Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2011 [FULL RACE]

April 24, 2011

Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2011 – Liège – Ans : 255,5 km

We’ve nearly reached the end of the Northern Classics for another year with La Doyenne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the crescendo before that other fever sweeps the cycling world, that of the Grand Tours.

Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) had time to savour his coronation as king of the Classics when he easily out-sprinted Fränk and Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) to take victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The win saw Gilbert complete a hat-trick of wins in the Ardennes, after triumphing at Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallone in the past week. Born near the course at Verviers, it was an emotional victory for Gilbert, who took his eighth Classic victory, and his first at La Doyenne.

The leading trio escaped on the Côte de Roche aux Faucons with 20km, when the Schleck brothers made their much-anticipated two-pronged attack. Fränk was the first to go, but when Andy joined him with Gilbert sat comfortably on his wheel, there was already an air of inevitability about the result.

The Schleck-Gilbert express caught and passed the remnants of an earlier breakaway over the top of the climb, although the plucky Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) managed to hitch a ride as far as the Côte de Saint-Nicholas, with 5km to go.

On the Saint-Nicholas itself, Gilbert was well able to resist Andy Schleck’s speculative pressing, and even went to the front himself. As the road steepened, he launched a ferocious acceleration of his own from the front, to which only Fränk had an answer, although Andy managed to get back on after scrambling down the descent.

Although outnumbered two to one in the final kilometres, Gilbert had a comfortable time of it on the approach to the final kick up the Côte de Ans. Rather than attack Gilbert in turn, as might have been expected, the Schlecks appeared resigned to the fact that the Belgian was simply the strongest man in the race, and ultimately they all but carried him to the finish.

For his part, as was the case from the Roche aux Faucons, Gilbert contributed his share of the pace-setting, but was always careful in his positioning as he looked to avoid an ambush.

Even under the red kite, however, neither Schleck was able to summon up an attack to cast at least some doubt on the outcome. Instead, Andy Schleck led out a straightforward sprint, and Gilbert duly ripped past him 200 metres from the line to score an emphatic victory.

Fränk Schleck crossed the line in second ahead of Andy, while Roman Kreuziger (Astana) led home a select chasing group 24 seconds back to take fourth in front of Rigoberto Uran (Sky), Chris Anker Sørensen (Saxo Bank-SunGard), Van Avermaet and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale).

Kreuziger’s team leader Alexandre Vinokourov had punctured on the Roche aux Faucons shortly after Gilbert and the Schlecks’ decisive move, but while the confusion that caused may have hindered the initial pursuit, there was no doubting that Gilbert was far and away the strongest man, as has been the case all week.

Early breakaway with strong De Gendt

Soon after the start in sunny Liège Sébastien Delfosse (Landbouwkrediet) and Jesus Herrada Lopez (Movistar) sparked the early breakaway, and in several steps eight more riders joined them: David Le Lay (AG2R), Frederik Kessiakoff (Astana), Eduard Vorganov (Katusha), Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM), Tony Gallopin (Cofidis), Mickel Delage (FDJ),Yannick Talabardon and finally Mathias Frank (BMC).

The ten leaders never received more than four minutes from the peloton where the Omega Pharma-Lotto team took the main responsibility for keeping the gap in check.

The lead was down to less than three minutes when reaching the trio of climbs of the Côte de Wanne, Côte de Stockeu and Côte de la Haute-Levée. Thomas De Gendt crossed the top of each climb in front, clearly with a repeat win in the mountains prize in mind. On the last climb the lead group split apart while a large chase group was formed.

Once again Omega Pharma-Lotto missed the move and was forced to do the chasing, but this time Leopard-Trek joined them on the front of the peloton. The situation changed often in the following 25km with even outsider Danilo Di Luca (Katusha) attacking from the peloton.

Thirteen leaders cause problems for the peloton

After the Col du Maquisard, there were 13 riders in the lead group: previous leaders Vorganov, De Gendt, Gallopin and Frank were joined by Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Highroad), Enrico Gasparotto (Astana), Juan Manuel Garate and Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Dario Cataldo and Jérôme Pineau (Quick-Step), Blel Kadri (AG2R) and Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale).

In the peloton the Omega Pharma-Lotto team was burning an important match as Jurgen Van Den Broeck pulled for a long time on his own, and then 45km from the finish a poker game of sorts developed. When Omega Pharma-Lotto sat up, nobody else was working and the gap quickly grew up to 1:30. Eventually, Leopard Trek took over the job from Van Den Broeck, but the gap kept growing until suddenly FDJ lent their former teammate Gilbert a hand.

No explosion on the Côte de la Redoute

Thanks to the efforts of Leopard Trek, the gap to the leaders was down to one minute at the foot of La Redoute, 35km from the line. Cataldo and De Gendt quickly got dropped, while Enrico Gasparotto, Greg Van Avermaet and Jerome Pineau would go on prove themselves to be the best of the break by forging clear on the next climb

Meanwhile, Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek) led the peloton over La Redoute at 35km from the finish line and the chase continued to the base of the Roche aux Faucons, where the favourites finally sparked into action, as the Schlecks and Gilbert danced clear and bridged up to Gasparotto, Van Avermaet and Pineau,

Shortly afterwards, Gasparotto and Pineau bade farewell to the front of the race, as the scene was set for a battle of strength and guile between the Schleck brothers and Philippe Gilbert. And on each count, Gilbert proved himself to be superior.

Results :
1 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 6:13:18
2 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek
3 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana 0:00:24
5 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling
6 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard
7 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:27
8 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:29
9 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:00:39
10 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
11 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Katusha Team 0:00:43
12 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Sky Procycling
13 Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team
14 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
15 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
16 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre – ISD
17 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:00:47
18 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) HTC-Highroad 0:00:53
19 Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team 0:00:57
20 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team 0:00:58
21 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard
22 Ben Hermans (Bel) Team RadioShack
23 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioShack 0:01:01
24 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
25 Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) Sky Procycling
26 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 0:01:14
27 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:16
28 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team 0:01:26
29 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:01:40
30 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
31 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek
32 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 0:01:43
33 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team
34 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 0:02:10
35 Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator 0:02:13
36 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ 0:02:29
37 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:02:31
38 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 0:02:34
39 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:36
40 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Team Garmin-Cervelo
41 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Katusha Team 0:02:38
42 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack
43 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team
44 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Pro Team Astana
45 Addy Engels (Ned) Quickstep Cycling Team 0:03:00
46 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
47 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
48 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Pro Team Astana 0:04:03
49 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:05:18
50 Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) HTC-Highroad
51 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:42
52 Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad 0:07:16
53 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:07:18
54 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Skil – Shimano 0:07:35
55 Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) Landbouwkrediet
56 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team
57 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
58 Craig Lewis (USA) HTC-Highroad
59 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek
60 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
61 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
62 Davy Commeyne (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
63 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
64 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
65 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team
66 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
67 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre – ISD
68 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
69 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team
70 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Pro Team Astana
71 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
72 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
73 Beñat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team
74 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo
75 Peter Stetina (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo
76 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
77 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
78 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ
79 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale
80 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
81 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
82 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
83 Francesco Reda (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team
84 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
85 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
86 Matthew Busche (USA) Team RadioShack
87 Michael Albasini (Swi) HTC-Highroad
88 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team
89 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team RadioShack
90 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Sky Procycling 0:11:02
91 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:11:29
92 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team 0:13:33
93 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
94 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ
95 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo
DNF Rui Costa (Por) Movistar Team
DNF Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana
DNF Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Pro Team Astana
DNF Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana
DNF Rémi Cusin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
DNF Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Mickaël Delage (Fra) FDJ
DNF Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Skil – Shimano
DNF Cheng Ji (Chn) Skil – Shimano
DNF Thierry Hupond (Fra) Skil – Shimano
DNF Simon Geschke (Ger) Skil – Shimano
DNF Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Skil – Shimano
DNF Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Skil – Shimano
DNF Roy Curvers (Ned) Skil – Shimano
DNF Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
DNF Anthony Geslin (Fra) FDJ
DNF Julien El Fares (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
DNF Gianni Meersman (Bel) FDJ
DNF Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
DNF Stijn Devolder (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
DNF Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
DNF Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF David Lelay (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Katusha Team
DNF Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
DNF Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
DNF Geert Steurs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
DNF Pieter Serry (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
DNF Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
DNF Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
DNF Johan Coenen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
DNF Sander Armee (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
DNF Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
DNF Arnoud Van Groen (Ned) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
DNF Sven Van Den Houte (Bel) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
DNF Grégory Habeaux (Bel) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
DNF Arnaud Gerard (Fra) FDJ
DNF Dieter Cappelle (Bel) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
DNF Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Sébastien Joly (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
DNF Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
DNF Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
DNF Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
DNF Geert Verheyen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
DNF Reinier Honig (Ned) Landbouwkrediet
DNF Matti Helminen (Fin) Landbouwkrediet
DNF Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
DNF Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
DNF Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ
DNF Thomas Degand (Bel) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
DNF Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
DNF Iván Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team
DNF Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team
DNF Jeffry Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team
DNF Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Leopard Trek
DNF Jens Voigt (Ger) Leopard Trek
DNF Anders Lund (Den) Leopard Trek
DNF Stefan Denifl (Aut) Leopard Trek
DNF Matthew Wilson (Aus) Team Garmin-Cervelo
DNF Kjell Carlström (Fin) Sky Procycling
DNF Daniel Martin (Irl) Team Garmin-Cervelo
DNF Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling
DNF Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) HTC-Highroad
DNF Caleb Fairly (USA) HTC-Highroad
DNF Matthew Brammeier (Irl) HTC-Highroad
DNF Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team RadioShack
DNF Nelson Oliveira (Spa) Team RadioShack
DNF Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team RadioShack
DNF Jesús Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Movistar Team
DNF José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
DNF Cameron Meyer (Aus) Team Garmin-Cervelo
DNF Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Lampre – ISD
DNF Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Simone Ponzi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
DNF Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale
DNF Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
DNF Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
DNF Brian Vandborg (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard
DNF Luke Roberts (Aus) Saxo Bank Sungard
DNF Rafal Majka (Pol) Saxo Bank Sungard
DNF Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Saxo Bank Sungard
DNF Mads Christensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard
DNF Simon Zahner (Swi) BMC Racing Team
DNF Julien Vermote (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
DNF Yuriy Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team
DNF Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Lampre – ISD
DNF Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre – ISD
DNF David Loosli (Swi) Lampre – ISD
DNF Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Gert Dockx (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Francis De Greef (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Jan Bakelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNF Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Sky Procycling
DNF Nick Nuyens (Bel) Saxo Bank Sungard