Welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Welcome to the live coverage of the fourth monument of the season Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Stick with us for the next few hours and we'll bring you all the action from the race.
Sign-on is over and done with and the riders are taking to the start line for the start in around 10 minutes. It's a bright and sunny day, after the rain of last night. The temperature is around 15 degrees.
One rider who didn't make sign-on this morning was Chris Froome. The Sky rider has got a bad cough according to his teammate, and often roommate, Richie Porte. Froome should be back in action for the Tour de Romandie however. Froome's teammate Peter Kennaugh also pulled out of the race earlier this week with an unrelated illness.
The riders have rolled out of Liege for the start of this 263km day, although it will be a bit over 270 if you include the neutral start. It will be around 10:15 local time when the flag drops for the start real.
Today is the 100th running of the race, although it started in 1982. To mark the milestone the organisers are awarding 5,000 euros at an intermediate sprint at 100km.
We're not quite out of the neutral zone yet, that will be in a couple of minutes time. Another DNS for today is Carlos Betancur. He finished fourth in last year's race and was a potential contender for the podium. The Colombian has been suffering with knee problems over the last month. That makes 197 riders in the peloton today.
And we're off, the start has been given
As we wait for the action start today we can take a look at the potential victors today. After his win at Fleche Wallonne, Alejandro Valverde is looking like the most likely contender for victory today. Philippe Gilbert is also on great form this week and we also have to mention defending Dan Martin. Who do you think will win today? You can share your thoughts with us on twitter @Cyclingnewsfeed or @SadhbhOS. We've put together a little video of who we think you should watch out for today. You can watch that here
Dan Martin isn't the only former champion in the peloton today. Including the Garmin-Sharp rider we have five winners of Liège–Bastogne–Liège. They are Maxim Iglinskiy (2012), Philippe Gilbert (2011), Andy Schleck (2009) and Alejandro Valverde (2006/2008).
After 6km of racing, the peloton is still all together. They've been riding at a pacey 39kph, which is making it difficult for a break to get established.
We have our first attacks of the day coming and a small group have managed to get away, but it's not a very big gap.
It looks like the peloton are being picky about who they let get away and the group of five has been reeled back in.
There are a few changes to the course that we saw last year and the race is actually 1.4 kilometres longer. As you may have noticed in the list below the Côte de La Roche-aux-Faucons is back this year. It was missing from the route in 2013 due to road works. Since 2008, it has been the third to last climb but this year it will be the penultimate climb. This could prove crucial in deciding the victor today.
Apparently it wasn't his previous injury that prevented Carlos Betancur from taking the start today. The Colombian has been suffering with a sore throat and a headache. While he managed to make the journey to the start in the team bus, he chose not to sign-on this morning.
We have six riders off the front of the group now, with a gap of 2:30.
The riders out front are Pirimin Lang (IAM Cycling), Michel Koch (Cannondale), Jacobus Venter (MTN-Whubeka), Matteo Bono (Lampre), Pieter Jakobs (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Marco Minnaard (Wanty Groupe Gobert)
The peloton seem happy with the bunch that has gone up the road. The gap has now increased to 4:30.
The breakaway are waiting for no man and they've extended their lead to 5:30. There's litte doubt that this will be the day's break. Their attack has also increased the average spead over the opening 30 mins to 45kph.
The riders have completed 32km so far and things seem to have settled down now. Remember to tweet us your predictions for today and we'll post a few of them on here.
As we aproach the completion of the first hour of racing, the gap to the leaders has extended once again. It now stands at 11:20, after 36km of racing.
First prediction of the day from @stendoig
We mentioned that there are five former winners of the race in the peloton. There are also two winners of the under 23 event in the race today, who will be looking to get their teammate onto the top step of the podium. They are Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp).
We told you about Chris Froome's non-start today due to a chest infection. Here is the full story from Alasdair Fotheringham who is in Belgium for us this weekend.
Cummings work has had an immediate effect and the gap has been reduced by 15 seconds.
One man who was very happy to make the start today was Michael Rogers. It's his first race since the Japan Cup last year, where he tested positive for clenbuterol. He was cleared by the UCI this week and Tinkoff-Saxo was quick to get him back to racing. Daniel Benson spoke to him for Cyclingnews, before he rolled out of Liege. You can read the full story here.
Cummings is now being given some assistance on the front in the form of Movistar's Jose-Ivan Gutierrez. The gap is currently 14:50.
The riders have completed 62km now and we are nearing the first climb of Côte de La Roche-en-Ardenne, which is a 2.8km ascent that averages 6.2%.
The riders have now hit the first climb of the day and the gap to the leaders continues to fall. There will be a little bit of respite before the six leaders battle it out for the sprint prize at 100km.
There wasn't just cycling royalty at the start today. King Philippe of Belgium (not Gilbert) was also present to mark the 100th race. He was introduced to Gilbert, Rui Costa, Jurgen Van den Broeck and Alejandro Valverde.
Jakobs leads the escapees over the first climb. Their gap has ballooned out once again and is now at 15:50.
We've been asking you for your predictions today. We've also put our hand into the fire with this, our top 10 riders to watch. Will one of these 10 men take victory today?
Don't forget you can subscribe to our YouTube channel which is full of videos from the Ardennes and Cobbled Classics, pluse moch more. Just click here
As ever your enquipment can be vital in whether you win or lose. Riders and teams are always looking for the best equipment. We paid a visit to Garmin-Sharp earlier this week and they showed off the bike that they hope Dan Martin will ride to victory on today. You can watch the video here.
Something the riders will have to look out for today is the level crossing at the foot of the Roche aux Faucons. There is yet to be an incident of riders being delayed by it - Belgium is generally pretty good at preventing it - but there is always a first time for everything. FDJ rider David Boucher was caught out during Fleche Wallonne, as he tried to get back to the leaders after suffering a puncture.
As well as speaking to Dan Martin's mechanics. Cyclingnews also took a walk over to Orica-GreenEDGE who let us have a look at Simon Gerrans' Scott Foil, which he will be using today. Watch the video here and don't forget to subscribe
The leaders are approaching that all important intermediate sprint. These six men have little chance of taking victory today, but the 5,000 euro on offer at the 100km mark will surely make today a success for whomever takes it. They've got just under 7km to that point.
We now have a number of teams on the front of the peloton, all trying to do their bit for the leaders. BMC, Lotto-Belisol, Omega Pharma-QuickStep and Movistar are all doing their bit.
Some of you may remember Matej Mohoric (Cannondale) from the U23 World Championship Road Race last season and his unique riding style while on the descent. He is making his debut at Liege-Bastogne-Liege today. At 19, the Slovenian is not just the youngest rider in the peloton today, but the youngest in the WorldTour. Cyclingnews spoke to the the confident young rider this week, see what he had to say here
The riders are on the outskirts of Bastogne and that sprint is looming too.
We're nearing the completiong of the third hour of racing and the peloton have sprung back into live. The advantage is being cut down and now stands at 15:05, with 15km until the second climb of the day.
Plenty of teams up front working for their leaders. There are a number of contenders for victory today, who do you think will win? You can tweet us on @Cyclingnewsfeed or @SadhbhOS with your predictions and we will post some of them up here.
The second climb of the day is the Côte de Saint-Roch it's a short 1km climb, but with an average of 11.1% it's a pretty punchy one. It shouldn't trouble any of our favourites. We then have a little lull as the peloton descend towards Neuville before the real action begins today.
Some music to the riders' ears is that they are now in a tailwind. This seems to have increased the speed of the peloton who are now only 14:08 behind the six leaders.
The peloton are through the feed zone. After 121km we are now quite halfway through the race. The leaders are just approaching the second climb of the day.
NetApp-Endura rider Erik Rowsell has decided to call it quits today. He's climbed off his bike in the feedzone.
Garmin-Sharp are now doing the grunt work on the front. The teams seem happy to share it around today. Thomas Dekker has managed to cut the escapee's lead down to 12:55.
To give you an idea of the actual distance on the road between the leaders and the peloton. The bunch have only just hit the top of the second climb, whereas the escapees are around 7km up the road.
The average speed is also nudging back up, as the gap closes. Over the first 3.5 hours it is currently 39.5kph
You can check out what Dan Martin is riding today in this exclusive video for Cyclingnews and you can subscribe to our YouTube channel here too.
The leaders are on the descent towards the third climb of the day the Côte de Wanne, from there the remaining ascents come thick and fast and we'll see some more riders try their chances with a long-range move.
The Wanne is followed by the Stockeu and Haute-Levee triptych. They come between kilometres 167 and 179, and will begin the selection before we hit the mure crucial climbs such as La Redoute.
Andy Schleck is back with the cars fighting his way back to the peloton. He doesn't look like he's in trouble, perhaps a wheel change for the Trek rider. Earlier this week Schleck said he's not ready to give up on cycling yet.
Crash in the peloton and Jan Bakelants is down at the side of the road. Romain Kreuziger and Louis Meintjes hit the deck too. Their all on the bike pretty quickly and nobody looks too hurt.
Reports coming through that two photographers' bikes have collided. The Ambulance could be seen at the back of the peloton. Let's hope everyone involved is ok.
Minnaard looks like he is the first of the excapees to bite the dust. He's been distanced on the Cote de Wanne.
The speed on the Cote de Wanne is hurting a number of riders. Daniel Moreno and Samuel Sanchez looked to be fairly far back. Position is key in this race, so they will want to move up to the front quickly.
Richie Porte, Jurgen Van den Broeck and Romain Bardet were among the riders that were forced to chase on during the final climb, possibly caught out by that Bakelants crash.
The peloton are now on the Cote de Stockeu as the escapees begin the Côte de la Haute-Levée.
The Stockeu is only 1km, but it averages 12.4% so it can certainly do some damage. The peloton will be significantly reduced on the descent here.
Tony Maretin has gone off the front with Michal Kwaitkowski hanging onto his wheel. Is this an intentional attack?
Kwiatkowski is one of the favourites for this race, so an attack at this point would be an odd move.
Jakobs (Topsport Vlaanderen) has pulled out a small advantage on his fellow escapees at the top of the Stockeu.
Kwiatkowski and Martin are back in the bunch now.
Andy Schleck (Trek Factory Racing) has climbed off. The last two years have been tough for him. His contract runs out at the end of the year, will he still be with Trek next season?
The leaders are on the Côte de la Haute-Levée now. At 3.6km it is the longest ascent of the day.
If you missed the news earlier on today. Chris Froome didn't take the start today, due to a chest infection. He will take a few day's rest before taking on the Tour de Romandie. Sky's Peter Kennaugh also pulled out of the race earlier on this week. Here's the full story on Froome's non-participation
Joaquim Rodríguez looks to be in a lot of trouble at the moment. He's shaking his head and sitting at the back of the group. He's still suffering from his Amstel Gold crash. His teammate Daniel Moreno is looking to do something today.
As the peloton rider up the Côte de la Haute-Levée there is a small attack off the front, started by Jeremy Roy. It si brought back in and Europcar are now sitting on the front of the peloton.
Pierre Rolland attacks and the peloton is now strung out all over the road. He's not allowed to get away.
A mechanical problem for Jan Bakelants. He's not having a good day, after already crashing earlier on.
Navardauskas now putting on the pressure at the front. He immediately manages to make a gap and there are a lot of riders scrabbling to get onto his wheel. Nobody is working with him and he's shouting at the riders behind him.
Trouble for Jurgen Van den Boreck, he's off the back of the peloton at the moment. The Belgian has been suffering from knee problems after crashing at Tirreno-Adriatico. He says that he's hoping to gain some morale from this race. However, he could be out of it if he can't catch back on soon.
Rui Costa crashes
Four riders down on the deck Costa, David Lopez (Sky), Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Torres Agudelo (Colombia) all go down. None of them bouncing back up too quickly.
Another big crash. One of the AG2R-La Mondiale riders takes a hig-speed tumble all by himself while riding through the cars. He manages to avoid hitting anything else, but it looks like a pretty hefty fall nonetheless.
Rui Costa has abandoned after that crash.
Costa has been out of luck this week. He punctured at Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday, which prevented him from getting a good result. He's still on the hunt for his first victory this season.
Reports coming through that Rodríguez has pulled out too. We saw him in trouble earlier on, the pain in his chest was obviously troubling him more than he thought it would.
There have been reports the Porte had abandoned, but we can confirm that he is still in the race.
Porte may be still in the race, but he is struggling at the back of the bunch. Are his days numbered?
Sébastien Minard was the AG2R-La Mondiale rider who went tumbling down the side of the road. He's lost quite a bit of skin, but nothing has been broken.
Richie Porte is in rich company at the back of the peloton. Bauke Mollema (Belkin) and Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) are around him too. Mollema has been on good form this week, but is he in trouble too?
Lampre-Merida say that Costa fell on his shoulder and also hurt his leg, but he has no serious injuries as a result of that crash.
Away from today's racing, the city of Liege is bidding to host a stage finish of next year's Tour de France. You can read the full story here.
65km remaining today and the gap to the escapees has levelled out at 4:40. The peloton seems to have slowed down a touch. We still have time for your predictions if you want to tweet us at @Cyclingnewsfeed or @SadhbhOS and we will post them here.
BMC are one of the main contenders today with Philippe Gilbert. Gilbert has a long-standing relationship with the race, as he was born just down the road. He's not the only one in the team that loves these race. We spoke to BMC sports directeurs Allan Peiper and Valerio Piva about why the Ardennes races are so special. You can watch the video here and you can subscribe to the YouTube channel here
Tinkoff-Saxo are now managing things on the front, as the advantage falls to 3:04. Their leader is Romain Kreuziger. He failed to defend his Amstel Gold title last Sunday, but he's still a strong contender today. Will he try a long-range attack here?
Michael Rogers is one of the Tinkoff-Saxo riders near the front of the bunch. This is his first race since he was suspended by his team after testing positive for clenbuterol. He was called up after being cleared of any wrongdoing earlier this week. You can read the full story here. Rogers says that he's been training like normal, despite the suspension and was more than ready to come back today.
For those of you interested in Mountain Biking, we have results and pictures from the Cross Country World Cup in Australia, here.
Time is ticking away for the escapees, who now only hold a 2:40 advantage on the peloton. The main bunch are on the Col de la Vecquée at the moment.
Tony Martin driving the pace once again and making gaps. Martin is working for Kwiatkowski, who must be delighted to have a man with so much power in his team.
The riders are on La Redoute, Philippe Gilbert's hill. 10,000 of his fans are lining the road today and just in case you weren't sure where you were, his name has been painted the whole way up the climb. That's got to be a big boost for the Belgian every time he rides up it.
Michel Koch has been hanging on the back of the escape group for a little while now and he has finally cracked as the gradient really ramps up on La Redoute and drops back.
Warren Barguil goes on the attack near the top of La Redoute.
Barguil is only young, but he is a very good climber. The Frenchman won two stages of the Vuelta a Espana last season, out sprinting Rigoberto Uran to win one of them. It's a long shot to win from here, but he's not likely to win from a bigger group at the finish.
Barguil's attack has lit things up and some riders are now chasing him down. Julian Arredondo (Trek) has caught up with him as has one of the Omega Pharma-QuickStep riders.
Venter has managed to catch back up with Bono in the break. They pair have 1:20 on the peloton with 42.km to go.
Koch is caught by the peloton. Barguil and his escape companions are caught.
Bakelants decides to have another go off the front. Are Omega Pharma-QuickStep adopting the Garmin tactic from last year?
Bakelants is a former winner of the under 23 event at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, so he knows these roads.
Lang and Jakobs are now together behind the leaders, they still have 41 seconds over the peloton. Bakelants is back in the peloton now, his attack was quickly closed down.
There seems to be a ceasefire for now, as the peloton make their way to the next climb of the Côte des Forges. We're approching crunch time where things will really light up.
The group of Lang and Jokobs is about to be swallowed back up by the peloton, leaving Bono and Venter the only two men out front.
The Côte des Forges is doing it's job and spitting riders out the back, as Garmin go on the attack
Nobody wants to go with him though and he decides to try is along. Venter is quickly caught and slips into his wheel.
More trouble for Jan Bakelants, he can't catch a break right now. He has to go for a bike change and is now chasing back onto the bunch.
The Garmin rider is Alex Howes. Venter can't stay with him, so he's back in the peloton, as Howes plugs along by himself.
Howes has been joined by Jérôme Baugnies (Wanty) and Denis Vanendert (Lott-Belisol)
Denis is the younger brother of Jelle Vanendert, who is a candiate for the podium today, after taking second at Amstel Gold a week ago.
More riders joining that chasing group, but the peloton are riding hard and the move is closed down. Bono still has 28 seconds on the peloton. He's still got two climbs to go.
AG2R on the front now. With Betancur out before the race even started they will be working for Romain Bardet. Bardet was the top Frenchman at the Tour de France last year and is one of the exciting young French riders coming through at the moment.
Next on the menu for the riders is the Côte de La Roche-aux-Faucons. It was removed from last year's race due to road works, but we've got it back and we could see a lot of attacks coming on the climb.
Three AG2R riders on the front, the third of which is Bardet. Thomas Voeckler is hanging around near the front, he must be planning something soon.
Arredondo attacks
Pozzovivo follows Arredondo with Gilbert, Bardet and Valverde.
The Arredondo attack has split things up a little and there is a group of around 20 riders now on the front, but Arredondo hasn't quite given up yet and he digs again.
It is Pozzovivo and Arredondo with a small advantage over the group of favourites with Samuel Sanchez goes off after them.
Sanchez set up Gilbert for his Amstel Gold victory when he drew out the other contenders with his own attack on the Cauberg.
Sanchez has been caught by a chase group
Daniel Moreno is with Kreuziger and Nibali, as the other favourites try to bridge across.
Kreuziger has another dig off the front, he is determined to shed some of the faster sprinters. We'll try to give you a full run-down of the riders in the group when we can.
There is only one more classified climb today the Côte de Saint-Nicolas, before the unclassified ascent into Ans.
The Saint Nicolas is known as the Italian climb because so many Italians living there.
Lars Petter Norhaug looking over his shoulder, it looks like his teammate Bauke Mollema may have made it into this front group. Frank Schleck is also hanging onto the back of this front group.
Vincenzo Nibali looks to be paying for his efforts, he's at the back of this lead group as they get onto the Côte de Saint-Nicolas
Stefan Denifl (IAM) has a little go off the front
Sanchez leads the main group, followed closely by GreenEDGE and Astana
Pozzovivo has been very active in this finish. He's not got a very good sprint, so will want the group to be as small as possible if hopes to take victory.
The main group are wise to their tactics and look to be chasing them down pretty quickly
Vincenzo Nibali attacks
Nordhaus is wearing an aero helmet, perhaps expecting a sprint finish...
Weening is sitting on the front for Orica-GreenEDGE, he's working for Smon Gerrans
Dan Martin is on the attack
Martin has a small gap on the main group, but he is being caught.
Pozzovivo and Caruso are about to be caught by Martin and Caruso attacks
Valverde chasing down Martin and Caruso
Martin crashes
Garrans wins
Garrans managed to hold off Valverde in that final sprint to win Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Dan Martin is back up on his bike and pedalling to the finish. He crashed on that final corner.
That's it for today, thank you for joining us for our live coverage of Liege-Bastogne-Liege
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