Key points:
Ø The famous Ardennes climbs will host the women’s and men’s editions of the Flèche Wallonne, on Wednesday 20 April, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, on Sunday 24 April.
Ø For the first time, the female peloton will face three ascents of the Mur de Huy, 40 years after the first passage on the climb of the Chemin des Chapelles.
Ø The start of the men’s Flèche Wallonne, in Blegny, celebrates the history of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which will offer a traditional course on Sunday.
The Ardennes Classics launch a new call. On Wednesday 20 and Sunday 24 April 2022, the men’s and women’s editions of the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège will welcome the biggest stars of the pelotons on the characteristic roads of these exhausting and explosive events.
For the 40th anniversary of the first passage on the Mur de Huy, the Walloon municipality will be lively like never before. After a first 70km loop starting on the Grand-Place, the contenders to succeed Anna van der Breggen (winner from 2015 to 2021 before taking on a coaching role) will climb the Mur three times, a first for them. With the ascents of Cherave and Ereffe packed in the final circuit, identical to that of the men (31.2km to be covered twice), the menu of the 25th Flèche Wallonne Femmes is similar to the one who consecrated Julian Alaphilippe three times since 2018.
Before the great battle of the Chemin des Chapelles, the men’s peloton and the two-time World Champion will be able to build up pressure on the slopes of the climbs of Tancrémont and Les Forges. The start will be unprecedented, from Blegny, where the Royal cyclist’s Pesant Liège club is based. They’ve co-organized Liège-Bastogne-Liège since 1892.
On Sunday, the 108th edition of the Doyenne des Classiques will present well-known challenges, starting with the Mont-le-Soie – Wanne – Stockeu – Haute-Levée tetralogy, before heading towards the Col du Rosier and the Côte de Desnié. Between La Redoute and La Roche-aux-Faucons, the battle will continue on the slopes of Sprimont, before arriving in the streets of Liège where Slovenes Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar took victory in the past two years. The men’s peloton will then have completed a proper loop of 254.7km, the start and finish being given on the Quai des Ardennes.
Earlier in the morning, the women will set off as usual from Bastogne, for 142.1km of breathless racing towards the Ardent City, where the accomplished champion Van der Breggen accompanied her young partner Demi Vollering to triumph last year. In 2022, the riders will tackle the climb of Mont-le-Soie, unprecedented in Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, before Wanne, Haute-Levée and an explosive final. At the end of the road, Liège is once again preparing to consecrate the virtuosos of spring.
