La Doyenne History: Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the oldest Monument on the calendar. The first edition was run in 1892, the first Paris-Roubaix was 4 years later and the Tour of Lombardy was 1905, Milano-Sanremo 1907 and the Tour of Flanders 1913. The organisers of Liège-Bastogne-Liège are proud of the nickname La Doyenne, ‘The Old Lady’. Initially, it was not the intention to ride from Liège to Bastogne and back to Liège. The Liège Cyclist Union wanted to make a detour via Paris. Liège-Paris-Liège: a race of 850 kilometres was the plan at the time. Liège-Bastogne-Liège was only a test event for Liège-Paris-Liège, but L-B-L eventually became an annual event. Those first races were dominated by the Belgians. The Frenchman André Trousselier was the first foreigner to beat the Belgians in 1908, but from the first edition in 1892 until 1978, foreigners only won 10 times.
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Four wins for Moreno Argentin
From the early 1980s the victories went to Dutch, Italian, Irish or Swiss riders. Of course Belgians top the winner’s list. Léo Houa, Alfons Schepers and Fred De Bruyne each won three times and Eddy Merckx (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1975) is on the list with five wins. Rik Van Looy, Roger De Vlaeminck and Walter Godefroot also took wins, but after Joseph Bruyère’s victory in 1978, the lean years came for the Belgians. The wins came from Italians: Silvano Contini and Moreno Argentin four times. Dutch: Steven Rooks and Adri van der Poel and Irishman Sean Kelly.
Sean Kelly in Liège 1986
In 1990 Eric Van Lancker took the win for Belgium, then Dirk De Wolf in 1992, Frank Vandenbroucke 1999, Philippe Gilbert in 2011 and of course Remco Evenepoel last year. The most successful riders of recent times are Moreno Argentin and Alejandro Valverde, both won four times. Other notable riders who have won Liège-Bastogne-Liège more than once are Michele Bartoli, Paolo Bettini and Alexander Vinokourov.
Michele Bartoli in 1998
Remco Evenepoel won his second Liège-Bastogne-Liège in a row after an impressive solo in 2023. The Soudal Quick-Step World Champion attacked on la Redoute, then dropped Tom Pidcock to solo the last 30 kilometres to Liège. The duel with Tadej Pogačar never materialised due to an early crash by the Slovenian.
Evenepoel had to stay focused in the heavy rain, but he increased his lead to more than a minute and no longer had to take any risks. Only bad luck or a crash could take the win away from the young Belgian. The battle for the podium behind Evenepoel was more interesting, because Pidcock dropped back in a large chase group. With more than 1:20 behind, they started to climb the Roche-aux-Faucons, the last obstacle of the day. Healy and Santiago Buitrago had the best legs and pulled away from the rest. Pidcock was able to jump across to the two. Evenepoel now had a minute and a half. Nothing stood in the way of a second victory in a row in La Doyenne for the World Champion wearing number 1. In the last 3 kilometres he had plenty of time to smile at the camera and celebrate the victory. Pidcock sprinted to second place more than a minute later, ahead of Buitrago and Healy. Valentin Madouas followed in fifth place, ahead of Guillaume Martin and Tiesj Benoot.
2023 Liège-bastonge-Liège highlights
Top favourite, Tadej Pogačar attacked on the climb of La Redoute, with just over 30 kilometres to go to the finish in Liège and soloed to victory in 2024. The expected battle with World champion, Mathieu van der Poel never materialised. There were attacks from behind, but the Slovenian’s victory was never in Danger. A minute and a half later, Romain Bardet took second ahead of the chasers, who were brought in by Van der Poel for third place.
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