.jpg)
The Liège-Bastogne-Liège race, arguably the most renowned of the three, added to the excitement of the Ardennes classics' third and final event on Sunday.
The women's competition got things going with a thrilling sprint finish in which some of the best cyclists in the world competed. One heavy favorite on the men's side lost, while another rode to victory. Here is how it transpired.
On the women's side, SD Worx once more gave us a master class in team dynamics. With 35K remaining, Marlen Reusser set out on a mission to break the legs of the peloton and string them out, which she successfully accomplished.
Eventually, Trek-Segafredo was forced to act and dispatched Amanda Spratt to lead the pursuit. Her position? Elisa Longo Borghini, the race leader and one of the favorites for Trek-Segafredo, would be propelled up to join Reusser by dropping the hammer.
Longo Borghini began the Trek-Segafredo challenge to SD Works' hegemony over this season's spring classics with 14.4K to the finish, ascending up the Cote de la Rouches. Demi Vollering realized it was time to stop hiding in the chasing group, speak up, and take the lead.
Prior to the final sprint, the two ladies coordinated their efforts, slowing down as they entered the straightaway and marking one another as each attempted to save their dash for the very last second.
During a captivating, flawlessly executed cat-and-mouse final sprint with Longo Borghini, Vollering herself taught the world a lesson in one-on-one sprinting tactics while the SD Worx team provided us with yet another example of team planning.
"I was thrilled that Elisa wanted to collaborate with me. Then, we had to gamble heavily in the final K. Naturally, having Marlen (Reusser) behind me made things a little bit simpler for me since I knew I could bet. After the race, Vollering remarked, "I'm simply incredibly delighted that I could win the sprint and take it home.
And with that flawless execution, Vollering succeeds only one other lady in completing a hat trick in the Ardennes. Is any another female rider that can make this claim on her resume? SD Worx Director of Sport Anna Van Der Breggen won the 2017 LBL women's race and completed the Ardennes triple crown..jpg)
.jpg)
"I really wanted to win this one, particularly since I now have the opportunity to win three games in a row, which is not an opportunity you get every day. Unfortunately, Anna isn't here today, but I'm sure she was watching TV and jumping around at home," remarked Vollering. While watching Vollering's historic victory at home, we were ecstatic, just like Anna.
Evenepoel rides away to triumph after the Pogacar crash
Before the men's race was even televised on Peacock, there was undoubtedly the greatest story of the day. The UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogaar, who had been tabbed as the favorite, had crashed and had to exit the race by the time announcers pulled us into the race with only 160K remaining.
Repeated assaults had dispersed the peloton by 75K to the point where, in the words of former pro turned race broadcaster Christian Vande Velde, "riders all over the place," were present. It was obvious that teams were rushing to evaluate and modify their plans and strategies as they went along.
Simone Velasco of Astana was the only rider to be able to hang one to Jan Tratnik of Jumbo-Visma's wheel when the latter made a long-range attack. Tiesj Benoot, the team's leader for Jumbo-Visma, appeared to merge into the rear of the peloton's surviving members.
All eyes eventually turned to world champion Remco Evenepoel of Soudal-QuickStep, who entered the race as Pogaar's primary rival. His comrades seized charge of the pursuit of the leaders and started to trample along the road that their team captain had taken to the tete de la course.
Tom Pidcock, the team captain and race favorite, joined the INEOS Grenadiers as they deployed to the front of the chase pack en masse with around 39K remaining. At this time, the cyclists were subjected to heavy rain, which was an additional factor.
The Soudal-Quickstep train ate up the two-person breakaway group on the third-to-last hill. However, the Ineos Grenadiers were keeping an eye on them and kept a number of domestiques up front, putting Pidcock in a good position to defend against the attack from Evenepoel, which everyone knew was going to happen eventually.
With 33.5K remaining, Evenepoel moved quickly and launched an uphill assault. Pidcock made an effort to claw his way back to his wheel; he eventually made contact and managed to cling on.
About 5 kilometers later, Evenepoel made the decision that he didn't want a wheelsucker and rode Pidcock off his wheel to demonstrate the benefits of his month-long altitude training. Pidcock is one of the best cyclists in the world.
Even though there were still two hills and 30K remaining, Evenepoel entered time trial mode after that. It seemed difficult to think of anyone catching him. That is, anyone besides Tadej Pogaar.
.jpg)
Even though there were still two hills and 30K remaining, Evenepoel entered time trial mode after that. It seemed difficult to think of anyone catching him. That is, anyone besides Tadej Pogaar.
With 16 kilometers to go till the finish, a fight within a race for the last podium spots started to form as Pidcock attempted to rally a chase while Evenepoel continued to put time into the group. When he sailed through the finish line, he had gained more than a minute and a half on the runner-up.
Pidcock beat off Santiago Buitrago of Bahrain-Victorious and Ben Healy of Ef-Education in the race for the podium to clinch second. Buitrago came in third and Healy came in fourth, respectively.
In his post-race interview, the victor Evenepoel remarked, "It's a very challenging race, a very demanding circuit. "My team put forth a tremendous amount of effort. It's also their victory.
