Primoz Roglic wins Liège-Bastogne-Liège

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Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) won Liege-Bastogne-Liege in an extraordinary five-man sprint to the line.

World champion Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) believed he had victory sewn up, and lifted his arms up in triumph. However, the Frenchman’s celebrations were premature, and Roglic appeared from his right-hand side to pip him at the line in the closest of photo finishes.

“It’s just unbelievable,” said Roglic at the line. “It was so close. I just never stopped believing, and kept pushing until the last metres, actually the last centimeters. I’m super happy that I managed to win.

“It’s an incredible feeling. It was a really long period for me, three months away from home. I’m just super, super happy, and proud of the whole team and everyone. Finally, I managed to win something, eh!”

“Tom [Dumoulin] was really good at the end. Not just him, all of the guys, they did a really super job, I was protected all the time. 

“It was on my wishlist to win a monument, and I’m super happy that I managed to do it.”

In a dramatic finish, Alaphilippe was even judged to have diverted from his sprinting line, after a sharp swerve caused Marc Hirschi (Sunweb) to check himself. The race officials decided to demote him to fifth place. 

His relegation means that Hirschi and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) were promoted to second and third respectively, and Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-McLaren) — who bridged up to the leading quartet on the finishing straight — to fourth.

Alaphilippe had earlier launched the attack that saw the four-man group escape on the final climb, Côté de la Roche-aux-Faucons, bringing to life what had up until then been a subdued, cagey race. Hirschi and Roglic managed to catch him within 300 metres of the summit, while Pogacar joined them on the descent. 

How it unfolded

The 2020 edition of La Doyenne was held in unfamiliar circumstances, with the Covid-19 pandemic causing it to be rescheduled to October rather than its usual April slot in the calendar. 

In what started out as a grey, cold day, the riders opted for various forms of clothing in response to the conditions, some going for leg-warmers, and others donning jackets. 

Within 15km, the day’s break had formed, consisting of nine riders. They were: Inigo Elosegui (Movistar), Kobe Goossense (Lotto-Soudal), Michael Schar (CCC), Kenny Molly, Mathijs Paasschens (Bingoal WB), Omer Goldstein (Israel Start-Up Nation), Valentin Ferron, Paul Ourselin (Total Direct Energie), Gino Mader (NTT Pro Cycling) and Alexander Kamp (Trek-Segafredo).

Ten became nine when Kamp punctured and dropped back into the peloton. 

By the time the break reached the first climb of the day, Côte de la Roche-en-Ardennes, after 76km, their gap over the peloton was approaching six minutes. 

With Deceuninck-QuickStep working at the front of the peloton, that gap slowly but surely came down, dipping below four minutes 120km from the finish, and later to within three minutes at the 100km to go mark. 

This section of the race was mostly uneventful, save for one crash involving Greg Van Avermaet (CCC), Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) They came down heavily after hitting a traffic bollard, and were all forced to abandon.

The pace in the peloton started to pick up upon arriving at the Côte de Mont-le-Soie, the first of nine climbs in the final 93km that form the race’s endgame. 

Another crash brought down several riders shortly after the peak of the next climb, Côte de Wanne. Alaphilippe was among those involved, and, though he was able to remount and re-join the peloton, was visibly stressed by the multiple bike changes and mechanical assistance required after the incident.

Trek-Segafredo subsequently took over at the front of the peloton, and began picking up riders dropped from the breakaway which by now fractured into several smaller groups. Schar had broken clear to become the lone leader, and was able to extend his lead over the peloton as the pace remained steady over the succession of climbs.

Only when Deceuninck-QuickStep returned to take over pace-setting duties on the Col du Maquisard did the gap start to come down again. The pace increased further as the peloton approached the Côte de la Redoute, with each team vying for position ahead of one of the most crucial parts of the race, and Schar was caught on its lower slopes. 

Team Sunweb initially took up the pace-setting on La Redoute, but again it was Deceuninck-QuickStep who ultimately resumed control, and Dries Devenyns’ pace was hard enough to deter any of the favourites — who by now had amassed towards the front of the whittled-down peloton — from attacking. 

Apart from one short-lived attack from Michael Albasini (Mitcehton-Scott), and another from Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) that briefly drew out Rui Costa (UAE Emirates) and Alaphilippe, the peloton (by now consisting of between forty to fifty riders) remained intact on the approach to the final climb, Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons.

Alalphilippe made the decisive attack 500 metres from the top, by which time he was joined by Roglic and Hirschi. Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) briefly joined them to form a quintet, but was dropped on the draggy roads following the summit.

The four remaining leaders worked well together, maintaining a lead of around 20 seconds over a twelve-man chasing group, where Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) did much of the leading. 

Mohoric used his descending skills to escape from this group a few kilometres from the finish, and even threatened to win the race outright when he caught and passed the leading quartet, which had slowed in anticipation of the sprint.

But Alaphilippe used Mohoric to lead himself out, as he launched the sprint that was so narrowly won by Roglic.