Highlights: Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2025
Relive the action from the 2025 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where riders battle on a 252 km route.
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The Guardian
5 days ago
- The Guardian
Lizzie Deignan's farewell tour off to tricky start on Yorkshire home roads
There was personal celebration but professional frustration for Lizzie Deignan on the opening day of her final Tour of Britain when her Lidl-Trek team failed to stop the Mauritian national champion, Kim Le Court, taking the first stage win and overall race lead in Redcar. Deignan's valedictory race on British roads began with a fast 85.6km opening stage, from Dalby Forest to the beachfront in Redcar, and took in some of her longstanding training roads within an hour or so of her home in Otley, West Yorkshire. But although her team had strength in depth in the 20-rider pursuit of the day's breakaway, they proved unable to close down Le Court and Kristen Faulkner, the Olympic champion, who stayed clear to contest the seaside finish. 'We had a clear plan and executed it exactly as we wanted,' said Le Court, riding for the AG Insurance-Soudal team. 'I'm really happy that the legs reacted and I was able to pull it off for the team. We'll see how long I can keep the jersey for. Friday is a stage that suits me a bit more, so I'm going in with a bit more confidence than today.' Deignan was prominent throughout the stage, but whenLe Court, winner of this year's Liège-Bastogne-Liège, broke clear on Langburn's Bank, the steepest gradient of the second classified climb, Deignan's Lidl-Trek team was distanced. Le Court's powerful acceleration on the 16% sections at the base of the climb proved too much for her rivals, including Deignan's teammate, the Paris 2024 silver medallist Anna Henderson, who tried to give chase but was unable to follow the move. Only Faulkner, of EF Education-Oatly, was able to close the gap and the pair, who joined forces on the descent, then worked together to build a half-minute lead on their pursuers during the undulating run into Redcar. Even though Deignan's team had four of their five riders in the chasing group, and were aided both by Cat Ferguson's Movistar team and the French FDJ-Suez team, they were unable to close down the half-minute advantage. But Faulkner almost came unstuck on a right-hand bend in the closing kilometres, misjudging her speed and skidding to a halt against a traffic island. Sportingly, Le Court, knowing that their break had a better chance of success if the pair stayed together, waited for the American. While Lorena Wiebes, a past stage winner, took third in the sprint, Ferguson, making her debut in the race, was the first British finisher on the stage, finishing fifth. The junior world road race champion is now sixth overall, 18 seconds adrift of Le Court. Ferguson, who also took the lead in the best young rider classification, admitted she had expected there to be a regrouping in the final kilometres. 'I thought it would definitely come down to a sprint,' the 19-year-old said, 'so for the two to stay away was a surprise. They were too strong, so credit to them for staying away.' By her own admission Deignan's days as an overall contender are probably gone, but Skipton-born Ferguson, seen as her natural heir, is well-placed to make an impact as the race goes on. 'I've not thought about my strategy yet,' she said, 'but I'm just going to take it day by day and approach each day like we did today, like a real team.' Friday's second stage of the four-day race takes the peloton from Hartlepool to Saltburn-by-the-sea and finishes with the infamous hairpins of Saltburn Bank, the venue for recent National Championships. The steep climb to the finish is well-known to British riders in the peloton and was pivotal to the outcome of the women's road race in 2023 and 2024, both of which were won by Pfeiffer Georgi, of the Picnic PostNL team.
Dubai Eye
28-04-2025
- Dubai Eye
UAE Team Emirates-XRG clinches third victory in Europe
World Champion Tadej Pogačar delivered a commanding performance to clinch his third victory at the oldest of the cycling Monuments: Liège-Bastogne-Liège, taking UAE Team Emirates-XRG's 35th victory of the seasons. Pogačar launched a decisive solo attack 35 kilometres from the finish on the iconic Côte de la Redoute. He would remain solo for the remainder of the race crossing the line 1'03' ahead of Italy's Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Ireland's Ben Healy (Education First Easypost), who secured second and third places, respectively. This victory marks Pogačar's ninth Monument win, placing him third on the all-time list behind Eddy Merckx and Roger de Vlaeminck. Notably, he becomes the first cyclist to podium in six consecutive Monument races. Meanwhile, at the Vuelta Asturias in Spain, Marc Soler cemented victory on stage 4 from Navia to Oviedo (135.6km) with an impressive solo stage win. The short stage packed 2550m of climbing to be done, with the Alto del Violeo (3.6 km at 8.4 per cent) and the steep El Cristo climb (900 meters at 10.3 per cent) as the final test. After moving away in a small group on the Violeo climb, Soler eventually crossed the finish line with a lead and put the crown on an already successful tour. For the 31-year-old climber, this is the first victory since his Vuelta triumph last year on the slopes of the Lagos de Covadonga. It is the first time since 2018 that Soler has won a multi-day stage race.
NBC Sports
27-04-2025
- NBC Sports
Highlights: Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2025
Relive the action from the 2025 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where riders battle on a 252 km route.
