December
fresh from winning two Olympic gold medals that summer
and lingering nerve damage — but the mental burden was equally gruelling
The 25-year-old said he “probably would have stopped (his) career” without his wife’s support
while periods of silence left his team concerned
Soudal Quick-Step reacted by launching a bright yellow kit at Liege for their team presentation and reconnaissance rides — part of a Shine For Safety visibility initiative
which will see fluorescent trim added to their race jerseys from next season
Liege is known as la cite ardente (the fervent city)
Belgium’s expectations for its superstar were palpable
Their hopes had been raised by Evenepoel’s win at De Brabantse Pijl nine days before
as well as an impressive ride in finishing on the podium at Amstel Gold last weekend
He won Liege-Bastogne-Liege in both 2022 and 2023 — his only two appearances at the race — and sounded confident in stating he “knew every pothole on the road”
the challenges of recovering to take on Pogacar were underscored at Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday
and the current gap between the pair was even larger on Sunday
Evenepoel’s legs never appeared to have him close to overall victory
It meant he was poorly positioned at the base of La Redoute — that element of racing potentially only slowly returning after his crash — and was even too far back to join the main chase quartet
he admitted that the emotion of the week had also taken its toll
but the psychological hurdle of his return is now complete
He will compete at the Tour de Romandie in Switzerland on Tuesday
before a high-altitude training camp in Spain next month to begin preparations for the Tour de France
where he will battle against Pogacar once more
Liege-Bastogne-Liege often takes time to unfold
its length serving to whittle down the riders’ wills and legs until the threads holding the peloton together fray in the closing kilometres
This was the final tilt at La Doyenne for several retiring riders
Only Bardet featured at the business end of the race
The peloton will be a very different place next season
although it looked slightly different on Sunday already
The Norwegian team Uno-X wore throwback jerseys in the colours of 7-Eleven
commemorating 40 years since the now-defunct American team made their debut in the Monuments
has links with the supermarket chain in Scandinavia
INEOS’ attempted move through Jungels and Foss was a proactive move which highlighted the tactical bravery the British squad has shown this season
while Bahrain Victorious made a similar attempt by putting Jack Haig in the day’s breakaway
there were few signs of innovation in an attempt to win the race
Some of this is undoubtedly down to Pogacar’s strength
content to ride for a podium in a bunch sprint
While it may be each team’s most realistic chance of some form of success
But Pogacar’s post-race comments were both instructive and damning of his competition
his command is such that he does not need a plan to win
the elite of the women’s peloton are each capable of taking chunks from the others on any given day
The field whittled down to an outstanding quartet with 15km left: pre-race favourite Vollering
who had won Fleche Wallonne on debut on Wednesday
Vollering and Piertse began to bridge the gap — by this stage
who hauled herself back into contention on the day’s final climb
with the lead quartet entering the barriers together
but was quickly passed by the power of her Dutch rival Pieterse
timed her explosion perfectly to win by a bike length
She thought she might never make it as a road professional
having almost quit bike racing as a 20-year-old in 2016 due to the financial repercussions of several serious injuries
Le Court kept competing in mountain biking
but it was only last year that she made her debut as a full professional on the road
winning a stage of the Giro d’Italia in similar conditions
grit delivered the biggest win of her career
“I have no words,” Le Court said post-race
“I tried everything I could to come back to the group
I just went all out and did everything that I could.”
(Top photo: Maarten Straetemans/Belga/AFP via Getty Images)
Scores and Stats » Blog » 2025 Liege-Bastogne-Liege Odds and Predictions
Rick Rockwell
Cycling
Handicapping MembershipFor More Cycling Picks
On Sunday, April 27, the sport of cycling wraps up its third and final Ardennes Classic race with the 111th edition of Liege-Bastogne-Liege
this Belgian one-day race is the oldest of the sport’s five Monuments
What’s great about the field of competitors for this weekend’s race is the fact that we’re getting most of the same stars that just competed in the 2025 La Fleche Wallone
we’re also getting some other big names sprinkled in the peloton like Richard Carapaz
As we all know by now, Tadej Pogacar won the second of the Ardennes Classics – La Fleche Wallone. The first of these classics is the Amstel Gold Race
which Mattias Skjelmose shocked the field by pipping Remcoe Evenepoel and Pogacar at the line
Pogacar and Evenepoel have won the last four Liege-Bastogne-Liege races
Sunday’s race will be the last battle we see between Pogacar and Evenepoel until the Criterium du Dauphine in June. That’s the precursor to their epic showdown, along with Jonas Vingegaard, in the Tour de France
With that said, let’s take a look at the latest cycling odds, courtesy of the top sports betting sites
and make our Liege-Bastogne-Liege predictions
The 2025 Liege-Bastogne-Liege can be seen internationally on Eurorsport
the peloton will traverse 252km across the Wallonia
The route is slightly shorter than in recent years
it will still feature a finale of the Cote de La Redoute
Cote des Forges and the day’s final climb of the Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons which comes with 13km left
Riders will then have a flat run into the finishing line at Liege
The following 11 climbs will be featured in the 2025 Liege-Bastogne-Liege:
Tadej Pogacar won the 2024 Liege-Bastogne-Liege after crushing the field on the Cote de la Redoute and riding the final 30+km to the finishing line by himself
It was the second time he won this race in four years
He crashed out of the 2023 edition with a broken wrist
Check out the latest Liege-Bastogne-Liege odds:
Just like with the last two Ardennes Classics
Tadej Pogacar is the sizable betting favorite
Remco Evenepoel is the second odds-on favorite instead of Thibau Nys who held that spot for La Fleche Wallone
there’s some intriguing betting value on the boards with talented riders like Richard Carapaz and Kevin Vauquelin
We’ll discuss all three in greater detail below
Keep reading to see who we think wins this race and which cyclists the top handicappers are leaning towards
Let’s take a look at the top contenders for the 111th edition of Liege-Bastogne-Liege:
Tadej Pogacar left commentators Bob Roll and Christian Vande Velde speechless with his climbing on the final portions of the Mur de Huy to easily win La Fleche Wallone
It was another major victory for Pogacar who also won at Tour of Flanders, Strade-Bianche and the UAE Tour early in the season
Pogacar finished second to Skjelmose in the Amstel Gold Race as he ran out of gas in the final kilometers following a solo breakaway that took Evenepoel and Skjelmose nearly 40km to catch him
It marked the second consecutive finish as runner-up, as he also finished in that position to Mathieu van der Poel at Paris-Roubaix the week prior. That was the second time that Pogacar finished runner up to van der Poel. The same results occured at Milan-San Remo
Pogacar has finished on the podium in every race he’s started this season
the Slovenian has five prior appearances with three podium finishes
I believe that this weekend’s final Ardennes Classic race is Pogacar’s to lose
Remco Evenepoel, the defending double Olympic Champion
returned to cycling last week after recovering from a serious training injury last December
The final climb of Wallone doesn’t suit Evenepoel’s skills
He was around 4th in the middle of the climb but faded to 9th by the finishing line
it was a strong result for Evenepoel who was also overcoming a crash in the Amstel Gold Race
This will be his third appearance in Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Evenepoel won both of his prior starts in this race
As I mentioned in my preview of La Fleche Wallone, I wasn’t surprised by Mattias Skjelmose finding success in the Amstel Gold Race. As I had picked him to win Tour of Basque Country as he offered better value than the favorite Joa Almeida
I was shocked that he pipped Pogacar and Evenpoel
I thought that Skjelmose could challenge for a podium spot at Wallone with how well he was riding as of late
he was involved in a difficult crash and ended up not finishing race
He appears to be cleared for his 4th appearance of Liege-Bastogne-Liege
But that doesn’t mean he will be at full health
His -175 odds to finish in the Top 10 should be avoided as well
You have to be impressed with what Ben Healy has done this season so far
Healy is a strong climber with a pension for breakaways
He showed that on Stage five of Basque Country
He almost pulled off a second consecutive stage win
It showed on the Mur when he was the only rider to challenge Pogacar before the latter put down the hammer
Healy’s only chance at winning this weekend is if the favorites crash
I would also avoid his Top 10 odds (-300) as there is no value with this prop bet
I was confident that Tom Pidcock would be a Top 10 rider at Wallone
Pidcock showed true grit by finishing third at La Fleche Wallone after outclimbing the rest of the pack
The leader of Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team is putting together a strong season for being on a small squad. He was 9th in the Amstel Gold, 11th at Brabantse Pijl, 6th at Tirreno-Adriatico
Pidcock does have three wins on the season with two stage victories and the overall GC win at the AlUla Tour earlier this year
This will be the Brit’s fourth appearance in Liege-Bastogne-Liege
I believe Pidcock can challenge for a Top 5 spot in this race
He should definitely be a Top 10 rider as long as he avoids any crashes
The following cyclists offer the best betting value based on their current Liege-Bastogne-Liege odds
We haven’t seen Richard Carapaz race since Volta a Catalunya nearly four weeks ago
Carapaz hasn’t really been a contender for any victory
It’s partly why he’s listed with odds this large
the talented Ecuadoran will need this race to prepare him further for the Giro d’Italia in one month
This will be his third appearance in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race
His best result came last year when Carapaz finished 26th overall
If Carapaz is in good form and highly motivated
Where I think he offers small betting value is with his Top 10 odds of +200
He’s more than capable of finishing in the Top 10 if in good form
Kevin Vauquelin is a rising star and France’s next hope to win races
and won the Region Pays de la Loire Tour a few weeks back
Vauquelin didn’t finish the Amstel Gold Race
but he showed his potential by finishing second at La Fleche Wallone
He was the second-best climber up the Mur and finished a few seconds ahead of Pidcock
He’s a rider to keep an eye on this weekend as it could be another opportunity for the 23-year-old to finish on the podium
There are so many Liege-Bastogne-Liege longshots to choose from
but let’s stick with the following cyclists who have actually won races over the last 18 months:
Marc Hirschi has yet to round into top form which is why he’s such a longshot this weekend
Other than a 4th in the Faun Drome Classic and a 6th in the Miguel Indurain
Hirschi has failed to crack the Top 10 for a major race
Hirschi finished 62nd at the Itzulia Basque Country and never cracked the Top 15 on a stage
He then tallied a 40th in the Amstel Gold Race and 49th at La Fleche Wallone
I don’t see any longshot winning this race on Sunday
but there are some of you that love taking fliers on these types of bets
Hirschi and Neilson Powless are two cyclists worth considering
which was a drop off from 13th in the Amstel Gold Race and 7th at Pijl
Prior to that he won Dwars door Vlaanderen and was 4th at Trofeo Laigueglia and 6th at Algarve
This marks Powless’ fourth appearance in Liege-Bastogne-Liege
I’m curious to see how Powless rides this race considering that EF Education – Easy Post is also sending Healy and Carapaz
They’ve put together a Top 5 squad for this race
Tadej Pogacar is bringing back the exact same team that saw UAE with three riders going up the Mur
No other squad has the talent that UAE does in this race
I do like what EF Education has done for this race along with Bahrain
I see Pogacar outdueling Evenepoel to win this race on Sunday
He has the better team and showed that he’s the better climber
The one thing that could help Evenepoel is that there’s 13km of flat roads until the finish
Although I think the odds should be closer
The following Liege-Bastogne-Liege prop bet is courtesy of Bet365:
I really love what Vauquelin did in La Fleche Wallone on Wednesday
Since the peloton will be competing in the same region of Wallone this weekend
it stands to reason that Vauquelin could find success for the second straight week
I’m not going to outright say he finishes on the podium like he did in La Fleche Wallone with his runner up result
but I do love his chances of finishing in the Top 10
It should come as no surprise that Eddy Merckx holds the record for the most Liege-Bastogne-Liege with five
There are two cyclists tied with four wins apiece: Moreno Argentin and Alejandro Valverde
only Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel have multiple wins in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege
The following is a list of the recent Liege-Bastogne-Liege winners:
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World champion ends 'perfect' spring campaign with ninth career Monument victory
Tadej Pogačar rounded off his spring Classics with his second Monument of the year at Liège-Bastogne-Liège
the world champion soloing home after an attack on the Côte de La Redoute
The Slovenian now lies one win behind Moreno Argentin and Alejandro Valverde
having captured a third Liège title in emphatic fashion
which saw him float to the front and simply ride away rather than mounting a violent acceleration
Pogačar simply had no rivals for victory on Sunday
"It feels great to finish the first part of the season like this. I'm just happy that the whole season so far went perfect," Pogačar said shortly after adding Liège to wins at the UAE Tour, Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders
"I'm happy to go home now," he added, signalling that the race had drawn to a close the opening section of his season. His next race is scheduled for the Tour de France warmup of the Critérium du Dauphiné in early June
Come the end of Liège, he'd roll to the finish over a minute clear of any other rider. He pointed to the sky in tribute to his girlfriend Urska Zigart's late mother
He said after finishing that it wasn't in his plan to make an attack where he did
he and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad had set such a hard pace beforehand that he noticed few of his rivals had teammates left at the front of the race
but it was such a hard pace before that I saw a number of teams didn't have a lot of teammates anymore," Pogačar said
I'll test my legs a little bit and see if I can get a gap on the top,' and then I'll decide if I continue or not
"Then I just committed because I had good legs – also on the second climb after La Redoute
The race was set to play host to another showdown between Pogačar and Evenepoel, but the Belgian was out of position on La Redoute
later dropping out of a chase group some way behind the sole leader
Pogačar said he noticed Evenepoel's Soudal-QuickStep squad had "disappeared" from the front of the race
having earlier helped control the peloton with UAE
That gave him the motivation to make a move
QuickStep were controlling the bunch and racing on the front all day
"But then on La Redoute I looked around and [Evenepoel] wasn't close on my wheel
but that was also good motivation to go at that point."
For you🥹❤️ #LBL#WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/NcsLlLaGdSApril 27, 2025
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Ben Healy races onto the podium; Cédrine Kerbaol attacks to fourth
Ben Healy and Cédrine Kerbaol lit up the finales of Liège-Bastogne-Liège this weekend
Ben finished third in the 133-year-old Ardennaise Monument. Cédrine came in fourth in Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes after a huge solo attack in the closing moments of the race
In the men’s race, a great effort from his EF Education-EasyPost teammates brought Ben across the hills of Wallonie to the foot of La Redoute at the front of the peloton. Over the summit of the iconic climb, he took off in pursuit of the lone winner and held off the chasing peloton all the way to Liège, where he secured his podium spot. Neilson Powless followed him across the finish line in tenth place
Cédrine Kerbaol came over the top of La Redoute with the best riders in the race
Our French attacker was solo until the final kilometers when a group of three caught her
Their rides cap off an excellent spring classics season for EF Pro Cycling
Read our team’s thoughts from the finish of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
but I’m super happy to finish off some great teamwork
Our plan was to pace ourselves up La Redoute
but then some other favorites attacked and we just raced full gas from then on
I am really proud of the way the whole team rode
We were fully committed to trying to land Ben as high up the leaderboard as possible
He showed in the last few races how good he was and he deserved to be the leader
Alex Baudin and myself tried to disrupt the chase and jump on everything that went and just keep it really disorganized and that worked out perfectly
I think anyone else in our situation would've done the same
We are super happy with the way we rode as a team
It was a really nice result and beautiful day in Liège
one on the podium in a Monument is exceptional
and people did more of this and less of that
it got us into the right place in the race
we did nearly everything how we had imagined it
but the team showed again how we ride aggressively and as one
After keeping in position all together in the front for the first 50 kilometers
Kristen went with a lot of attacks and tried to create her own ones
continuing to pace the climbs to make it much more selective
which was great to get away from the other big teams’ helpers
I went to the top of La Redoute in second position and was ready to attack in the next climb to get ahead for La Roche aux Faucons
as some other girls also had the same idea
and only Van der Breggen was really collaborating with me
We made it to the bottom of the climb with approximately 20 seconds
which permitted me to pass the first part of La Roche aux Faucons at my own pace
The groups of favorites overtook me and started looking at each other in the flat part of Roche aux Faucons
but the group organized and came back before the downhill
I tried a new attack in the downhill but it didn’t worked out
Still today was very motivating for the coming races with this super squad
I was well towards the front for all of the major points and covered a lot of attacks and was really there for the team in the ways I needed to be
I just couldn't go with the accelerations on the really steep stuff
And that is what she did in a beautiful way
We had Nina come in as a reserve and for her it was about working in the first third of the race and positioning before we got into the climbs
They positioned themselves for La Redoute and Cédrine attacked shortly after
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By Damian Brett2025-05-01T08:58:00+01:00
FedEx is reinforcing its presence on the transatlantic with the launch of new freighter frequencies between Liège in Belgium and Memphis in the US
increase the number of flights operated each week from five to eight
FedEx utilises Boeing 777 freighter aircraft for the operation
"The role of Liege in the FedEx air network has shifted in recent years to being a dedicated intercontinental freight hub
part of a global strategy to redesign the air network to improve density and network utilisation,” FedEx said in a press release
”The increased frequency enhances the role of Liege in the global network and comes as FedEx continues to focus on its strategy to grow in the sizeable $80 billion global air freight market.”
added: ”The increased frequency of the Liege-Memphis air route underscores the strategic role Liege hub plays in our global air network
”This development reflects our commitment to a strong and sustainable presence in Wallonia
while strengthening Belgium’s role at the heart of international trade flows.”
FedEx’ first launched its Liège–Memphis connection in April 2017 and since then
Express giant UPS has announced it will cut around 20,000 jobs largely as a result of its decision to reduce its business with e-commerce platform Amazon
DHL Express has temporarily suspended the transportation of some parcels to the US following the implementation of new requirements for higher value shipments
Emirates has launched end-to-end delivery solution Emirates Courier Express with what it said is an average delivery time of less than 48 hours
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cycling’s oldest Monument brings the curtain down on the spring classics
and Mattias Skjelmose all on the start line
expect fireworks from the first pedal stroke
Watch it live and on demand on FloBikes in Canada
With a cold-blooded move in the final meters of Amstel Gold
sure—but hungry to prove Amstel wasn’t a fluke
reminded everyone who’s boss on the Mur de Huy
Flèche Wallonne—three major wins already this spring
“I understand why people wonder if I’m getting tired
I skipped the semi-classics like Dwars and E3 for that reason
I still feel good—and I’m ready to go deep one last time before taking a break.”
And a final hour that breaks spirits—Côte de La Redoute
Remco Evenepoel knows that better than anyone
He’s won the last two editions—once from La Redoute
and laser-focused on a three-peat that would tie Pogačar’s Monument tally
Two of the sport’s most dominant climbers—each with two Monument wins—face off with bragging rights and history on the line
and you’ve got a race teetering on the edge
The strongest legs win—and only the bold survive
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The oldest professional bike race in the world takes place this Sunday – here's how to watch
Liège-Bastogne-LiègeSunday 27 April Distance: 252kmStart: 10:50 BSTFinish: 15:10 BST
Liège-Bastogne-Liège FemmesSunday 27 April Distance: 152.9kmStart: 12:45 BSTFinish: 16:40 BST
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2025 takes place on Sunday 27 April in Wallonia
Liège-Bastogne-Liège was first run in 1892 and is the oldest professional cycling race in the world
Here are five things to look out for at the Monument
as well as everything else you need to know about this year's men's and women's editions
After what must seem like weeks of Flemish dominance of the bike racing narrative
Liège finally gives the French-speaking part of Belgium something to shout about
The race takes place in the very east of the country
It’s more Liège waffles than Flemish frites
and Orval and Chimay over Bolleke and Westvleteren in terms of beer
for almost 30 years the race finished in Ans
at the top of a steep climb; this discouraged solo attacks and encouraged a final
like a slightly less vicious Flèche Wallonne
with the final climb coming 13km from the finish - a lone attacker can certainly win now
In the 10 year history of a women’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège - I know
- there have only been two non-Dutch winners: Lizzie Deignan in 2020
With Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen among the favourites
What is it about Wallonia that makes the Oranje pedal so hard
The last four years of Liège have seen two wins apiece for Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel
On the one occasion they were both on the same start list
Is a genuine duel between the pair too much to ask for
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War
and the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge
which was fought around a lot of the route of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Nazi Germany counter-attacked through American lines in the Ardennes
with the offensive ultimately coming to nothing
the Côte de la Redoute might not always be where the race is won
but it is where the winning group is formed
The 2km climb at an average of 8.8% might not sound too extreme
Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar have used it as a launch pad for victory
With many riders already out of contention by this point
It acts as the perfect place to shred what remains of the peloton
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
A third Liège-Bastogne-Liège would take the world champion to joint-fourth on the all-time list for wins at La Doyenne
Pogačar will be the out and out favourite for the men’s race - how far out will the attack come this time
The Dutchwoman didn’t race between San Remo Women and the Amstel Gold Race
instead spending time training at altitude ahead of the busy part of her season
Two years ago she won all three of the Ardennes Classics
and one more Liège would take her to three and the outright record
We all know about Lotte Kopecky’s punch and power
but does the world champion have the climbing prowess to win a Monument as hilly as Liège
but if she is the Tour de France Femmes contender she claims to be
then she will need to start performing on climbs like these
Remco Evenepoel could make history by being the first reigning male Olympic champion to win Liège
but little is known about his condition after he was knocked off his bike and seriously injured late last year
Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto)
The defending Tour de France Femmes champion has always been near the front at Liège
never finishing outside the top 20 in eight attempts
but has only once finished on the podium - her debut
and a year on from her drought-breaking Flèche Wallonne victory
it’s time for another statement performance
Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling
He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds
Before cycling took over his professional life
he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider
Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes
Video: A rogue spectator disrupted Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes by briefly riding alongside the race leaders
the latest in a growing problem with fan behavior
In what’s another case of spectators behaving badly, a rogue fan took things to an embarrassingly low level at Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes
a male spectator dressed in a UAE Team Emirates kit swung unannounced onto the race course and latched onto the back wheel of race leader Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck)
Television footage captured the rogue rider briefly tucking in behind Rooijakkers and Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-Sram)
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that you can have a spectator riding alongside the riders
He needs to be taken off the road immediately,” said race commentator and ex-pro Dani Christmas during the live broadcast
A fan rides from the side of the road onto the wheel of the race leader at Liege-Bastogne-Liege Femmes
: Peacock pic.twitter.com/zJhtHS3Qp5
— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) April 27, 2025
he rode in the heart of the women’s monument before race marshals intervened
The interloper was quickly flagged by a race marshal on a motorbike and directed off-course
There has been no official word yet on whether Belgian authorities have identified the individual or if there will be any legal consequences
Also read: Is the UCI doing enough for rider safety?
The race continued without major disruption, and Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) of Mauritius sprinted to a historic victory
becoming the first African rider to win one of cycling’s monuments
The cycling world wasted no time condemning the potentially dangerous stunt
and teams took to social media to voice their outrage over yet another example of fan misconduct
The rogue rider wasn’t the only close call on Sunday
During the men’s edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
a van driver pulled onto the race course just in front of the day’s breakaway group with about 100km to go
Race marshals quickly directed the vehicle off the road before any damage was done
but the incident was the latest in a string of high-profile miscues and a sense of growing hooliganism
Someone drives a car onto the road right in front of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege breakaway
: Peacock pic.twitter.com/j8JgskZCHJ
— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) April 27, 2025
This spring has been riddled with race organization blunders and near misses
Last month at the men’s Paris-Roubaix, a fan hurled a half-filled water bottle at eventual winner Mathieu van der Poel as he powered over the Carrefour de l’Arbre
“How could I do something so stupid?” French authorities are considering criminal charges
Also read: Water-bottle tosser breaks silence
Van der Poel was also targeted earlier in the spring. During the E3 Saxo Classic, another spectator was caught on video spitting at the Dutch star as he sped past
riders mistakenly turned off-course during a sprint finish at the Volta ao Algarve and at the Étoile de Bessèges
citing safety concerns after a string of incidents involving vehicles turning onto the course mid-race
Also read: Teams abandon Bessèges
The incidents come as cycling’s major stakeholders are working behind the scenes to try to improve rider safety
The so-called SafeR working group is introducing a series of steps
including the UCI’s new “yellow card” system and improved signage
to decrease the number of crashes and injuries
Belgian officials had promised greater safety and vigilance as Liège closed out the spring classics
But this weekend’s incidents are yet another reminder of the challenge of how to protect riders without losing the open-road atmosphere that makes cycling so unique
one-off looks to new levels with a 7-Eleven-inspired kit and a special-edition Ridley that also pay homage to Eddy Merckx
Don’t apologize if you do a double-take on Sunday. Yes, that is a 7-Eleven jersey you’ll see this weekend at Liège-Bastogne-Liège
The unmistakable green, red, and white of the legendary 7-Eleven cycling team will be back in the bunch on Sunday, as Uno-X Mobility brings the iconic kit back to life in a one-day-only homage to the past
In perhaps the wildest iteration yet among teams rolling out special
one-off jerseys a few select times across the season
Uno-X Mobility is taking things to a new level with a complete makeover
Gone is the team’s trademark red and yellow color scheme; in is a one-off throwback
It’s part homage to the ground-breaking American team and part tip to Eddy Merckx
the five-time winner of “La Doyenne,” who is celebrating his 80th birthday this summer
“Team 7‑Eleven was a legendary team,” said Thor Hushovd
“My own cycling journey started watching Dag Otto Lauritzen
win Norway’s first Tour de France stage in that jersey
Seeing our riders wear it now is truly something special.”
One can assume the UCI signed off on this special-edition look
UCI rules allow alternate kit designs for up to three events per season
7-Eleven broke barriers in the European peloton by becoming the first American squad to race the Tour de France
Merckx later supplied the team with his Eddy Merckx-branded bikes
Lauritzen became the first Norwegian to win a Tour stage in 1987
He’ll be with the team Sunday as an honorary sports director
There is also a connection to the team’s current DNA
One of Uno-X’s team backers operates the 7-Eleven franchises across Scandinavia
and what comes out is this unique twist on “brand activation.”
The bikes and jerseys will be available for purchase online
Team cars will be wrapped in 7-Eleven livery
and every other detail of the team’s setup Sunday — helmets from Sweet Protection
and the OSPW system from CeramicSpeed — will see a retro makeover for the romp through Wallonia
The team’s bikes will also see a one-day redo
which now owns both Ridley and Eddy Merckx Bikes
the frameset is a tip of the hat to Merckx’s role in supplying bikes to the original 7-Eleven and Motorola teams
“This is more than a limited edition bike or jersey,” said Frank Symons
Marketing Director at Belgian Cycling Factory
“It’s a heartfelt tribute to Eddy Merckx for his 80th birthday and to the legacy he’s built over eight incredible decades.”
Ben Healy in action during the Itzulia Basque Country
World champions Tadej Pogačar and Lotte Kopecky targeting final Spring Classic of the season
The race has gone Pogačar's way twice
in 2021 and 2024 - his first came from a small bunch sprint and his most recent a long-range solo move off the Côte de la Redoute with 34km to go
His most recent victory at La Flèche Wallonne makes him the outright favourite
but his defeat in the Amstel Gold Race showed that he is beatable
We'll list the most promising candidates to dethrone the Slovenian in our favourites list below
For Kopecky, claiming her maiden Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes could be a bit more complicated
The Belgian named this race as her number one target of 2025
as one of the only major races missing from her palmares
Yet there are at least six, if not more, riders capable of out-competing Kopecky at La Doyenne. Read on for Cyclingnews' full list of Liège-Bastogne-Liège favourites
Tadej Pogačar might have shown he was human in the Amstel Gold Race
missing out in a three-man sprint behind Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek)
but he was back in alien form in La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday
The acceleration Pogačar threw in on the steepest part of the Mur de Huy made his fellow competitors look like amateurs
So dominant was his ride that he finished a full 10 seconds ahead of second-placed Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)
You'd have to look back at the 2003 edition won by Igor Astarloa to find a larger gap from the winner to second place in Flèche
and Astarloa won from the day's early breakaway
competing against only one other rider up the final Mur
Add that fact to his most recent results: second in Amstel and Paris-Roubaix
victorious in the Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche and third in Milan-San Remo
it's almost ludicrous how far above his rivals he is at the moment
Yet bad luck can strike anywhere, and Pogačar's crash in the 2023 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège that left him with a broken wrist shows how vulnerable any rider can be
His rivals will be both inspired by his defeat at the hands of Skjelmose and ready to seize upon any opportunity to leave Pogačar behind
but he remains the number one Liège-Bastogne-Liège contender
Lotte Kopecky has underscored Liège-Bastogne-Liège on the calendar since early this season. A two-time world champion and winner of Strade Bianche twice, the Tour of Flanders three times
Kopecky is one of the most successful Classics riders
While she has been successful in the shorter
more explosive climbs of the Tour of Flanders and the tough pavé of Paris-Roubaix
she has yet to demonstrate the same prowess on the longer climbs of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Kopecky's best finish in the Ardennes Classics was in the Amstel Gold Race
where she was second in the sprint behind solo winner Demi Vollering in 2023
She has yet to crack the top 10 in La Flèche Wallonne
and her best finish in Liège – her only finish – was 38th last year
Yet, when Kopecky points to her target, she very rarely misses. Her determination and grit in the 2023 Tour de France Femmes proved that she can climb among the very best – not only was she was fourth up the massive Col du Tourmalet on the penultimate stage
she won the opening stage and started her seven-stage stint in the maillot jaune by attacking a very Ardennes-like climb on stage 1
We'll be watching for the world champion to show the completion of her transformation on Sunday
A rider who is only in his fourth race of the season normally would not be a major Liège-Bastogne-Liège contender
The Belgian was severely injured when a postal worker opened their vehicle door in his path over the winter
and he suffered broken bones and nerve damage to his shoulder
and spent months rehabilitating those injuries
Yet he came out in his first race at De Brabantse Pijl and beat none other than Wout van Aert
almost single-handedly chasing down Pogačar's solo attack
While ninth in La Flèche Wallonne was not nearly as impressive
there is no Mur de Huy at the end of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Evenepoel is a two-time winner of the race (2022 and 2023), and both times he soloed to victory, first on the Côte de la Redoute and then just after on the Côte de Cornemont
Only his crash in Itzulia last year kept him from making it three
we haven't seen the pair go head-to-head in Liège-Bastogne-Liège
If any woman in the pro peloton can be called the Ardennes Classic specialist
The Dutch rider has finished on the Liège-Bastogne-Liège podium in five out of her six starts – she won in 2021 and 2023 and was third in 2019
it's increasingly likely that Vollering can add a third victory in 2025
even more so considering the last riders to defeat her – Grace Brown and Annemiek van Vleuten – have retired
With Anna van der Breggen coming out of retirement
she's been forced to drop out of both Amstel and Flèche
So Vollering is the top Dutch hopeful for Liège-Bastogne-Liège – especially considering she won all three Ardennes Classics in 2023 and was a close second behind Puck Pieterse in La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday
With a fast final 13km to the flat finish in Liège from the final climb of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons
Vollering will want to distance anyone with a powerful sprint
we had Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) third on our list for the men's Liège-Bastogne-Liège
slick corner in Flèche on Wednesday and didn't finish the race
With uncertainty about his shape following that incident
Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin has moved up the ranking
Vauquelin has flown a bit under the radar this spring
focussing on gathering points for his Arkéa-B&B Hotels team
which is not only under threat of relegation but of disappearing altogether
the way he rode in La Flèche Wallonne
Ben Healy and Evenepoel to take second behind the raging Pogačar
He finished with a similar result behind Stevie Williams last year
He hasn't been able to show the same abilities in Liège-Bastogne-Liège yet
as his debut last year was nullified by a crash early in the race
But he is still only 23 and proved his ability with victory on the Bologna stage of the Tour de France last year
powering over the brutal San Luca climb and winning from the breakaway
Vauquelin's one-day record is hardly peppered with the kind of single-digit results as our other contenders
but this is a guy who has to be highly motivated to either save his team or find a new contract
and he looks to be poised for a great result
If anyone can take on the likes of Kopecky and Vollering, it's Elisa Longo Borghini
The Italian champion has been on flying form this season
Dwars door Vlaanderen and – after overcoming a concussion sustained in the Tour of Flanders – returned to win De Brabantse Pijl
Longo Borghini was a close third behind Pieterse and Vollering in La Flèche Wallonne
and has been second twice in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and third once
last year she out-sprinted Vollering for second place behind winner Grace Brown
Longo Borghini is such a scrappy rider and a contender in just about any race she starts
she is almost certain to be up there in Liège-Bastogne-Liège fighting for the victory
but she too will want to have distanced Kopecky before any final sprint
Another rider who has gone toe-to-toe with Pogačar this year
Tom Pidcock shook off a bit of a slump when he finished third behind the Slovenian in La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday
where the Briton raced proactively and was the only rider able to follow Pogačar on his obviously telegraphed attack on the Monte Sante Marie sector
Pidcock almost got lucky with Pogačar crashing in a turn with 49km to go
but ultimately lost touch when the UAE Team Emirates rider rejoined him and attacked again in the final 20km
he held on for second place even with the punishing climb into Siena
coupled with his Tour de France stage win on l'Alpe d'Huez
shows that the two-time Olympic MTB champion has the same type of prowess on the road
Pidcock was second to Evenepoel in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2023 and is a key contender to go one step higher this Sunday
with a possible rapid descent off the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons offering him a method to victory
Kasia Niewiadoma has raced Liège-Bastogne-Liège eight times and been in the top 10 five of those years
she was in the winning move with winner Grace Brown but missed out in the sprint
Her fourth place in La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday showed that she's still in good form
and she will be motivated on Sunday for a top result
and still full of confidence after winning the Tour de France Femmes last year
Niewiadoma's biggest weakness is her sprint
so she'd have to go solo or produce something special out of a small group if she is to claim the win
Ben Healy had a slow start to the season but has come into his own this month
winning a stage from the breakaway in the Itzulia Basque Country
He was unable to follow the biggest moves in the Amstel Gold Race
but finished in the first chase group behind Pogačar
Evenepoel and Skjelmose in 10th after mounting several attacks
He looked to be maintaining his best in La Flèche Wallonne
finishing fifth after trying to anticipate the move of Pogačar
He was not far behind third-placed Pidcock
Liège-Bastogne-Liège is a different beast
and Healy has had mixed fortunes in the race
narrowly missing out on the podium in a three-man sprint in 2023
Last year's bunch sprint for third definitely didn't favour the slender Irishman
but his 27th place belies his potential in the race
Multi-discipline star Pieterse has immediately jumped up the favourites list for Liège-Bastogne-Liège
with her victory in La Flèche Wallonne and third place at Amstel Gold showing that a little patience and adherence to the team's direction can produce a top result
That win will put Pieterse into Sunday's race with huge momentum and confidence
The 22-year-old is already being compared with Mathieu van der Poel in the Belgian media – quite fitting considering she hasn't finished outside of the top 10 in each of her 10 one-day race starts so far this year
Pieterse is super talented but hasn't competed in Liège-Bastogne-Liège
which is a far harder race than La Flèche Wallonne
so she's not yet next to the very top contenders
but we'll be keeping an eye on the red-head
Pieterse has good memories from the very roads she'll be racing on this Sunday
having won a brutally tough stage 4 at last year's Tour de France Femmes in Liège.
The route that day featured both the Redoute and Roche-aux-Faucons
even then she was able to best Vollering and Niewiadoma
so should be confident she can produce her best against in the Ardennes
had he not crashed at Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday
then Mattias Skelmose would be much higher up this list
His perfectly played victory at the Amstel Gold race ahead of Pogačar and Evenepoel showed just what a contender he was for the Ardennes
he has definitely lost a few percentage points after sliding out of a wet corner and crashing hard four days before La Doyenne
but speaking to Danish TV post-race revealed that his injuries were
Lidl-Trek also put out an update on Wednesday evening to confirm that the Dane hadn't sustained any major injuries
and he was pictured riding in the Liège recon alongside his teammates on Thursday
be looked at differently after the win of his career a week ago
His best result at Liège so far is ninth in 2023; however
so he will be hoping that shape is maintained
she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news
As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track
Laura has a passion for all three disciplines
When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads
UCI governance and performing data analysis
Remco Evenepoel fades to 59th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège after under-cooked star becomes undone: 'I haven't trained much
Remco Evenepoel raced Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège dreaming of a winning showdown with Tadej Pogačar
In the final sixth hour of the Belgian monument
the under-cooked Belgian star was brutally exposed
and left to limp home in a devastating 59th place
“I have to accept it, I can’t expect miracles,” Evenepoel said, telling Sporza
Also read: ‘If I were a tennis player, my career would be over’
A devastating winter crash finally came calling for the Belgian double gold medalist
and he wasn’t a factor when the race-winning moves came raining down on the iconic La Redoute
but it’s a shame that I didn’t feel great in the final part of the race,” Evenepoel said at the Soudal Quick-Step team bus
after the worst performance of his brief but brilliant Liège history
“Courses like this don’t lie,” he said
you’re in front of everything.”
and his perfect record at Liege is now over
It was a brutal dose of reality for the 24-year-old
whose season debut was delayed until this month from a horrific crash he suffered last December
Evenepoel later revealed that the injuries were so bad he considered quitting cycling altogether
saying his career would have been over if he were a tennis player
Also read: ‘I almost quit cycling’
A comeback win at Brabantse Pijl over Wout van Aert and a podium at Amstel Gold Race when he chased down an attacking Pogačar were reasons for optimism
but signs of vulnerability had surfaced with a cold-ravaged struggle at Flèche Wallonne
Remco Evenepoel ya ha cedido #LBL25 pic.twitter.com/8H4fXOTx2C
— WoutVanAert el puto amo❤️ (@PopiJoker) April 27, 2025
Some spotted a cold sore on his lips at Sunday’s start
but Evenepoel found himself out of position at the foot of La Redoute
And when Pogačar detonated the race
you have to train for a very long time,” Evenepoel said
“And I haven’t been able to train much yet
Quick-Step sport director Klaas Lodewyck didn’t try to dress up the disappointment
“He clearly didn’t have the legs
He had come back strongly after his injury
but you often see that a relapse follows,” he said
“We just didn’t think it would be today
The hope of a Liège heavyweight brawl between Evenepoel and Pogačar — winners of the past four editions between them — never materialized
Pogačar sensed Evenepoel’s absence immediately
“I saw that there weren’t many teams left over from teammates at La Redoute
so I wanted to test the legs and see what it would give,” the world champion said
“Quick-Step were controlling the bunch all day
all the Quick-Step disappeared from the front,” Pogačar said “I don’t know
maybe they were saving their legs for La Redoute
and that was another motivation to keep pushing.”
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) April 27, 2025
the final kilometers saw Evenepoel waving off the TV cameras after being dropped
Evenepoel will reload for Tour de Romandie and then prepare exclusively for a return to the Tour de France
Men's and women's teams swap red and yellow for green
white and red to revive 'a piece of cycling history' in tribute to American team and Merckx
Magnus Cort, Anouska Koster, and the rest of the men's and women's teams will swap their usual red and yellow race clothing for the iconic green and red colours that 7-Eleven raced in during the late 80s
The Uno-X Mobility team cars will also be wrapped in 7-Eleven colours
in perhaps the most audacious kit change ever seen since the UCI allowed teams to change their colours for specific races and events.
UCI rules allow alternate team kit designs for up to three events per season after approval
but changes can confuse spectators and the team's rivals
Visma-Lease a Bike will again change their racing kit design for the Tour de France
with the Dutch team and Lotto recently changing their kit for the Tour of Flanders
Reitan operates 107 7‑Eleven service stations that combine fast charging
The 7-Eleven team was the first American squad to ride the Tour de France and a full European season
with Andy Hampsten and Ron Kiefel taking breakthrough stage victories at the 1985 Giro d'Italia.
Sprinter Davis Phinney won a stage of the 1986 Tour de France
and Canada's Alex Steida wore the leader's yellow jersey for a day
Hampsten won the 1988 Giro d'Italia after excelling in the snow over the Passo Gavia and impressing during the three weeks
The team was sponsored by Motorola from 1991
but the pioneering success of the 7-Eleven team was never forgotten and inspired a later generation
Dag Otto Lauritzen became a national hero when he became the first Norwegian to win a stage of the Tour de France in 1987 with 7-Eleven
Uno-X Mobility said that Lauritzen will be with the team Sunday as an 'honorary sports director.'
Eddy Merckx supplied the 7-Eleven team with bikes in the latter years of the team
and the Uno-X Mobility riders will use a special edition red and green Ridley Noah Fast bike
which owns Ridley and Eddy Merckx Bikes.
Merckx won Liège-Bastogne-Liège five times during his career and will celebrate his 80th birthday this summer
and the OSPW system from CeramicSpeed will also see a retro makeover for Liège-Bastogne-Liège
"This is more than a limited edition bike or jersey
it’s a heartfelt tribute to Eddy Merckx for his 80th birthday and to the legacy he’s built over eight incredible decades," Frank Symons of Belgian Cycling Factory said.
"By bringing the iconic 7-Eleven team back to life at Liège-Bastogne-Liège
together with Uno-X Mobility and our amazing partners
we’re reviving a piece of cycling history in a way that’s never been done before."
Everyone watching the race was waiting for the moment the move from the rainbow jersey would come and it was, as many predicted, the Côte de La Redoute that was the springboard for Pogačar’s attack.
Ciccone was, alongside his teammates Nys and Mattias Skjemose, in a great position at the front of the field thanks to the work that Lidl-Trek had put in earlier in the day.
The Italian, who won the opening stage of Tour of the Alps and arrived to the team hotel just yesterday morning, carried his strong form onto the short, sharp climbs of the Ardennes.
Instead of reacting to the infernal pace of Pogačar, Ciccone stayed calmed and took his own pace before making his own move to help to draw out a four-rider chase group.
The group’s advantage to the next, bigger bunch was never more than 30 seconds but over the hilly terrain they were able to hold off any advances that came from behind.
Giulio Ciccone flashed his power in a heads-up spring at Liège-Bastogne-Liège after holding off the peloton in a breakaway.
Eventually, just Ciccone and Ben Healy (EF Education – Easy Post) remained to fight it out behind the world champion and in the sprint for the line, the Lidl-Trek riders proved he was the strongest.
The third group on the road, was closing in fast on the finishing straight but the duo had done enough to seal the remaining podium positions while Thibau Nys and Andrea Bagioli sprinted to the line behind to claim fifth and sixth place respectively.
Ollie Davis on the simple life, appreciating how far he's come, and learning how to be much nicer to himself
Irish breakaway artist’s bike is tuned for speed
Ben Healy is bringing the heat to Liège-Bastogne-Liège
“The fact that Liège is a Monument obviously puts it right up there with the coolest races
but for me the fans on La Redoute and Roche aux Faucons just take it to the next level,” Ben says
“When you're suffering up there and it's just a wall of sound
I need to try and get a gap and get ahead.”
Constructed from Cannondale’s highest grade carbon fiber, Ben’s frame is feather-light and stiff with geometry that allows him to race into corners on the very limit with total confidence. He will ride 30-mm Vittoria Corsa Pro tires on his new full-carbon Vision Metron 45 RS wheels
which are 200 grams lighter than their predecessors
He mounts Wahoo SPEEDPLAY AERO pedals to his FSA cranks for extra speed and cornering clearance, and tracks his data using his WAHOO ELEMNT Roam
Check out the full specs of Ben’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège race bike
Cannondale System R-One Carbon one piece 130/380
Remco Evenepoel has vowed to tame defending champion Tadej Pogacar at cycling's undulating Ardennes forest odyssey
Between them the pair have won the past four editions of the 252km Monument first raced in 1892
A passionate and daring racing style has made the 26-year-old Slovenian Pogacar cycling's most exciting asset
never faltering when accepting new challenges
In the 111th edition of Sunday's slog through winding forest lanes
Pogacar faces a huge challenge against double Olympic champion and local hero Evenepoel
recently returned from injuries sustained when a postal van opened a door on him
that's what my team pay me for," said the 25-year-old Belgian this week
Pogacar managed to drop Evenepoel at La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday on the steepest part of the final climb
Evenepoel said he had taken off a rain jacket too soon and was cold
"It was a good team result and we expect something similar at Liège," said the affable Team UAE rider Pogacar at the finish
His face however told another story as it was etched with fatigue
Evenepoel and Pogacar were pipped to the line at the Amstel Gold by interloper Mattias Skjelmose last Sunday but in both recent races there was little between the star pair
The Roche-aux-Faucons climb is the steepest Sunday at an average of 11 percent
potentially giving world and Olympic time-trial champion Evenepoel time to catch up on the run in
The stocky Flemish rider won the Brabantse Pijl in astonishing style on his return from injury ten days ago
outpacing Wout van Aert who said that Evenepoel had killed him bit by bit
"I'm delighted to find my form after only two months of training this year," he said
He said he was in better form Wednesday in the Flèche but had stupidly ridden 70km without his rain jacket
It's my favourite race and I want to win a third one."
Liège-Bastogne-Liège has been won from the Redoute hill
"Get it right there and you make up a lot of time
Wrong and it feels like hours getting up there
They head a field stacked with potential winners including Skjelmose and diminutive Englishman Tom Pidcock
Ben Healy can become the third Irishman to win Liège after Sean Kelly and Dan Martin and has impressed in the classics this spring
Absent are three heavyweights in Mathieu van der Poel
Giro and world champion Pogacar has a daredevil side that has pushed him into the one day classics
if he can win in Evenepoel's back yard the Slovenian will again show just how great he is
'Fan' in UAE Emirates jersey escorted off course by in-race marshal on motorbike after joining women's race 31km from the finish
before being marshalled off the route by an in-race motorbike driver
who was wearing a UAE Team Emirates jersey
planned his moment to join the race after the Côte de la Redoute climb
pulling out of a side road and in between Rooijakkers and chaser Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto)
before his brief but idiotic moment in the spotlight came to an end
The cycling equivalent of a pitch invasion? 😡A fan thought it would be a good idea to join #LBLWomen and ride amongst the professionals! 🤡 pic.twitter.com/ASlVLJHkkuApril 28, 2025
The roads are there for the riders to race on
and you shouldn't be there… Crazy," said commentator Anthony McCrossan
"This is just ridiculous," said an incensed Walker
cheer the riders on and just enjoy the spectacle
Niedermeier and Rooijakkers were undistracted by cycling's equivalent of a football pitch-invasion
continuing on with their move before they were joined by Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) and Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) in the move
Despite the obvious safety concern and general trend of "crazy" spectators continuing
the Dutch rider was still able to laugh about it at the finish
Rooijakkers finished Liège in 13th, as teammate Puck Pieterse continued her incredible Classics campaign, losing out only to Mauritian history-maker Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal)
The men's racing may have been short of much action as Pogačar blasted away solo to his third Liège-Bastogne-Liège title
there was similar drama when a motorist pulled out ahead of the breakaway as they rode through Vielsalm
ensuring the vehicle had pulled over quickly
with the massive charging peloton thankfully more than two minutes further down the road
As was the case with the fan joining the women's race
no damage or crashes came about after the fact
these incidents being able to happen prove that there is still work to be done when it comes to safety
both of which led to legal action in Belgium
after already having several incidents with spectators throughout his career
A similar incident with cars getting onto the race course happened at Etoile de Bessèges back in February
leading to Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) getting injured in a crash
All the broadcast information for La Doyenne
a brutally hilly race and the final Spring Classic of 2025
With riders already having tackled the Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne, the hilly Ardennes Classics are rounded out with Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday April 27
Known as La Doyenne ('the old lady') thanks to its long history – it was first run in 1892
before the Tour de France or Paris-Roubaix – 'LBL' is one of the longest and hilliest one-day races on the calendar
Cycling Weekly has compiled everything you need to know about broadcasters and live streams
so you can watch Liège-Bastogne-Liège wherever you are in the world
The women's Liège is live on TNT Sports 4 from 12.45pm BST on Sunday April 27
The men's race is live on TNT Sports 4 and Discovery+ from 9.15am BST on the same day
Subscriptions cost $30 or CA$39.99 a month
Fans in Australia can watch Liège-Bastogne-Liège for free
In Australia, Liège-Bastogne-Liège is part of public broadcaster SBS's portfolio of races, with live streaming available on their free platform, SBS On Demand
SBS On Demand
Auvio
VRT Max / Sporza website
NPO Start
RAI Play
FranceTV
RTVE Play
Most streaming platforms have geo-restrictions these days
which means they only work in certain countries
But being locked out of the races is a thing of the past thanks to a VPN
so you can continue to watch Liège-Bastogne-Liège while on the move
A Virtual Private Network is a piece of internet security software that can alter your device's location
so you can unblock your usual streaming services
there's a reason why NordVPN is considered the best VPN for streaming
and it's currently on offer at a huge discount – that's a win
Want to know more? We have an explainer on the benefits, costs, and considerations...– Should I use a VPN to watch cycling?
The men's Liège-Bastogne-Liège starts at 09:15 BST / 04:15 EDT
and is expected to finish about 15:24 BST / 10:24 EDT with the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes starting at 12.45 BST / 07:45 EDT and expected to finish about 16:53 BST / 11:53 EDT
UK coverage of Liège-Bastogne-Liège begins at 11:00 BST
Liège-Bastogne-Liège coverage starts at 20:00 AEST and runs into the early hours of Monday morning
See also: Cycling TV and streaming guide
Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the third and last of the three Ardennes Classics
with the other two being Amstel Gold Race (which is not
This year's Liège-Bastogne-Liège take place on Sunday April 27
The men's race does pretty much what it says on the tin
heading south to Bastogne on the Luxembourg border and returning to Liège
the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes
begins in Bastogne and follows the men's route back to Liège
with the men's event covering 252km (156 miles) with 152.9km (95 miles)
with 4,300m and 2,750m of climbing respectively
it's unsurprising that it is classified as one of the five cycling Monuments
and recent editions of the men's race have been won by Tadej Pogačar
Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič
while Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten
have won recent editions of the women's edition
Defending champions this year are Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates) and Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez)
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Team manager Gianetti suggests Pogačar should avoid long-range attack before final Classic of the spring
However UAE team manager Mauro Gianetti has tried to tame his rider's midweek ambitions by saying Pogačar doesn't need to attack 50km from the finish or even win Flèche Wallonne
Pogačar will be accompanied at Liège by Felix Großschartner
"I've enjoyed this Classics campaign a lot so far
I came into this period with a lot of goals and ambitions and there are still two left
with the biggest of them next Sunday," Pogačar said
"The most suited race for me is probably Liège so I'm really looking forward to it in particular
Pogačar will be hoping to reclaim the Flèche Wallonne title he won in 2023
where he beat Amstel Gold Race winner Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) to the win atop the Mur de Huy
and Sivakov will also race Flèche along with Swiss talent Jan Christen
Speaking to the Belgian RTBF podcast 'On connaît nos classiques'
UAE team CEO Mauro Gianetti said that racing Flèche is necessary for Pogačar to be ready for Liège-Bastogne-Liège
The Swiss team manager is not worried about a build-up of fatigue ahead of the weekend after Pogačar's intense spring Classics campaign.
"But he doesn't have to make the race again from 50km from the finish or necessarily win
We also have other riders in the team who are suitable for a race like La Flèche Wallonne
because we knew that recovering from the fatigue after Paris-Roubaix would be the hardest part
But in the end we saw in Amstel Gold Race that his form was good."
Gianetti pointed out that the world champion will have completed just 13 days of racing heading into Liège
and Flèche – having come this month
Tadej will have had 13 days of racing under his belt since the start of the season
races that he always rides in his own way – with spectacle and dedication
But La Flèche Wallonne simply fits well into the programme."
This Sunday, the Ardennes spring season wraps with one final uphill battle—Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes. It’s the last of the triple crown: Amstel, Flèche, and now Liège. A race where climbers thrive, legends are forged, and history is written—or confirmed.
The race will be live and on demand for FloBikes viewers in Canada
Don’t miss it—click the link in the description to sign up
the women’s peloton tackles a brutal course loaded with nine categorized climbs
From the Côte de Saint-Roch to the Wanne–Stockeu–Haute-Levée triple threat
it’s a race that slowly erodes the legs until only the strongest remain
just 13km from the line—where the winning move is made or missed
Puck Pieterse looks like she’s ready to go all in
The 22-year-old Dutch phenom stunned the world at Flèche Wallonne
dropping Demi Vollering with a mountain biker’s punch 150 meters from the top of the Mur de Huy
“I kept thinking someone would pass me,” she said after
Fenix–Deceuninck didn’t just win—they owned it
Their first-ever women’s classics victory—and possibly not their last
She’s landed top-10 in all ten of her spring races this year and returns to familiar ground: she won the Liège stage at last year’s Tour de France Femmes
my spring is already a success,” she said with a grin
she outsprinted Elisa Longo Borghini and Vollering from a breakaway
hasn’t looked like the 2023 version of herself—the one who swept the Ardennes triple
and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig all have the legs—and the teams—to blow this race wide open
now racing again after three seasons as director at SD Worx–Protime
who’s quietly building a monster spring—and starting to climb like a contender
The last shot at spring glory before the stage racing begins
The Mauritian trailblazer took the biggest victory of her career on Sunday after a challenging road to the top of the sport
Kimberley (Le Court) Pienaar is a history maker
When she joined the AG Insurance-Soudal Team in 2024
she became the first Mauritian rider – man or woman – to compete in the WorldTour
she’s been putting her small nation on professional cycling’s map
The 29-year-old’s route to road racing’s top table has been far from typical; her background is in mountain biking (she’s won African championships in the discipline
just missed out on a medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games
and triumphed in the 2023 Swiss Epic) and she’s had to graft hard to get her chances on the tarmac
AG Insurance-Soudal took a chance on Le Court in 2024 – after she and her husband spent the winter sending emails to all of the WorldTour squads asking for a shot – and the Dutch team could hardly have wished for a better return on their investment since then
The results came early and fast last season with top-10 finishes in the Classics and a Giro d’Italia Women stage win
but 2025 has seen Le Court exceed all expectations
Le Court rode the tough Ardennes Classic with the determination and spirit that has got her this far in her career: she was dropped and out of position but fought hard up the final climb of Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons to claw her way back to the front group of favourites
This is who Kimberley (Le Court) Pienaar is: she does not give up
"To be honest when I bridged the gap on Roche-aux-Faucons I really felt strong compared to the others
of course I was suffering too but for me to make that effort to bridge to them I knew I had maybe a bit more legs,” Le Court smiled in her post-race interview
arrow-straight sprint through the centre of the finishing straight gave Le Court the biggest victory of her career – a huge moment for both herself and Mauritian cycling
“I just kicked and never looked back in the sprint
I could see Puck [Pieterse’s] jersey but I just didn’t stop,” she said afterwards
The elation of both Le Court and her teammates was palpable in the post-race scenes of celebration: she hugged the likes of Urška Žigart with the relief of a bike rider who has worked a long time for this moment
“I’ve come so close this whole season and have aimed for Liège-Bastogne-Liège the whole year,” Le Court commented
“This is the last Classic and the one I really wanted to win – I can’t believe we made it
The emotion truly surfaced for Le Court when she was on the podium and heard the Mauritian national anthem
A victory in one of the most prestigious bike races in the world
for a rider from a country with a population of just one million people
against those who have professional bike racing deep in the history of their nations
Le Court’s win puts a huge spotlight on African cycling
It’s a victory that will go down in the history of sport in Mauritius
is that it feels like this is just the beginning of what is still to come from Kim Le Court
“I saw the Mauritian flag on the side of the course at one point,” she smiled after the race
“I’m so proud and happy I could finally give them this win.”
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