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

Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the oldest professional cycling race in the world and is one of the five cycling Monuments. It is also the main event of the three races known as the Ardennes Classics with this year's edition taking place on Sunday, April 25.

Believe it or not, the race starts and finishes in the Belgian city of Liège with the furthest point being at Bastogne. It's a UCI WorldTour event, with the women's edition of the race added in 2017 and went straight in as a UCI Women's WorldTour race taking place on the same day as the men's.

>>> The climbs of Liège-Bastogne-Liège

The race usually suits riders who are best up short punchy climbs as well as having a good turn of speed. In 2020 it came down to a small bunch sprint between some of the stars of the year, Marc Hirschi (then Sunweb), Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) and the eventual winner Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).

This year is likely to see all those riders return to the race with Alaphilippe and Roglič coming in with fine form after they took the top two slots on La Flèche Wallonne quite a way ahead of third-place Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).

It is not yet known whether UAE Team Emirates will be allowed to race as they had to pull out of La Flèche Wallonne due to positive Covid-19 tests. Pogačar was keen to point out that these results were 'false positives' and looks likely to be racing alongside Hirschi at La Doyenne.

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.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2021 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 from a long way out.

The race organisers decided to move the finish from Ans and a climb to the finish to instead have the finish line in the city centre. This meant 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 men's race is set to take on a massive 259.1km that includes 11 categorised climbs along the way to the finish in Liège.

With the serious climbing beginning at around 160km into the race, staying safe and being well placed are vital. A rider isn't going to win a race in the first 100 miles but could definitely lose it if they're not careful.

The women's edition of the race sees the riders take on a much shorter route of just 140.9km and is just Bastogne-Liège than the full Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

However, this does not mean the race will be easier. Seven categorised climbs are on the menu for the peloton to tackle including the Rosier, Redoute and Roche-aux-Faucons before finishing in the same place as the men back in Liège.

Liège–Bastogne–Liège 2021 start list

Deceuninck - Quick-Step

ALAPHILIPPE Julian

ALMEIDA João

HONORÉ Mikkel

VANSEVENANT Mauri

SERRY Pieter

DEVENYNS Dries

KNOX James

Team Jumbo-Visma

ROGLIČ Primož

VINGEGAARD Jonas

OOMEN Sam

HOFSTEDE Lennard

GESINK Robert

PFINGSTON Christoph

MARTENS Paul

UAE Team Emirates

POGAČAR Tadej

HIRSCHI Marc

FORMOLO Davide

COSTA Rui

LAENGEN Vegard Stake

DE LA CRUZ David

MCNULTY Brandon

Lotto-Soudal

GILBERT Philippe

WELLENS Tim

VANHOUCKE Harm

MONIQUET Sylvain

GOOSSENS Kobe

GRIGNARD Sébastien

Cofidis

MARTIN Guillaume

PEREZ Anthony

GESCHKE Simon

HERRADA Jesús

BARCELÓ Fernando

ROCHAS Rémy

FERNÁNDEZ Rubén

Trek-Segafredo

MOLLEMA Bauke

RIES Michel

SKUJINS Toms

EG Niklas

KAMP Alexander

CONCI Nicola

BERNARD Julien

Ineos Grenadiers

PIDCOCK Tom

CARAPAZ Richard

KWIATKOWSKI Michał

YATES Adam

GOŁAŚ Michał

GEOGHEGAN HART Tao

ROWE Luke

Groupama-FDJ

GAUDU David

MADOUAS Valentin

MOLARD Rudy

LADAGNOUS MAtthieu

ARMIRAIL Bruno

BONNET William

Team BikeExchange

CHAVES Esteban

MATTHEWS Michael

STANNARD Rob

KANGERT Tanel

BOOKWALTER Brent

JUUL-JENSEN Chris

NIEVE Mikel

Israel Start-Up Nation

WOODS Michael

NEILANDS Krists

IMPEY Daryl

BOIVIN Guillaume

HOLLENSTEIN Reto

SAGIV Guy

GOLDSTEIN Omer

Astana-Premier Tech

FUGLSANG Jakob

LUTSENKO Alexey

HOULE Hugo

BATTISTELLA Samuele

FRAILE Omar

ARANBURU Alexander

SÁNCHEZ Luis León

Bahrain Victorious

TEUNS Dylan

MOHORIČ Matej

POELS Wout

HAIG Jack

CAPECCHI Eros

PADUN Mark

HALLER Marco

Bora-Hansgrohe

SCHACHMANN Max

SCHELLING Ide

KONRAD Patrick

KÄMNA Lennard

KELDERMAN Wilco

BENEDETTI Cesare

FABBRO Matteo

Ag2r-Citroën Team

COSNEFROY Benoît

CHAMPOUSSIN Clément

PARET-PEINTRE Aurélien

GODON Dorian

SCHÄR Michael

VAN AVERMAET Greg

GALLOPIN Tony

Team DSM

VERMAERKE Kevin

BENOOT Tiesj

LEKNESSUND Andreas

HAMILTON Chris

DONOVAN Mark

ARNDT Nikias

TUSVELD Martijn

Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux

VLIEGEN Loïc

HERMANS Quinten

LAMMERTINK Maurits

BAKELANTS Jan

ROTA Lorenzo

DE WINTER Ludwig

VAN MELSEN Kévin

Movistar Team

VALVERDE Alejandro

MAS Lluís

SERRANO Gonzalo

VERONA Carlos

JORGENSON Matteo

MAS Enric

ARCAS Jorge

Team Qhubeka-Assos

CLARKE Simon

HENAO Sergio

ARU Fabio

ARMÉE Sander

POWER Robert

POZZOVIVO Domenico

BENNETT Sean

EF Education-Nippo

HIGUITA Sergio

VALGREN Michael

CARR Simon

CAICEDO Jonathan Klever

NAKANE Hideto

HOWES Alex

CRADDOCK Lawson

Alpecin-Fenix

TULLETT Ben

DE TIER Floris

MEURISSE Xandro

JANSSENS Jimmy

VERVAEKE Louis

WALSLEBEN Philipp

VERGAERDE Otto

Team Arkéa-Samsic

BARGUIL Warren

ROS Diego

RIOU Alan

OWSIAN Łukasz

LEDANOIS Kévin

GUERNALEC Thibault

PICHON Laurent

Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-Wallonie Bruxelles

VANENDERT Jelle

MERTZ Rémy

PAASSCHENS Mathijs

MOLLY Kenny

HUYS Laurens

PEYSKENS Dimitri

WIRTGEN Luc

Total Direct Energie

LATOUR Pierre

DOUBEY Fabien

SIMON Julien

BURGAUDEAU Metthieu

GRELLIER Fabien

GAILLARD Marlon

FERRON Valentin

Gazprom-RusVelo

KREUZIGER Roman

ROVNY Ivan

STRAKHOV Dmitry

VELASCO Simone

CHERNETSKI Sergei

ZAKARIN Ilnur

SHALUNOV Evgeny

Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise

VANHOOF Ward

VERWILST Aaron

MERTENS Julian

SPRENGERS Thomas

HERREHODTS Rune

VAN POUKE Aaron

APERS Ruben

Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2021 start list

Trek-Segafredo

VAN ANROOIJ Shirin

LONGO-BORGHINI Elisa

WILES Tayler

BRAND Lucinda

HANSON Lauretta

Movistar Team

VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek

AALERUD Katrine

MARTIN Sara

PATIÑO Paula Andrea

THOMAS Leah

RODRÍGUEZ Gloria

SD Worx

VAN DER BREGGEN Anna

VAN DEN BROEK-BLAAK Chantal

VOLLERING Demi

MOOLMAN-PASIO Ashleigh

CECCHINI Elena

FISHER-BLACK Niamh

Canyon-SRAM Racing

NIEWIADOMA Kasia

CHABBEY Elise

BARNES Hannah

CROMWELL Tiffany

HARVEY Mikayla

AMIALIUSIK Alena

Liv Racing

PALADIN Soraya

DEMEY Valerie

ROOIJAKKERS Pauliena

KOREVAAR Jeanne

STULTIENS Sabrina

JASKULSKA Marta

Team BikeExchange

SPRATT Amanda

TENNIGLO Moniek

SANTESTEBAN Ane

WILLIAMS Georgia

KENNEDY Lucy

ENSING Janneke

Alé-BTC-Ljubljana

REUSSER Marlen

GARCÍA Mavi

WRIGHT Sophie

GUDERZO Tatiana

PATUELLI Alessia

CHURSINA Anastasiia

FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope

LUDWIG Cecile Uttrup

FAHLIN Emilia

BORGLI Stine

CHAPMAN Brodie

MUZIC Évita

CAVALLI Marta

Team Jumbo-Visma

VOS Marianna

HENDERSON Anna

KOSTER Anouska

BEEKHUIS Teuntje

MARKUS Riejanne

VAN DE VELDE Julie

Team DSM (team DNS due to Covid-19 positives)

LABOUS Juliette

LIPPERT Liane

MACKAIJ Floortje

OLAUSSON Wilma

KIRSCHMANN Leah

PEPERKAMP Esmée

Ceratizit-WNT

MAGNALDI Eirca

LACH Marta

TEUTENBERG Lea Lin

VIECELI Lara

HAMMES Kathrin

ASENCIO Laura

A.R. Monex Women's Pro Cycling Team

SIERRA Arlenis

NOVOLODSKAIA Maria

MERINO Eider

RAGUSA Katia

SALAZAR Lizbeth Yareli

MILIAEVA Mariia

Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank

STEPHENS Lauren

FAULKNER Kristen

ERATH Tanja

KESSLER Nina

NEWSOM Emily

STEPHENS Lauren

YONAMINE Eri

Lotto-Soudal

BRAAM Danique

NILSSON Hanna

VANDER SANDE Elise

VANDENBULCKE Jesse

MEERTENS Lone

Parkhotel-Valkenburg (DNS due to Covid-19 positives)

Valcar-Travel & Service

MAGRI Silvia

ARZUFFI Alice Maria

GASPARRINI Eleonora Camilla

MALCOTTI Barbara

PIERGIOVANNI Federica Damiana

POLLICINI Silvia

Bepink

ZANARDI Silvia

ALESSIO Camilla

CANVELLI Vania

DRUMMOND Michaela

HAJKOVA Marketa

QUAGLIOTTO Nadia

Team Arkéa

BECKER Charlotte

LEVENEZ Sandra

ALLIN Pauline

KERBAOL Cedrine

FOUQUENET Amandine

RICHIOUD Greta

Drops-Le Col s/b Tempur

LOWDEN Joscelin

CHRISTMAS Dani

CHRISTIAN Anna

TACEY April

TOWERS Alice

PENTON Sara

Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire Cycling Team

GHEKIERE Justine

VAN DEN STEEN Kelly

DE JONG Thalita

DRUYTS Lenny

Cogeas-Mettler Pro Cycling Team

BUCH Hannah

ZABALINSKAYA Olga

STIASNY Petra

GAREEVA Aigul

GALIMULLINA Iuliia

Rally Cycling

DOEBEL-HICKOK Kristabel

BRECK Holly

FRANZ Heidi

GANZAR Leigh Ann

KOPPENBURG Clara

POIDEVIN Sara

Liège–Bastogne–Liège 2021 on TV

You'll be able to watch uninterrupted coverage of the 2021 races on the Eurosport Player and the GCN+ online with Eurosport showing all the action live on TV as well in the UK.

For more information on how to stream the race as well as using VPN, check out our 'how to watch Liège-Bastogne-Liège' page to see all the links and insructions.

Liège–Bastogne–Liège previous winners

2001: Oscar Camenzind (SUI) Lampre–Daikin

2002: Paolo Bettini (ITA) Mapei–Quick-Step

2003: Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC

2004: Davide Rebellin (ITA) Gerolsteiner

2005: Alexandre Vinokourov (KAZ) T-Mobile Team

2006: Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears

2007: Danilo Di Luca (ITA) Liquigas

2008: Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Caisse d'Epargne

2009: Andy Schleck (LUX) Team Saxo Bank

2010: Alexandre Vinokourov (KAZ) Astana

2011: Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Omega Pharma–Lotto

2012: Maxim Iglinsky (KAZ) Astana

2013: Dan Martin (IRL) Garmin–Sharp

2014: Simon Gerrans (AUS) Orica–GreenEDGE

2015: Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Movistar Team

2016: Wout Poels (NED) Team Sky

2017: Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Movistar Team

2018: Bob Jungels (LUX) Quick-Step Floors

2019: Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) Astana

2020: Primož Roglič (SLO) Jumbo-Visma

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.