Liege

Julian Alaphilippe has made no secret of targeting the Belgian Ardennes races. · Remco Evenepoel wins Liege-Bastogne-Liege!

A slight tweak to the course this year brings the penultimate climb, the Cote de la Redoute (2km at 8.9%) six kilometres closer to the finish. This is followed by a 16km run to the foot of the final climb, the Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons (1.3km at 11%), which had proved to be the pivotal moment in recent years. Beyond the industrial suburbs of Liege, is the most elegant, understated rolling countryside of the Ardennes. Valverde is chasing, with the help of Carlos Verona (Movistar) as is Valentin Madouas (Groupama FDJ) Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Domenico Pozzovivo. Looking to see where Julian Alaphilippe is. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo Visma) is obliged to chase the Basque rider down. LBL really is the climbers’ Monument and apart from La Redoute, the Cote de Stockeu is one of those ramps synonymous with it. Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) tries an attack on the Côte de Desnié, looking to split this race apart. The World Champion is reported to be in an ambulance, but conscious. Ten seconds of the gap is gone in a flash, but they’re having to suffer to take them. It looks like the breakaway will make it onto and up La Redoute. We’re nearly onto the iconic climb, one of the greats of world cycling. That was a massive move from the young Belgian, just before the top of La Redoute. He really punched the pedals to the point where his back wheel span out. Benoit Cosnefroy wants to make up for the disappointment of Amstel Gold - he’s definitely due a big one.

(Reuters) - World champion Julian Alaphilippe was being treated in an ambulance after crashing heavily during the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Monument classi...

The French world champion is reported to be conscious but in an ambulance after the incident.

Pre-race favourite Julian Alaphilippe has been forced to abandon Liège-Bastogne-Liège after being caught up in a huge crash. The Frenchman was seen lying in the trees at the side of the road, with compatriot Romain Bardet, of rival team DSM climbing down to help. Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s world champion was brought down in an incident that occurred on the descent from the Col du Rosier, coming with just under 60km of the Monument remaining.

“It was a fast race," said Jakob Fulgsang after the race, "but it was somehow the real intensive parts were quite a bit different with the big crash and ...

It is a frantic start to the race, as various riders are still attempting to bridge across to the breakaway. The distance and the history of the race just show that the strongest guy wins and hopefully as a collective team we can play our cards in the final and go for the win- that’s our objective." Of course Dylan is the rider who is in the best shape at the moment. The 23-year-old Luxembourger was in the breakaway earlier this week too at La Flèche-Wallonne, and he finished 3rd overall in the Tour of Antalya in February. We need to be smart in the final and see how he [Sergio Higuita] feels and how I’m feeling so we will see during the race and try to stay smart." Just five other riders are able to live with the pace of Vanhoucke in the breakaway. There is a crash at the back of the peloton. Evenepoel has caught Armirail, and is now at the head of the race. A small group breaks clear but no-one is willing to fully commit yet and they are caught by the peloton. Landa is still on the front of that group for Bahrain-Victorious. "It was fast in the start and the second part was blocked by the headwind. I’ve been suffering mentally and physically a lot the last year and a half and finally this year, I feel that everything is going well, everything is getting stable and I’m getting to the best Remco again.

Remco Evenepoel won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege one-day race on Sunday, claiming his maiden Monument classic after putting in a brutal attack on the ...

Evenepoel's win came after his Quick-Step Alpha Vynil team mate Julian Alaphilippe went down heavily in a huge pile-up. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Despite reigning champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) missing out through illness, there are still plenty of major names at both races, from the 2021 ...

It's hard to say, you just have to be open-minded and feel the race." We want to race together but a lot of riders in our team have the chance today to go for a result." We will see during the race and try to play smart. I'll have to wait for the situations and pick the right moment. "It is a nasty one, you have to be on a good day, obviously a lot of ascending metres. "I think we need to feel how the race goes but I think it will be a hard, aggressive race. "I think this race can go a lot of different ways. She's a good card to play." For me, I'll use the climbs and also race it with my team because we also have Arlenis Sierra, a super-fast rider who can climb well. We have some others who are going well so we'll make sure to have a good go. "I was really excited for today and still am obviously but what happened over night is going to make it really difficult. "UAE have still brought a very strong team so we'll see if they want to control things or if they want to make the race hard like some other teams.