Uno-X have also confirmed invitations to Paris-Roubaix, the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, the Saudi Tour, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and other early-season races. They are aiming for a wildcard invite for this year's Tour de France, which starts in Copenhagen.
Their 2022 roster includes Lasse Norman Hansen, Niklas Eg, Rasmus Tiller and Tobias and Anders Johannessen. The Uno-X women’s WorldTour team will also be in action in the Ardennes Classics.
Race organisers ASO have confirmed that B&B Hotels, Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB, and Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise also secured wild card invitations for La Flèche Wallonne. Spanish ProTeam Equipo Kern Pharma were given a place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, replacing B&B Hotels. They will race against the 18 WorldTour teams and Alpecin-Fenix, Arkéa-Samsic and TotalEnergies, who secured their places thanks to topping the 2021 rankings.
This year’s La Flèche Wallonne will be held on Wednesday, April 20, with Liège-Bastogne-Liège four days later on Sunday. That is just a week after Paris-Roubaix, with the Amstel Gold Race moved before the Hell of the North on Sunday, April 10.
La Flèche Wallonne again finishes atop the Mur de Huy, with the riders covering the steep, short climb three times during the 202km race. The start will be held in Blegny, northeast of Liège, the base for the Royal Cyclist’s Pesant Liègeois club, who have co-organized Liège-Bastogne-Liège since 1892.
The Flèche route heads towards Huy via a long loop, climbs the Mur and then covers two laps of a 31.2km circuit, climbing the côtes de Cherave and Ereffe on each lap. Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) has won atop the Mur de Huy three times in the last four years, with Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) the other name in the recent record books.
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Organisers ASO also announced the route for Liège-Bastogne-Liège, known as the Doyenne des Classiques because it is the oldest of the sport’s Monuments. The 108th edition will follow a traditional route starting and finishing in Liège, with a long trip south to Bastogne for 254.7km of racing.
The steep Ardennes climbs on the return to Liège will no-doubt shape the race, starting with the Mont-le-Soie-Wanne-Stockeu-Haute-Levée triple whammy, before the Col du Rosier and the Côte de Desnié.
La Redoute, the Sprimont and La Roche-aux-Faucons will be decisive in the final 30km, with the the strongest riders fighting for victory in a flat sprint in the centre of Liège near the Quai des Ardennes.
Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) have won the small group sprints in the last two years. Both are expected to return in 2022, with Alaphilippe, Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) likely contenders.
Cyclingnews will have full coverage, news and interviews from the Ardennes Classics.
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
