A FULL-BODIED CLASSIC FLAVOUR

January 18 th 2022 - 12:00

Granted, the mammoth construction project of the Liège tramway means that this edition will not start from Place Saint-Lambert, but from Quai des Ardennes, which will also host the finish a few hours later, closing a "true" loop over 250 km long.

Granted, the Côte des Forges has been provisionally scrapped from the programme due to the aftermath of the catastrophic flooding that struck the area last July, but the connection between La Redoute and the often decisive Roche aux Faucons will take the peloton over the Côte de Sprimont, which is no longer a categorised climb but remains as steep as ever.

Yet these are the only two changes made to the Old Lady, which follows the classic recipe in every other aspect, a tried-and-tested approach that has met with the acclaim of fans and followers alike. After the riders double back in Bastogne, the sequence of difficulties that makes the event famous will turn the race into a war of attrition. First comes Saint-Roch, where the crowds go wild as the slopes start to sap the peloton's strength, and then, after Vielsam, nine climbs packed into less than 100 kilometres: the Mont-le-Soie–Wanne–Stockeu–Haute-Levée tetralogy, followed by the Col du Rosier, will soften up the legs before the final trilogy introduced by the Côte de Desnié.  

Maybe Tadej Pogačar will manage to repeat his exploit from 2021, when he outfoxed his last breakaway companions to become one of the few Tour winners who have gone on to claim Liège–Bastogne–Liège… The first, in fact, since Bernard Hinault in 1980!

Now, that would be anything but a classic!

Christian Prudhomme

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