Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2021 [FULL RACE] (ladies)

April 25, 2021

Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2021 WE – Bastogne – Liège : 140,9 km

The Spring Classics are nearing their end, but before we wrap up one of the best one-day racing campaigns in recent memory the peloton must head deep into the Ardennes for one final battle at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Everyone who’s anyone is set to line up, ready to wage war on the dozens of leg-breaking slopes that litter this part of Belgium. Can Anna van der Breggen net her hat-trick? Or will we see the likes of Elisa Longo Borghini, Marianne Vos or Kasia Niewiadoma add their names to the race’s history books? Liège-Bastogne-Liège is back in its traditional late April slot this year and will, as it has often done, draw a close to the Spring Classics season. While it may be one of the youngest one-day races on the women’s calendar, it’s already one of the most prestigious and a top result here can make a rider’s season. Dozens of riders will take to the race’s startline on Sunday with their sights set on a top result, but only one can claim the coveted Liège crown. Lizzie Deignan is the crown’s current owner, having won the race in emphatic solo fashion last year following a stinging attack on the Côte de La Redoute. Despite what the name may suggest, the race actually starts in the town of Bastogne before heading north through the Ardennes forest and into the industrial heart of Liège. Over the course of this 141km-long route, the riders will conquer seven categorised ramps and over 2,000m of climbing.

Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) won the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, taking the first big classic victory of her career. The 24-year-old beat Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) in the sprint of a group of five.

A sizable group entered the final climb of the day, the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, where Vollering’s teammate Anna van der Breggen set a hard pace. Van Vleuten then attacked on the unclassified climb right afterwards, followed by Van der Breggen and Longo Borghini. When Vollering and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) got back to this trio at the top of the climb, the final selection was made.

On the descent into Liège, Van der Breggen took to the front to make sure none of the dropped riders could come back and brought the group to the finishing stretch where Vollering was the strongest in the sprint.

Vollering was crying tears of joy in the winner’s interview: “Anna did such a good job, and the whole team, that I could finish it … that’s awesome. I am really grateful that they did it for me, and it is such an amazing team, thanks to the whole team,” she said.

“It was really hard on the climbs. At one moment we were gone with this group, then Vos came back, and it is better to not sprint with her, of course, so I was really happy that it did break again. Anna did a lead-out the last ten kilometres or something, it was awesome. This is a race I really like, two years ago I was third here in my first pro year, and now already I won, it is a dream coming true,” Vollering said.

How it unfolded

It was a somewhat reduced peloton that started the 140.9-kilometre race in Bastogne on Sunday morning as both Team DSM and Parkhotel Valkenburg had had to withdraw due to Covid-19 positives. Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo) could not start as a close contact to a Covid-19 positive while defending champion Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) was not at full fitness after an unrelated illness and also skipped the race.

Claire Faber (Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch) and Silvia Zanardi (BePink) formed the early breakaway. They built a gap of up to three minutes but were caught soon after the first climb, the Côte de Wanne.

Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx) initiated the next move that led to a group of seven riders that also included Tayler Wiles (Trek-Segafredo), Lucy Kennedy (Team BikeExchange), Anouska Koster (Team Jumbo-Visma), Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM), Leah Thomas (Movistar Team), and Brodie Chapman (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope). When they were caught on the Côte de Desnié, just inside 50 km to go, Fisher-Black attacked again and held on to the bottom of the Côte de La Redoute.

It was now the turn of Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Team SD Worx) to attack, and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) bridged to her on the climb while Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo) made the connection on the plateau afterwards. Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma) also tried to bridge to the front but was quickly caught again as more riders came back to the chase group.

Moolman-Pasio, Uttrup Ludwig, and Brand increased their advantage to 30 seconds, but Canyon-SRAM and Movistar Team, in particular, worked hard to reel them in, and a group of over 30 riders started the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, 15 km from the finish.

World champion Van der Breggen set the pace, dropping many riders and having only Vollering, Niewiadoma, Longo Borghini, and Van Vleuten in her wheel at the top of the classified climb. Moolman-Pasio, Vos, and Uttrup Ludwig returned in the short downhill before the unclassified climb that followed, but an acceleration from Van Vleuten brought the group back down to the original five.

In the final ten kilometres, Van der Breggen repaid Vollering’s work in Wednesday’s La Flèche Wallonne by pulling the group to ensure Vos could not come back, and Vollering convincingly won the sprint in Liège against Van Vleuten and Longo Borghini.

With her third place, Longo Borghini regains the lead in the UCI Women’s WorldTour ranking; 15th-placed Maria Novolodskaya (A.R. Monex) defends the lead in the Women’s WorldTour U23 ranking.

Results :
1 Demi Vollering (Ned) Team SD Worx 3:54:31
2 Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Movistar Team Women
3 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
4 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM Racing
5 Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Team SD Worx 0:00:02
6 Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team 0:01:27
7 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) Team SD Worx
8 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
9 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:59
10 Amanda Spratt (Aus) Team BikeExchange
11 Soraya Paladin (Ita) Liv Racing
12 Riejanne Markus (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
13 Elise Chabbey (Swi) Canyon-SRAM Racing
14 Marta Cavalli (Ita) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
15 Mariia Novolodskaia (Rus) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
16 Erica Magnaldi (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
17 Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) Team SD Worx
18 Ane Santesteban Gonzalez (Spa) Team BikeExchange
19 Mavi Garcia (Spa) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
20 Leah Thomas (USA) Movistar Team Women
21 Katrine Aalerud (Nor) Movistar Team Women
22 Janneke Ensing (Ned) Team BikeExchange 0:02:07
23 Evita Muzic (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope 0:02:47
24 Kristen Faulkner (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:03:57
25 Brodie Chapman (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
26 Barbara Malcotti (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
27 Tayler Wiles (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:02
28 Anna Henderson (GBr) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
29 Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Ned) Team SD Worx
30 Eider Merino Cortazar (Spa) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
31 Marta Lach (Pol) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team 0:04:34
32 Joscelin Lowden (GBr) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur
33 Olga Zabelinskaya (Uzb) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
34 Sandra Levenez (Fra) Arkea Pro Cycling Team
35 Alena Amialiusik (Blr) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:04:37
36 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire 0:05:13
37 Arlenis Sierra Canadilla (Cub) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
38 Anouska Koster (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
39 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Canyon-SRAM Racing
40 Federica Piergiovanni (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
41 Teuntje Beekhuis (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
42 Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
43 Mikayla Harvey (NZl) Canyon-SRAM Racing
44 Clara Koppenburg (Ger) Rally Cycling 0:05:15
45 Marlen Reusser (Swi) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana 0:09:04
46 Anastasiia Chursina (Rus) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
47 Sara Martin Martin (Spa) Movistar Team Women
48 Shirin van Anrooij (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
49 Emily Newsom (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
50 Lara Vieceli (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
51 Valerie Demey (Bel) Liv Racing
52 Sabrina Stultiens (Ned) Liv Racing
53 Camilla Alessio (Ita) BePink
54 Jeanne Korevaar (Ned) Liv Racing
55 Hannah Barnes (GBr) Canyon-SRAM Racing
56 Lizbeth Yareli Salazar Vazquez (Mex) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team 0:14:58
57 Lone Meertens (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
58 Mae Lang (Est) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
59 Julie Van De Velde (Bel) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
60 Alice Towers (GBr) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur
61 Cedrine Kerbaol (Fra) Arkea Pro Cycling Team
62 Olha Kulynych (Ukr) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
63 Hanna Nilsson (Swe) Lotto Soudal Ladies
64 Alessia Patuelli (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
65 Carolin Schiff (Ger) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
66 Krista Doebel-Hickok (USA) Rally Cycling
67 Anna Christian (GBr) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur
68 Georgia Williams (NZl) Team BikeExchange
69 Paula Patiño Bedoya (Col) Movistar Team Women
70 Moniek Tenniglo (Ned) Team BikeExchange
71 Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
72 Silvia Magri (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
73 Marta Jaskulska (Pol) Liv Racing
74 Alice Maria Arzuffi (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
75 Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) Liv Racing
76 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Team SD Worx
77 Amandine Fouquenet (Fra) Arkea Pro Cycling Team
78 Pauline Allin (Fra) Arkea Pro Cycling Team
79 Eugénie Duval (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope 0:15:03
80 Nicole Steigenga (Ned) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
81 Eri Yonamine (Jpn) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
82 Danielle Christmas (GBr) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur 0:15:07
83 Amber Aernouts (Bel) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
DNF Lauretta Hanson (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
DNS Ruth Winder (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Lucy Kennedy (Aus) Team BikeExchange
DNF Sophie Wright (GBr) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
DNF Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Nor) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
DNF Claire Faber (Lux) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
DNF Lena Mettraux (Swi) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
DNF Sandra Weiss (Swi) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
DNF Gloria Rodriguez Sanchez (Spa) Movistar Team Women
DNF Stine Borgli (Nor) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
DNF Tanja Erath (Ger) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
DNF Nina Kessler (Ned) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
DNF Lauren Stephens (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
DNF Laura Asencio (Fra) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
DNF Kathrin Hammes (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
DNF Lea Lin Teutenberg (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
DNF Danique Braam (Ned) Lotto Soudal Ladies
DNF Jesse Vandenbulcke (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
DNF Elise Vander Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
DNF Silvia Pollicini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
DNF Mariia Miliaeva (Rus) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
DNF Katia Ragusa (Ita) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
DNF Sara Penton (Swe) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur
DNF April Tacey (GBr) Drops-le Col Supported by Tempur
DNF Charlotte Becker (Ger) Arkea Pro Cycling Team
DNF Greta Richioud (Fra) Arkea Pro Cycling Team
DNF Hannah Buch (Ger) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
DNF Iuliia Galimullina (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
DNF Aigul Gareeva (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
DNF Petra Stiasny (Swi) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
DNF Lenny Druyts (Bel) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire
DNF Justine Ghekiere (Bel) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire
DNF Kelly Van Den Steen (Bel) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire
DNF Mieke Docx (Bel) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
DNF Barbara Sniezynska (Pol) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
DNF Fien Van Eynde (Bel) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
DNF Holly Breck (USA) Rally Cycling
DNF Heidi Franz (USA) Rally Cycling
DNF Leigh Ann Ganzar (USA) Rally Cycling
DNF Sara Poidevin (Can) Rally Cycling
DNF Vania Canvelli (Ita) BePink
DNF Michaela Drummond (NZl) BePink
DNF Marketa Hájková (Cze) BePink
DNF Nadia Quagliotto (Ita) BePink
DNF Silvia Zanardi (Ita) BePink