LIÈGE-BASTOGNE-LIÈGE FEMMES: INFO WITH ONE DAY TO GO
April 20 th 2024 - 18:13
Key points:
- For the first time, the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes is scheduled to start and finish after the men’s version of the event. The female riders will ride from Bastogne to Liège over the exact same course of the men. This 8th edition will be the longest (153 km) and hardest (2750 meters of elevation gain) ever held.
- Fresh off conquering La Flèche Wallonne Femmes, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) will try and dethrone Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) again in Liège. The defending champion aims for a third victory in La Doyenne, forming a power duo with rainbow jersey wearer Lotte Kopecky.
- Many of the world’s best climbers and uphill sprinters are entering the race on a dream field including Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Team), Mavi García (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) or Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ).
The momentum of a Monument
Just four climbs were scheduled in the first edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, won by Dutch legend Anna van der Breggen in 2017. This year, there will be ten – one more than last year, given the addition of the Côte de Saint-Roch (km 15). “We want to make the women’s race harder every year, bringing it up to the level of the men’s,” states race director Yannick Talabardon. “Up until now, we were held back by the timing of the finish. Now that the schedule has been shifted and the women’s event finishes after the men’s, we have been able to step up a notch by using the exact same course as the men’s version all the way from Bastogne to Liège.” The roll-out for this race on the rise is set for 1.35 PM CEST from Bastogne’s Place McAuliffe. “And it’s going to be very cool, as the men’s race is going to ride by Bastogne during the women’s team presentation,” hints Talabardon. The course being 10 kilometres longer in terms of distance and 100 meters harder in terms of elevation gain than last year, this will be the longest, toughest edition to date of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes (153km, 2750m). “There aren’t many races in the world as demanding as this one. We want to build a real Monument, as in the men’s event.”
Demi Vollering: “The pressure was higher last year”
Still sitting in the number one of the UCI World Ranking and being the defending champion of Liège-Bastogne-Liège after completing a clean sweep last year in the Ardennes classics, Demi Vollering comes into this edition of La Doyenne with a different approach. If SD Worx-Protime’s domination was overwhelming in 2023, it has been widely contested this year. If the Dutch rider herself had won four races by this time last season, she has not raised her arms in victory so far in this campaign. “I want to win tomorrow,” asserted Vollering during the team presentation held on Saturday in Liège’s Quai des Ardennes. “I really wanted to win La Flèche Wallonne Femmes on Wednesday too.” That day, she was defeated in the final 150 meters by Kasia Niewiadoma after setting the pace through the final climb to the Mur de Huy. “Yet last year I was equally eager to win Liège, because I had a special chance to win all three Ardennes classics. I think the pressure was higher last year." She can count on the support of current world champion Lotte Kopecky. “We have a really strong team. Together with Lotte we can do a really nice finale.”
Kasia Niewiadoma anticipates “a survival race”
Has the emotional victory she got on Wednesday at La Flèche Wallonne Femmes sunk in yet for Kasia Niewiadoma? “Yes, I’d say so. From the moment I reunited with my Canyon//SRAM teammates after the race, we began having very positive, optimistic thoughts about the next race. And, also, I have this beautiful trophy in my room to remember me of what I accomplished.” Her first victory in five years – one that she could well back-up with a triumph on Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes. “It will be a survival race,” foresees the Polish rider. “In every edition some extra climbs are added to the course, and this year’s is definitely one of the hardest ever. The racing will be very intense as well as it’s the last of the Ardennes classics - the last chance for everyone.” How does Niewiadoma and her team approach this edition of La Doyenne? “I’m not going to lie. We have a clear goal, which is winning. Besides me, we have Elise [Chabbey] or Soraya [Paladin], who can sprint from reduced groups. We are ready to fight and race with no fear whatsoever.”
Elisa Longo Borghini: “A matter of choices”
Only six riders have entered all seven editions of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes to date. One of them, Annemiek van Vleuten, won’t make it eight as she retired this winter. The remaining five will all start tomorrow from Bastogne’s Place McAuliffe. They are Canyon//SRAM’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma (see article above), Liv-AlUla-Jayco’s Jeanne Korevaar and Mavi García, AG Insurance-Soudal Team’s Ashleigh Moolman and Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Longo Borghini. The latter has stood twice on the podium (3rd in 2021, 2nd in 2023) and comes to the race in excellent form, as proven by her victory in the Tour of Flanders and her 3rd position in La Flèche Wallonne. “Liège is one the most beautiful races of the year,” says the Italian rider. “I chose to skip Paris-Roubaix this year with the aim of being in the best possible shape in the Ardennes classics, and particularly here in La Doyenne. Cycling is so competitive nowadays that it has become a matter of choices. You need to decide what your targets are and accept to sacrifice other events that you might want to enter. Otherwise, you risk to end up racing too much and scoring to little.”
A numbers game for FDJ-SUEZ
Few teams line up as much firepower in this Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes as FDJ-SUEZ. The French squad has a rider who has stood twice on the podium of this event in Australia’s Grace Brown (2nd in 2020 and 2022), and also an Ardennes classics winner in Italy’s Marta Cavalli (1st in La Flèche Wallonne Femmes 2022). Throw in a solid Classics specialist like Amber Kraak, top10 in both Paris-Roubaix and Amstel Gold Race, and an up-and-coming climber like Évita Muzic … and you get an outfit who can outnumber its rivals in the closing kilometres of La Doyenne. Muzic, in particular, has only missed one edition of this event – and only because he was still a junior rider when this race was held for the first time in 2017. She has not landed any remarkable result in Liège-Bastogne-Liège so far, yet the 4th position she scored at La Flèche Wallonne Femmes surely spurs her confidence. “We want to put at least one rider on the final podium,” explains the young Frenchwoman. “The team has come close to a nice result several times in the last few weeks. We have many cards to play and we want to play a numbers game in the final. We will race for the win.”
“Starting in the afternoon is a massive change”
The modification of the schedules of both La Flèche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, with the men’s race starting (and finishing) before the women’s, has been one of the main topics of the Ardennes classics. Because of this, the start of the female version of La Doyenne is due at 1.35PM CEST – that is, five hours later than last year. “It is a massive change for us, and I'm really grateful,” states AG Insurance-Soudal Team’s Ashleigh Moolman. “It makes a really big difference for us to have a later start, especially in a cold weather like tomorrow’s. It was really hard to get up at 5AM and eat breakfast in time for the race. In terms of recovery and performance I prefer the later start, and also for the crowds as we could see in Flèche. There was a lot of people in the team presentation, and I also heard that the TV numbers were really good.” Spectators from 189 countries all over the world will indeed be able to follow the race live tomorrow from 4.55PM CEST, with extra coverage at the race’s official website liege-bastogne-liege-femmes.be.
