Liège - Bastogne - Liège was first held in 1892, making it the oldest Classic in the UCI WorldTour. As a consequence, it is affectionately known as 'La Doyenne' but it is also one of the greatest Classics of the professional cycling season and arguably the toughest of the UCI WorldTour. It sits centre stage amongst the five one-day Monuments that also include Milano-Sanremo, The Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Il Lombardia.
The 260km out and back race through the hills of the Belgian Ardennes tests every rider's endurance and ability to race over a series of ever more difficult hills. Bastogne is traditionally the turning point in the race route because in the early editions it allowed the race officials to catch a train south to man a check-point. Now Bastogne, which comes after 100km, hosts a special sprint prize to inspire an attack. Nine of the ten classified climbs then await on the road back to Liège, with dozens of unclassified climbs and shorter rises combining to create a grueling final 100km of racing.
The Côte de la Haute-Levée is the longest categorised climb at 3.6km but it has a gradient of only 5.6%. The Côte de Stockeu just before it is only one kilometre long but climbs at 12.4%, while the Côte de La Redoute (2km at 8.9%) after 220km traditionally sees the race burst into life as the first major attacks are made.
The Côte de La Roche-aux-Faucons (1.5km at 9.3%) and the Côte de Saint-Nicolas (1.2 km at 8.6%) then produce a thrilling finale to the race. For many years the race has finished in the suburb of Ans, overlooking Liège with a gradual climb to the finish and a final left turn producing a nail-biting finish.
The weather can also play a huge role in deciding the winner of Liège - Bastogne – Liège: snow turned the race into a fight for survival in 1919, 1957 and 1980. Dozens of riders quit the 1980 race due to the cold conditions but the snow inspired Bernard Hinault, who attacked alone 80km from the finish and rode to a solo win.
In 2014 Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) became the first Australian winner of Liège - Bastogne – Liège while clad in the green and gold Australian national champion's jersey. He beat Spain's Alejandro Valverde and Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski after Ireland's Dan Martin crashed on the final corner when in sight of victory. Those final seconds of drama represent the cruelty and joy of racing and explain better in a single image than a wordy description exactly why Liège - Bastogne - Liège is so special.