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Liège-Bastogne-Liège is a cycling race that is held
since 1892 and it is the last one of the Spring
Classics. The race is organized for professional
cyclists since 1908. In the same area was already
organized a race for amateurs. By adding these results,
the organization of LBL claims to be the oldest classic,
starting since 1892. The nickname of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
is "la Doyenne", which means "the oldest".
The race begins in the industrial city of Liège and
heads south to Bastogne, near the Luxembourg border and
back, with the finish in recent years mostly in one of
the suburbs of Liège.
The road winds a way over several Ardennes climbs,
mostly in the second part of the race. The steep
Saint-Roche in
Houffalize marks the beginning of the final with
La Redoute, the
Stockeu and
De Wanne as most
evocative climbs. At top of the Stockeu stands a
monument of Eddy Merckx.
The last years, the suburb of Ans on the northern side
of Liège is the regular finish location. The decision in
the race almost fell invariably at the
Saint-Nicolas, a
short steep climb at about 5 kilometers from the finish
line. In 2008, however, a new climb was added: the
Roche-aux-Faucons.
This climb already determined in the first edition the
race.
Memorable was the edition of April 20th, 1980 which was
ridden in the snow over almost the full length. Already
after 100 kilometers 100 of the 174 started riders had
abandoned the race. It was eventually Bernard Hinault
who won with almost 10 minutes ahead of number two. Only
21 riders made it to the finish. |
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63 km |
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Liège - Bastogne |
102 km |
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1st part Liège-Bastogne-Liège |
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168 km |
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2nd part Liège-Bastogne-Liège |
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