Welcome to Liege for the coverage of the 4th Monument of the 2018 season. It’s time for La Doyenne, and its 105th edition. The race is 249 kms long and closes the “Ardennes Week”, with this race being the last oportunity for those who want to finally beat the World Champion Simone Ponzi, the rider that has won Amstel and Fleche this week
Perfect conditions to race today, with a great weather and barely no wind. The first attacks wouldn’t take long to happen, with several teams that have contenders for the podium trying to put a rider in the breakaway, like T-Mobile, Isostar, Gazelle, Evonik and Aegon. Obviously Hugo Boss and Moser didn’t want that, as also there were rather big groups attacking
So after 20 or so kms, five riders would be allowed to form the breakaway, and again with teams like Porto, Isostar and Ayubowan with a rider on it. But the biggest news was that Grieg was sending a rider too, which seems weird now that the breakaway is being allowed to go
Antunes Olsson Dulanjana Egidio Laas
The breakaway would reach a max gap of 9 minutes with around 180 kms to go, but soon after that, Air France, Evonik and Moser started to put riders to work, and steadily reduce that difference. Obviously no one wants a repeat of 2016, when an unknown breakaway rider took the win in Ans
With 50 kms to go, the peloton is about to get to the Cote du Rosier. The breakaway has only 2 minutes of advantage now. Only a handful of riders have been already dropped from the bunch, but the interesting thing is that a rider like Borges is literally the last in the bunch before this climb
34 to go and La Redoute is coming. Close enough to the finish to see some moves but maybe too far to see riders going all-in in this climb. The breakaway still has 1’30 to the bunch led by Air France
And nothing happened in La Redoute. The breakaway even increased his advantage, as it looked like Air France didn’t want to chase. Then Hugo Boss would take over of the chase
Still a few kms of flattish roads until La Roche aux Faxons, but a short hill is between those two climbs, Cote de Sprimont, and there Hagen made the first attack of the favourites. Bakelants and Ponzi would follow him without hesitating
22 kms to go and the riders are in the downhill that leads to Roche-aux-Faxons. The breakaway only has 45 seconds over the attacking trio of Hagen, Ponzi and Bakelants, who hold a little 15 second gap to a reduced favourites group, that has opened a short gap to the bunch. In that group we see Evonik working with Van Avermaett and Budenieks, having Skujins in that group, with Sagan, Van Garderen, De Bie, Spilak, Mohoric and Kelderman being there too
Amazing effort of Budenieks to neutralise that dangerous move, so at the bottom of Roche-aux-Faxons, all would be back together, with the breakaway now having 50 seconds of gap
Another attack from Hagen, in the hardest slopes of this climb, but it looks like everyone is following him. This attack is being useful to finally end the breakaway hopes
But this attack would get more serious when Skujins would launch a counterattack that only Hagen, Bakelants, Ponzi and Sagan would be able to follow. And also was crucial that the only rider that remained ahead of them from the breakaway was Olsson, Bakelants’ domestique, so this group could make it all the way if Olsson pulls from them.
20 seconds behind Spilak and Mohoric are trying to get to the favourite’s group, after getting a gap to the bunch
Not sure what went wrong with the tactic, but once Skujins catched Olsson, the Swedish rider stopped and was inmediately dropped from the race leading group
A mistake from Ponzi? He tried to accelerate in the end of Roche-aux-Faxons, as from then it’s a short downhill and flat before St Nicolas, but neither he could drop any of the riders in his group, and now looks to be struggling.
The gap to the bunch is 45 seconds
Mohoric and Spilak were caught at some point during the climb, but in the last metres of the climb, together with Van Garderen, they were able to get away from the bunch. Mohoric is working for Spilak, two times runner-up in this race, both of them behind Ponzi
Just 7 kms to go! La Cote de Saint Nicolas is up next, and the five-rider group that has been in the lead for the last 20 kms is keeping the gap to the first chasing group around 30 seconds. In the now 40-rider group with the rest of favourites, there’s a lot of dissorganisation, and this has ended their chances of getting back into the fight for the podium
Van Garderen and Spilak were able to join the group after there were no attacks in the early part of the climb, but Bakelants launched his first attack of the day, which made Spilak to not be able to follow the group
5 kms to go! The attack of Bakelants only made Spilak to lose his chances, but now it’s a 6-rider group to fight for the win in Ans
Ponzi Hagen Bakelants Sagan Skujins Van Garderen
Half a minute behind, Spilak will try to retain that 7th place, as 45 seconds behind there’s a four rider group with Koretzky, De Bie, Kelderman and Mohoric, with Boswell a few seconds behind, attacking from the bunch
Koretzky goes for the 8th place, as he leaves behind De Bie’s group, where Boswell has came back and Mohoric is getting dropped of. And it also looks like Spilak is coming back to the leading group as the group slowed down a bit before the sprint for the win in Ans
Less than 2 kms to go and the leading seven riders are in the Ans straight. There’s a high lateral wind that has appeared in the last hour of race, that will get head-wind in the finish straight, so important for all the riders to consider it for the sprint.
Sagan is leading the group, with Bakelants on his wheel. Ponzi is surprisingly giving up the best places of the group, not the smartest tactic when you face someone as quick as Sagan for the win
Skujins takes the lead under the Flamme Rouge, with Sagan and Hagen being attenttive enough to get his wheel. Bakelants drop a bit, while Ponzi is still almost in the back of the group
Still no sprint, but Skujins has upped the pace, and Bakelants must be struggling, because a little gap is opening between the first three and Ponzi, who now scared of losing his chances is trying to close that gap
But it’s too late, as the winner will come between three riders that have never won a Monument. Skujins gets out of the final corner in the first place, with Sagan trying to come out of his slipstream, and with Hagen kinda blocked by Sagan
300 metres to go and Sagan has found a space close to the fences and with his superior sprint is about to overtake Skujins! Hagen is completely boxed by Sagan and won’t have enough time to get out of there and outsprint the Slovak
100 metres left and Skujins hasn’t given up yet! It could be a photo-finish decision after all!
Bakelants seems to have a gap to secure the fourth place, but Ponzi is coming a bit faster, with Van Garderen not really challenging them, and Spilak having been dropped of the fight
And Peter Sagan is the winner of 2018 Liege-Bastogne-Liege!! First Monument of the Slovak’s career! He won a lot of things in 2017, didn’t have a great 2018 so far, got a podium in Fleche, and now gets the biggest win of his career!
Heartbraking for Skujins, who has to settle for second, after being overtaken almost in the finish line by Sagan, but at least he holds off Hagen, who gets a good podium, the only rider to do so in the three Ardennes classic this year
Bakelants takes yet another fourth place, as he’s done in both Amstel and Fleche, but for the first time since 2010, doesn't finish in the podium of the race
Ponzi can only be fifth today, missing the chance of getting the second Ardennes Treble of his career, but he didn’t show the strenght he showed in the previous races, and in a brutal race like this one, you pay for it.
Van Garderen gets a sixth place, that it’s a okay result for him
Spilak can’t repeat his second place of 2017, though no one can’t say he didn’t surrender without a big fight
Great eighth place for Koretzky, who left behind in Saint Nicolas the group that was fighting for that place
Kelderman beats De Bie for ninth place, as both riders finish in the Top10
Fantastic result for Felline, who wins the sprint for 11th, ahead of Ginnani and Beltran, while Boswell and Mohoric finish in the Top15, with the Slovenian getting a bigger mention for his work for Spilak earlier in the race
Vakoc sprints to 16th ahead of Zardini, McCarthy, Olivier and Vermeltfoort who complete the Top20
We can’t finish the coverage without a photo of Peter Sagan in the podium about to get his trophy as winner of the 105th edition of Liege-Bastogne-Liege
The game crashed in the podium, so that's why times from 40th place are missing. Couldn't be bothered to calculate them
