On this bike ride, cyclists had to cover 257 kilometers with many relatively small inclines.
Three Slovenians took part in the decisive events – Primožs Rogličs (“Jumbo-Visma”), Tadej Pogachar (UAE) and Matthew Mohoric (“Bahrain – McLaren”) -, the world champion in the group trip Frenchman “Julien Alafilip” (“Deceuninck – Quickis”) and Mark Hirsch (“Sunweb”).
At the finish of the sprint, Alafilips drove to the left of the lead to knock out Hirsch and Pogachar from the competition, but when the Frenchman raised his hands in joy of victory, Roglich continued to drive and crossed the finish line before the Frenchman.
After the race, the Frenchman was given a penalty, which pushed him to fifth place.
“He moved, hit my wheel. It could happen,” Hirshi said.
The penalty left three Slovenes in the top four, in second place – Pogačar and in fourth place behind Hirsch – Mohorič.
The victory for Roglich, who was in the lead for two weeks in the Tour de France but lost it on the last days of the race, was reassuring. The former springboarder can now end the season with a victory in a prestigious bike ride.
“It’s unbelievable. It was so close. It shows that you can never stop believing and never stop pushing the pedals to the last centimeter,” said Roglich, 30.
“It was the first time I took part in a senior race on the calendar. It was on my wish list to win one of five one-day classics. I’m very glad I succeeded,” he said.
The other four classic races are the very long one-day race in Milan – Sanremo, Paris – Rube, the Flemish tour and the “Giro Di Lombardia”.
Herringbone from Roglich, who finished in six hours 32 minutes and two seconds, was one minute and 18 seconds behind, reaching the finish line in the same group as Neiland, who was two places lower.
Both Latvian athletes earned five UCI points for their performance in Sunday’s competition.
The Liège-Bastogne-Liège cycle ride took place for the 106th time in history.
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