Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2021: all you need to know

Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the oldest of the five Monuments, and one of three spring Classics taking place in the Ardennes region. In 2021, the race is set to take place on Sunday April 25.

As the name may suggest, the race takes riders from Liège to Bastogne, and back. It’s a UCI WorldTour event, and in 2017 a women’s version was added – this is part of the UCI Women’s WorldTour and takes place on the same day.

>>> The climbs of Liège-Bastogne-Liège

The route for the 2021 edition is expected to be very similar to the 2020 race, with a finish in the centre of Liège that is expected to favour a rider more suited to faster, flat finishes or someone who can ride away solo on the final categorised climb at around 15km from the line.

Primož Roglič of Team Jumbo-Visma pips Julian Alaphilippe of Deceuninck – Quick-Step to the line at Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2020 (Photo by KRISTOF VAN ACCOM/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

Last years race was yet another epic battle with the finish coming down to the finest of margins as newly crowned world champion, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) threw his arms in the air early and was passed on the line by Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) with Alaphilippe eventually relegated to fifth.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège route

The route for Liège-Bastogne-Liège always promises to throw up a war of attrition, with steep climbs providing opportunities for attacks and the unavoidable counters.

In order to relocate the finish line to the city centre, the final uphill tests were revised – with riders charging towards the finish via the Côte de la Redoute, Côte des Forges and the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons.

The inaugural Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes victory went to Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) – she managed to claim all three Ardennes Classics wins in an incredible display of spring form.

The Dutch rider retained her title into 2018, though the following year passed the mantle to Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton Scott), who won solo in her trademark breakaway style with British rider Lizzie Deignan taking the win in 2020.

Lizzie Deignan wins Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2020 (Photo by Luc Claessen/Getty Images)

Liège–Bastogne–Liège 2021 start list

Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2021 start list

Liège–Bastogne–Liège on TV

You’ll be able to watch uninterrupted coverage of the 2020 races on the Eurosport Player and the GCN Race Pass online with Eurosport showing it on TV as well in the UK.

Liège–Bastogne–Liège previous winners

The 2019 win went to Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang. The Dane broke away with 15km to go, and managed to hold off the chase – quite a feat considering he crashed with 5km to the line.

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes winners

2017: Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans
2018: Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans
2019: Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Mitchelton-Scott
2020: Lizzie Deignan (GBR) Trek-Segafredo

We’ll keep updating this page as more information becomes available.