The spring classics season closes today with La Doyenne - perhaps the most prestigious of all. Hagen has dominated the week with two out of two victories, but it might be time for change as Cunego and the others will try to repeat the result from Badaling and knock the Norwegian off the crown.
Rain is forecasted today, but it is still holding up as the race directors wave the flag indicating the start of the 7th edition of this race.
Leading out from the start are Sebastien Einsle and David Zabriskie.
Almost instantly comes the first attack. The thought of 250 km of hard work isn't scaring Passalacqua and Jeannesson, who try their luck.
Oyarzun, Meyer and Maaskant jump across. Vesuvio aren't happy with this, so Jungels closes the gap down again.
Vesuvio's dissatisfaction might be related to lacking representation in the group, as an earlier seen Einsle leads the next attack.
Jeannesson follows again, but this time Festina feel pressured to chase the escapees down.
The situation seesaws like this for a while, before a quintet of riders finally establish an advantage of over a minute. Oyarzun has been seen earlier, but now together with a bunch of new names.
Arndt Stalder Jallays Castroviejo
50 km into the race, they've built up a lead of three minutes. Back in the peloton, the pace is split between many teams:
The escapees have meanwhile increased their advantage to around 8 minutes.
The race is thus about to begin for real, meaning that Monfort has chosen a very critical moment to crash.
None of his team mates drop back to help him, as Lotto have clearly ordered them to stay with Cunego and Claeys.
Luckily for them, the pace remains low for now with Pichon, Ballan and Haas taking turns up the slopes of Côte de Wanne. This allows Monfort to catch onto the back again, while Di Maggio is seen near the front.
An even better indicator of just how easy the pace is set at the moment can be seen at the back, where all of Santander's riders have stayed in contact over the top.
The pace is still not really as high as you'd expect this far into a race like this, and Gonzalez Salas is the only man shed out the back.
We're now in the final 60 km, and the expected acceleration finally comes, as Trofimov sends Van der Hugenhaben into leading position.
The slopes of Côte du Maquisard aren't really tough enough to really create any selection, but Koenigsegg have at least stretched out the field.
One of those sitting quite far back is Schleck. Ginanni and Ulissi also need to improve their position.
The other teams might've been informed of Schleck's poor position, as Valverde, Anza and Spilak all come to the front to help Van der Hugenhaben push the pace.
Still no major splits, but the peloton is massively stretched out as the group approaches la Redoute with incredibly high speed.
The break is coming into view as they leave Remouchamps and start climbing.
They just about stay ahead over the summit, as Vastaranta has taken over the pacemaking with squad captain Bakelants now sitting 4th in line.
Realising that domestiques pushing clearly isn't enough to break the peloton, Gilbert and Van Garderen try to escape in the following descent.
The duo bridges the gap to the breakaway on Côte de Sprimont a few kilometers later, which triggers an attack from Bakelants.
Hagen, Trofimov and Ulissi set off in pursuit from behind as Bakelants flies past the earlier attackers and into the lead.
Cunego leads more riders across, forming a lead group of 15 riders. The chase behind is led by the biggest missing names: Schleck and Ricco.
The leaders manage to hold the gap down to the foot of Côte de Roche-aux-Faucons, but it quickly disintegrates as Ricco glues the rest back in contect.
Ricco isn't done though, and goes straight into the lead with a big attack.
Ponzi and Schleck are trying to respond.
The Cobra's attack is too much for both of them, and instead he goes into solo lead with an advantage of roughly 25 seconds over a shattered field led by Bakelants.
Trofimov, Hagen, Gilbert, Schleck and Cunego all join forces with Bakelants in the hunt as the climb kicks up for a 2nd time, and the gap starts to come down rapidly.
Ricco soon realises that there's no point in trying to hold off by himself and gives up his attempt with 12 km remaining.
All together down towards Saint-Nicolas then, but the peloton has been severely reduced by all the attacks. 39 riders are all that's left:
Trofimov, Valverde, Van der Hugenhaben, Anza Gesink, Sanchez Gil, Vanendert, Sinkeldam Schleck, Gastauer, Paterski Hagen, Spilak, Augustyn Cunego, Claeys, Monfort Ginanni, Pozzovivo, Montaguti Bakelants, Vastaranta Schumacher, Albasini Van Garderen, Summerhill Ricco, Roux Ponzi, Caruso Roche, Castaño Pozzato, Eastman Pluchkin, Klemme Gilbert Ulissi Di Maggio
A well represented Lotto team are in control as the group takes the turn onto Côte de Saint-Nicolas. Monfort and Claeys are leading, apparently unaware of the fact that Cunego is sitting quite far down in the group.
The climb quickly reaches a stinging gradient, and Bakelants comes to the fore with a new attack.
Together with Ulissi, he does gain a few metres.
With a huge effort, Hagen manages to come across as the road flattens after the top. Less than 5 km to go, and the gap is opening on the rest.
Trofimov feels that this could very well be the decisive move, so Valverde and Van der Hugenhaben are burying themselves to close the gap for the Russian as they descend into Liège.
The effort from Koenigsegg pays off, as they manage to shut the leaders down just as they take the left turn up towards Ans.
Pozzato now moves into the lead, with the defending champion Schleck sitting in the perfect position to score his fourth consecutive win. In total, 33 riders remain in contention.
Trofimov, Valverde, Van der Hugenhaben, Anza Gesink, Sanchez Gil, Vanendert, Sinkeldam Schleck, Gastauer, Paterski Cunego, Claeys, Monfort Hagen, Spilak Ginanni, Pozzovivo Bakelants, Vastaranta Schumacher, Albasini Van Garderen, Summerhill Ricco, Roux Ponzi, Caruso Gilbert Ulissi Di Maggio Roche Pozzato
Pozzato is clearly trying to steer this to a sprint finish. Something that Ulissi and Trofimov intend to spoil, as they both attack on separate sides of the road with 1500m to go.
The eyes turn to Schleck, but he is hesitating - and a gap opens for the two attackers!
Instead, it's Bakelants who sets off in pursuit, but under the kite the two leaders are 50m ahead - side by side!
Ulissi has nothing to respond with when Trofimov hits the gas, pulling clear through the final turn.
Bakelants and Hagen are coming even faster though!
The line is coming closer and closer for Trofimov, but they're closing quickly from behind. Oh, so close!
They've left it too late, and Yuri Trofimov wins this year's edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège!
Hagen is the strongest behind, taking 2nd place. So close to the treble, yet so far. There will surely be a lot of "what ifs" in his thoughts for the rest of the day.
3rd goes to Bakelants, who has just about enough left in the tank to hold off a flying finish from Schumacher.
Gesink completes the top 5 with an impressive finish, having started the sprint from a very poor position.
Following him is Cunego, who also managed to overhaul Ulissi in the end. Regardless of that, the latter will probably be much more happy with the result than the former.
The final top 10 slots are filled by Van Garderen, Spilak and Claeys, in a big clutter of riders. Aker and Lotto will certainly be happy with two riders in the top 10.
Roche is an excellent 11th for wildcard team ING, with Pozzato profiting from his starting position to take 12th.
Ponzi (15th), Gilbert (16th), Schleck (17th) and Ricco (22nd) are meanwhile probably not at all happy with the result.
Disappointment for Venchi and Di Maggio as well. 25th place is a bit less than they expected, surely.
Tactics and superb team work were the keys in today's race, and Yuri Trofimov becomes the fourth winner in the ManGame history.
1
Yuri Trofimov
Koenigsegg
6h36'05
2
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Aker - MOT
s.t.
3
Jan Bakelants
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
4
Stefan Schumacher
UBS - BMC
s.t.
5
Robert Gesink
Project 1t4i
s.t.
6
Diego Ulissi
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
7
Damiano Cunego
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
8
Tejay Van Garderen
Wikipedia
s.t.
9
Simon Spilak
Aker - MOT
s.t.
10
Dimitri Claeys
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
11
Nicolas Roche
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
12
Filippo Pozzato
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
13
Maxime Monfort
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
14
Francesco Ginanni
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
15
Simone Ponzi
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
16
Philippe Gilbert
Pendleton's
s.t.
17
Frank Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
18
Jelle Vanendert
Project 1t4i
s.t.
19
Alejandro Valverde
Koenigsegg
s.t.
20
Robin van der Hugenhaben
Koenigsegg
s.t.
21
Anthony Roux
Team Bacardi
s.t.
22
Riccardo Ricco
Team Bacardi
s.t.
23
Luis Leon Sanchez Gil
Project 1t4i
s.t.
24
Damiano Caruso
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
25
Cesare Di Maggio
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
26
Jukka Vastaranta
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
27
Domenico Pozzovivo
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
28
Ben Gastauer
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
29
Maciej Paterski
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
30
Ramon Sinkeldam
Project 1t4i
+ 1'09
31
Michael Albasini
UBS - BMC
s.t.
32
Santo Anza
Koenigsegg
s.t.
33
Danny Summerhill
Wikipedia
+ 1'31
34
Julien Simon
Project 1t4i
+ 1'45
35
Aleksandr Pluchkin
Team B&O
s.t.
36
Domenik Klemme
Team B&O
s.t.
37
Matteo Montaguti
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
38
Tom Diggle
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
39
John-Lee Augustyn
Aker - MOT
s.t.
40
Ryan Eastman
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
41
Carlos Castaño
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
42
Jay McCarthy
Wikipedia
+ 2'31
43
Andrei Grivko
Team B&O
s.t.
44
Peter Sagan
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
45
Matteo Rabottini
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
46
Dan Craven
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
47
Marcel Wyss
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
48
Marcello Pavarin
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
49
Frantisek Rabon
Milka - AVG
s.t.
50
Jelle Wallays
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
51
Jack Bobridge
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
52
David Zabriskie
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
53
Toms Skujins
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
54
Matteo Bono
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
55
Jack Bauer
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
