After a spring of promise, Demi Vollering finally delivered a major victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, taking out a five-rider sprint ahead of European champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo).
The victory follows second places in the Amstel Gold Race and Brabantse Pijl and top tens in Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders and La Flèche Wallonne and comes thanks to a sacrifice by world champion and SD Worx teammate Anna van der Breggen, who shattered the peloton on the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons with 13km to go then led out the sprint.
Vollering, 24, has now established herself at the top of a new generation of women's cycling superstars, as Van der Breggen eyes retirement.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
2021 Liege-Bastogne-Liege Femme standings
Pos.
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Demi Vollering (Ned) Team SD Worx
3:54:31
2
Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Movistar Team Women
3
Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
4
Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM Racing
5
Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Team SD Worx
0:00:02
6
Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
0:01:27
7
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) Team SD Worx
8
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
9
Lucinda Brand (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
0:01:59
10
Amanda Spratt (Aus) Team BikeExchange
Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2021: April 25, 2021 Start: Bastogne, Belgium 8:40 a.m. CEDT Finish: Liege, Belgium 12:30 p.m. CEDT Distance: 140.9km Cyclingnews live coverage: Start to Finish Live streaming: Eurosport, GCN+ (Europe), Flobikes (North America), SBS (Australia), Sporza, RTBF (Belgium) from the start of the race
Liège-Bastogne-Liège concludes the Ardennes Classics week on April 25 in Belgium. The 140.9km race starts in Bastogne and includes climbs over Côte de Wanne, Côte de la Haute-Levée and Col du Rosier, before taking on the climbs in the later stages. The final climbs will include the new climb of the Côte de Desnié, and then Côte de La Redoute, Côte des Forges, and Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, and finishing in Liège.
The top riders to watch during the Classics-close-out race are defending champion Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo), along with former winner Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar), Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), and former two-time winner Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx).
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Liege-Bastogne-Liege Femmes 2021 - History
Liege-Bastogne-Liege Femmes is the youngest of the Ardennes Classics women's races, introduced in 2017 to form the third event of the historical cycling series. Only one rider has won all three events in one season - Anna van der Breggen - during the inaugural year 2017.
Since that feat, Van der Breggen has gone on to win Liege-Bastogne-Liege Femmes in 2018, too, while Annemiek van Vleuten won it in 2019 and Lizzie Deignan won the race in 2020.
Liege-Bastogne-Liege Femmes 2021 - Key climbs
The 2021 Liège-Bastogne-Liège is 141km race that starts in Bastogne and includes climbs over Côte de Wanne, Côte de la Haute-Levée and Col du Rosier, before taking on the climbs in the later stages. The final climbs will include the new climb of the Côte de Desnié, and then Côte de La Redoute, Côte des Forges, and Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, and finishing in Liège.
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
