Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2023

Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes: Demi Vollering triumphs to complete Ardennes triple

As it happened: How Demi Vollering won Liege-Bastogne-Liege Femmes

It was a historic victory for Demi Vollering (SD Worx) at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, who captured the Ardennes Classics triple crown after winning Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne earlier in the week to claim all three wins in one season.

A thrilling race all the way to the finish line in Liege saw Vollering out-sprint Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) to take the victory, while her SD Worx teammate crossed the line in third place.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2023 overview

Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes is the final of the three Ardennes Classics, scheduled for April 23, 2023, along with Amstel Gold Race on April 16 and the mid-week La Flèche Wallonne on April 19. 

The races close the door on the Women’s WorldTour Spring Classics season and open a new one to a spate of stage races, starting with the revamped seven-day La Vuelta Femenina in May.

The race from Bastogne to Liège, which tends to lean further in the favour of the climbers due to its longer ascents, is the most recent of the three Ardennes Classics to be added to the women’s calendar. 

The event first ran in 2017, with Anna van der Breggen taking victory in the first two editions, Annemiek van Vleuten in 2019 and 2022, while Lizzie Deignan and Demi Vollering took out the two editions in between. 

Join Cyclingnews' live coverage of the Ardennes Classics, including the Amstel Gold Race, and check back after the event for the full race reports, results, photo galleries, news and race analysis.

Course changes for Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2023

The route of the seventh edition of the race runs 140km from Bastogne to Liège and has had some new additions, climbing the Wanne, Stockeu and Haute-Levée trilogy for the first time, making this route even more suited to the climbers.

• Read more about the 2023 Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes route
• Read more about the previous winners of the women's Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes Contenders

The peloton opened the Ardennes Classics week of racing at Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition and then moved into the mid-week La Flèche Wallonne Femmes before tackling the finale at Liège-Bastonge-Liège Femmes.

Cyclingnews highlights the riders to watch for Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) will end her spring campaign at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in what is her final attempt before retiring at the end of 2023. She won the race in 2019 and 2022. She took the victory last year after going all out on the attack twice, with her move on the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons securing the second title in the race. If she adds a third victory this year, it would see her break the record of most wins, surpassing now-retired Anna van der Breggen. 

Demi Vollering (SD Worx) could also even the stakes as she won the race in 2021. The Dutch rider has won both Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne, and heads into Liège-Bastogne-Liège with a goal of capturing the Ardennes Classics triple.

Grace Brown (FDJ-SUEZ) will be among those trying to break onto the top step for the first time. The Australian rider has twice come second, last year sprinting to the runner-up spot from a group of four, with Vollering next, then Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and Trek-Segafredo's Elisa Longo Borghini.

Two riders who frequently finish in the finals of the toughest one-day races are Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), both powerful climbers and opportunists who like to race strategically and aggressively deep into the final of a race. They will undoubtedly play a key role in the outcome of the race and both contenders for the podium.

Silvia Persico is becoming every bit the leader that UAE Team ADQ anticipated she would be when they signed her for the 2023 season. She finished sixth at Trofeo Alfredo Binda and fourth at Tour of Flanders and will carry that form into late April, taking the win at Brabantse Pijl, and top 10s at Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2023 teams

• AG Insurance-Soudal QuickStep
• Arkea Pro Cycling
• Canyon-SRAM
• Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling
• Cofidis Women
• Duolar-Chevalmeire
• EF Education-TIBCO-SVB
• FDJ-SUEZ
• Fenix-Deceuninck
• Human Powered Health
• Israel-Premier Tech-Roland
• Lifeplus Wahoo
• Liv Racing-TeqFind
• Lotto Dstny Ladies
• Movistar Women
• Parkhotel Valkenburg
• Team Coop-Hitec Products
• Team DSM
• Jayco-AlUla
• Jumbo-Visma
• SD Worx
• Trek-Segafredo
• UAE Team ADQ
• Uno-X Pro Cycling