The oldest Monument returns to herald an end to the Classics this weekend, with the men’s and women’s races interestingly poised. The finalé to the Ardennes races is traditionally one for the climbers, with 11 categorised climbs for the men, and 10 for the women.
Meanwhile, in the women’s race, Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) will look to defend her crown, after she won all three hilly Classics – the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège – last season. However, she will be met with a fierce array of challengers, including Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), the Tour of Flanders champion , who won Brabantse Pijl last week.
Van der Poel, the world champion, comes into La Doyenne off the back of historic exploits at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, where he became the first man in rainbow bands to win both in the same season. His tilt at Liège will be just his second attempt at the race, and although he finished sixth before in 2020, the race will be a test of his climbing ability, and probably at the very edge of races he could win.
Were he to triumph, though, he would become the first man to win four out of the five Monuments since Philippe Gilbert, who never quite managed to complete the set.
The women’s race appears set to be a clash between the two super-teams of the peloton, SD Worx-Protime and Lidl-Trek, who have traded blows between them at the biggest races this season. The race has only ever been won by Dutchwomen, aside from Lizzie Deignan in 2020, since its inception.
Both races now finish in the centre of Liège, rather than concluded on a final climb in Ans, which lends itself to a solo rider. The women’s race begins in Bastogne, but has grown 10km in length this year; with more climbing added, the women’s edition is tougher than ever. It also takes place after the men’s race, for the first time.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024: contenders Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates
Tom Pidcock Ineos Grenadiers
Benoît Cosnefroy Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
Demi Vollering
Elisa Longo Borghini
Kasia Niewiadoma first win in five years at La Flèche Wallonne . The Pole is targeting Ardennes week, and if she picks the right time to attack, she might finally take that Monument win that she craves.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024: men’s start list Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
Alpecin-Deceuninck
Arkéa-B&B Hotels
Astana Qazaqstan Team
Bahrain-Victorious
BORA-Hansgrohe
Cofidis
EF Education-EasyPost
Groupama-FDJ
INEOS Grenadiers
Intermarché-Wanty
Team Visma-Lease a Bike
Lidl-Trek
Movistar Team
Soudal Quick-Step VERVAEKE Louis
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
Team Jayco AlUla
UAE Team Emirates
Bingoal WB VAN BOVEN Luca
Equipo Kern Pharma
Israel-PremierTech
Lotto Dstny
Team Flanders-Baloise
TotalEnergies
Uno-X Mobility
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2024: women’s start list AG Insurance-Soudal Team
Canyon-SRAM Racing
CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling Team
FDJ-SUEZ
Fenix-Deceuninck
Human Powered Health
Liv-AlUla-Jayco
Movistar Team
Roland
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
Team SD Worx-Protime
Team Visma-Lease a Bike
EF Education-Cannondale
Uno-X Mobility
Arkéa-B&B Hotels Women CLAES Lotte
Cofidis Women
EF Education-Cannondale
Laboral Kutxa – Fundación Euskadi
Lifeplus-Wahoo
Lotto-Dstny Ladies
St Michel-Mavic-Auber93 Women
Coop-Repsol
VolkerWessels Women’s Pro Cycling Team
