The cobblestone classics of the 2023 season are behind us. Now place for Ardennes ! THE Flanders take a well-deserved rest in view of their next goals and are replaced on the starting lists by climbers and punchers. Or at least that was what we had grown accustomed to. In recent years, the line has become increasingly blurred. A runner like Philippe Gilbert also triumphed over Liege-Bastogne-Liege than on the Ronde and in thenorthern hell. This season, it’s the extraterrestrial Tadej Pogacar who dazzled everyone by becoming the third runner in history to achieve the double Tour de France – Tour of Flanders After Eddy Merckx et Louison Bobetwhile being the big favorite for thes upcoming classics. We also talk about the possibilities for Mathieu van der Poel to win the 5 Monuments. And Wout van Aert has already won a podium on each of the Monuments, except the Tour of Lombardy which he never left. With riders more and more versatile and present throughout the season, we can expect a great show in the three races that make up the Ardennes triptychnamely theAmstel Gold Race (April 16), the Arrow Walloon (April 19) and Liege-Bastogne-Liege (April 23), the 4th Monument of the season.
Video – Evenepoel dominated Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2022
🤩 Come to the Quai des Ardennes to crown two monumental winners!
🤩 See you on the Quai des Ardennes to crown two monumental champions!#LBLwomen #LBL pic.twitter.com/BvX0Y7RRxk
– Liège-Bastogne-Liège (@LiegeBastogneL) January 25, 2023
The hat-trick, an exceptional feat of arms
Winning all three races in the same year is not within reach of the first comer. Only two men and one woman have achieved this in history. The first to achieve this performance is the Italian Davide Rebellin in 2004. While he had not yet won the slightest victory that year – despite a fine second place in the general classification of Paris-Nice – he will manage to win the three Ardennes. Closer to home, we remember the simply exceptional year 2011 of Philippe Gilbert. In addition to achieving the triple, he even became the first runner to achieve the quadruple by previously winning the Arrow Brabançonnea traditional transition race between the cobbled classics and the Ardennes triptych.
That year, he also became Belgian champion and won the first stage of the Tour de France – synonymous with the yellow jersey – by winning at the top of Mont des Alouettes. Among the ladies, Anna van der Breggen is the only runner to have managed to achieve the triple in 2017. The queen of the Arrow Walloon – 7 consecutive victories at the top of the Mur de Huy! – moreover achieved this performance during the first year when the three races appeared simultaneously on the calendar for the ladies.
Aah WOW!! A ‘once in a lifetime’ 1-2-3 The biggest thanks to my teammates this week, working there ass off to get me & Lizzie on the podium�’�
— Anna van der Breggen (@AnnavdBreggen) April 23, 2017
The Amstel Gold Race, the greatest Dutch classic
The Netherlands is a true land of cycling but strangely enough, few professional cycling races are organized there.Amstel Gold Race is therefore the meeting of the year for Dutch fans, and also for the local team, the Jumbo Visma. Racing is generally quite unpredictable and has given us some pretty crazy scenarios in recent years. In 2019, when we thought he had lost his race, Mathieu van der Poel embarks on a mad chase to get back on Julian Alaphilippe et Jakob Birdsong. In the home straight, the two leaders are treading water, not wanting to start the sprint for the other. It didn’t take much to MVDP.
Dutch champion’s jersey on his shoulders, he came back on them like a racing car and won after a crazy final sprint in front of a delirious crowd. The last two editions are also memorable, but for less good reasons. Twice, the winner was decided at the photo-finish, with a beautiful imbroglio that followed. In 2021, Wout van Aert is declared the winner before Tom Pidcock, who still remains convinced today of having crossed the line first. Last season, Benoit Cosnefroy will initially be declared the winner before the jury reverses its decision and awards the victory to Michal Kwiatkowski. Let’s hope this year that the organizers take their measures to avoid another incident of this type.
La Flèche Wallonne, a simple hill climb?
The Arrow Walloon has been offering us for many years an iconic final with an arrival at the top of the terrible Mur de Huy (1.4km at 9.8%), with its passages at nearly 20%. Despite the many climbs scattered throughout the route and up to three passages on the Mur de Huy, the race is (almost) always decided on the last ascent. Nevertheless, the organizers have reviewed the course in recent years in order to promote spectacle and distant attacks.
We remember, among other things, the fantastic ride of Mauri Vansevenant in 2020, who seemed to resist the peloton’s comeback before a fall 3km from the finish put an end to all his illusions of victory. Since the beginning of the 21st century, two runners in particular have distinguished themselves on the slopes of the Mur de Huy. Alejandro Valverde triumphed there 5 times. After a first victory in 2006, he won four more times from 2014 to 2017. Among the ladies, Anna van der Breggen is the absolute queen of the Flèche Wallonne with 7 consecutive victories from 2015 to 2021.
⛰ The Wall of Huy, a conquest for the victors, a deliverance for all! 🠹
â›° The Mur de Huy. For the first rider atop, it’s a conquet. For all of them, it’s a deliverance! ðŸ¹#FlecheWallonne #Fwwomen pic.twitter.com/r1JbLJaWQf
— The Fleche Wallonne (@flechewallonne) January 25, 2023
Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the 4th Monument in apotheosis
Liege-Bastogne-Liege is one of the oldest cycling races on the calendar, earning it the nickname of The dean. Over the years, she has given us some iconic moments of cycling. Like this 1987 edition, where Stephen Roche et Claudy Criquelion had to fight for victory in a two-man sprint. After an interminable sitting on the spot, they had been overtaken by Moreno Argentina who went off to win the victory right in front of his two competitors.
A Belgian newspaper had even gone so far as to title “The Easter bells” in reference to the two great champions beaten. Belgian fans have never forgotten the decisive attack by Frank Vandenbroucke in La Redoute in 1999, when he announced to everyone the exact location of his attack. Where last year Remco Evenepoel also placed his acceleration to soar to victory. Finally, we also remember the unfortunate episode of Julian Alaphilippe in 2020, rainbow jersey on the shoulders, who thinks of registering The dean on his record and raises his arms a little too soon. Primoz Roglic will eventually overtake him at the finish line and win his first monument. With its mythical hills, such as La Redoute or the Wanne – Stockeu – Haute Levée sequence, Liege-Bastogne-Liege promises us more beautiful moments this year.
🤩 Only one month left before meeting on the Quai des Ardennes! @EvenepoelRemcodefending champion, has a word for you 💀
🤩 One month before we crown two champions! The 2022 champion, @EvenepoelRemcocan’t wait to see you on the road!#LBLwomen #LBL pic.twitter.com/ncbjRZXfXY
– Liège-Bastogne-Liège (@LiegeBastogneL) March 23, 2023
Pogacar, the man to beat?
This year, one man seems to be able to pull off the treble. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) has been winning streaks since the start of the season. Already 10 successes, including 2 general classification victories, in 16 days of racing, it’s quite simply exceptional. The Slovenian will line up with the three Ardennes and will be the favorite for the final victory in each of them. During his only participation in theAmstel Gold Race, he had not finished the race. But that was in 2019. Back then, he hadn’t raced a single Grand Tour yet and wasn’t the rider he is today. On the Arrow Walloon on the other hand, he has not yet managed to get a good result.
After an anecdotal 53rd place in 2019, he gets his one and only top 10 in this race in 2020, probably tired just after winning his first Tour de France. In 2021, he is not allowed to start following a positive Covid test within the team UAE Team Emirates. Finally, in 2022, he gets stuck 300m from the line and has to settle for 12th place. There Arrow thus seems to refuse him, until now. Finally, Pogacar has already raised his arms Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2021. It is undoubtedly the race that suits him best among the 3. This year we are expecting a good duel with the world champion Remco Evenepoel, the outgoing winner. If the Slovenian were to win The deanhe would become the second runner in history to achieve the double with the Tour of Flanders the same year after Eddy Merckxauthor of this feat twice, in 1969 and 1975. If there is one who is capable of it, it is Tadej Pogacar !
