Liège-Bastogne-Liège
 |
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| Date | Late April |
|---|---|
| Region | Wallonia, Ardennes, Belgium |
| English name | Liège–Bastogne–Liège |
| Local name(s) | Liège–Bastogne–Liège (in French) |
| Nickname(s) | La Doyenne ("The Old Lady") |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI World Tour |
| Type | One-day Classic |
| Organiser | Amaury Sport Organisation |
| Race director | Christian Prudhomme |
| First edition | 1892 |
| Editions | 103 (as of 2017) |
| First winner |
 Léon Houa (BEL)
|
| Most wins |
Eddy Merckx (BEL) (5 wins) |
| Most recent |
 Alejandro Valverde (ESP)
|
Liège–Bastogne–Liège, often called La Doyenne ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium. First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five Monuments of the European professional road cycling calendar; usually coming as the last of the spring classics. It is held annually in late April, in the Ardennes region of Belgium, from Liège to Bastogne and back.
It is considered one of the most arduous one-day cycling events in the world because of its length and demanding course. The most successful rider with five victories is Belgian rider Eddy Merckx, trailed by Italian Moreno Argentin in the 1980s and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde in the 2000s, who both won the race four times.
Liège–Bastogne–Liège is part of the UCI World Tour competition. It is the concluding race of the Ardennes Classics series, which includes La Flèche Wallonne. Both are organised by French owner Amaury Sport Organisation, which also organises the Tour de France and Paris–Roubaix.
In 2017, a women's version of Liège–Bastogne–Liège was inaugurated and added to the UCI Women's World Tour. The inaugural race was won by Dutch rider Anna van der Breggen.
Like many of cycling's classics, Liège–Bastogne–Liège was first organized by a newspaper (L'Expresse). Because the paper was published in French, aimed at a French-Belgian audience, the route has always stayed in the southern, French-speaking part of Belgium.
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