The peloton sets off from Bastogne, so effectually the women’s version of the race should be called Bastogne-Liège. The Côte de Saint-Roch appears shortly after the start. The 1 kilometre climb at 11.2% is tackled after 16 kilometres.
The Côte de Mont-le-Soie is the next official climb, crested after 60 kilometres, and from then on the hills come thick and fast. The Mont-le-Soie is quickly followed by the Côte de Wanne, Côte de Stockeu and the Côte de la Haute-Levée before the riders descend to the foot of the longest climb of the day, the Col du Rosier.
The riders fly down the Rosier and then it’s time for the energy sapping Côte de Desnié, where the tension will be rising as the decisive phase of the 2019 and 2020 editions is coming closer. Both Annemiek van Vleuten and Lizzie Deignan attacked from a lead group on the Côte de la Redoute to solo to victory. The 1.6 kilometres climb out of the Amblève Valley goes up at 9.4%.
The Redoute does not come with a proper downhill in its wake, instead the riders ascend for 2.8 kilometres at 4.4% to Cornémont before the Côte des Forges adds 1.3 kilometres at 7.8% to the mix.
The Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons is the last climb of the day. The 1.3 kilometres at 11% is a hard climb in itself, but what’s waiting after the summit is just as interesting. A short descent leads onto a 2 kilometres slope – the first kilometre at 3.6%, the second at 6.2% – before 5 undulating kilometres make way for the downhill into Liège. The last 2 kilometres of the race are played out on flat city streets.
Last year’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes was decided on the rolling section after the Roche-aux-Faucons. Elisa Longo Borghini and Marlen Reusser jumped clear before Demi Vollering tracked them down. Reusser lost contact and then it came down to a sprint-à-deux. The Dutch star sprinted to victory. It was her second triumph in Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, one more to go and she is record holder with three wins.
Ride the route yourself? Download GPX Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes 2024.
Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes starts at 13:35 and the race is expected to finish around 18:00 – both are local times (CET). See for details the scheduled times in underneath slideshow.
Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes 2024: route, profiles, more
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