Nicknamed ‘La Doyenne’ (The Oldest) by cyclists worldwide, Liege–Bastogne–Liege is the oldest bike race in the world, with it’s founding year in 1892.
The race was created to publicise a newspaper – L’Expresse – which began a trend amongst newspapers in Continental Europe for naming bike races in this manner. Even the most famous bike race in the world, the Tour de France, was created in 1903 to publicise ‘L’Auto.
The yellow paper used to publish the paper is why the winner of the Tour de France wears a yellow jersey. This also applies to the Giro d’Italia that was created in 1909 to publicise La Gazzetta dello Sport and is the reason the winner wears a pink jersey.
Liege-Bastogne-Liege is approximately 263km and is situated in the Belgian Ardennes region. The geography of this region suits climbers, as it is rolling terrain with lots of short, steep climbs that cause a lot of action in the peloton.
The race features climbs like La Redoute, which is more than 2km long at an average gradient of 8%. Eddy Merckx has won the race five times, and the race’s list of winners is a testament to it’s place in the professional cycling world.
Bernard Hinault – who won the Tour de France a remarkable five times – says that Liege-Bastogne-Liege is a highlight of his career, his wins coming in 1977 and 1980.
There has never been a British winner of the race, although Irishman Dan Martin is the first rider of the home nations to take a victory when he attacked late in the 2013 edition to pass General Classification rider Joaquim Rodriguez and win the race by 3 seconds.
Although suited to climbers, the advance of technology such as carbon road bikes and other cycling components along with the improved physical condition of many riders makes the race open to most riders in the peloton, although the sprinters would have to come up with something special in the race to be successful.
Liege-Bastogne-Liege is the final Spring monument of the season, and is a great indication of the form of some riders such as Boonen, Cancellara and Vanmarcke who all feature in the big races of the year.
