25.04.2019 World-Tour, News, Race news

Liége-Bastogne-Liége

We line up at the third and final Ardennes classic, Liége-Bastogne-¬Liége this Sunday, 29 April in Belgium. The team’s roster for the 138.5km UCI Women’s WorldTour race will be Amstel Gold Ladies Race winner Kasia Niewiadoma, alongside Alena Amialiusik, Alice Barnes, Hannah Barnes, Hannah Ludwig and Omer Shapira.

Read below on how four of the team’s riders are feeling ahead of Sunday’s race.

Kasia Niewiadoma

“Liège is going to be definitely one of the hardest races of my life! There is not much time for rest or recovery in between the climbs and small hills. There is always something that you need to focus on!”

“After Amstel and Fléche, I’m feeling pretty good! I like the type of climbs we have in Liége—steep, but not as steep as the Mur de Huy. I feel they suit my strengths so that I can be more explosive on the climbs.”

“I predict that the real racing will start early! There are many teams that are hungry for victory so I would not be at all surprised if the entire peloton will be shred into pieces with still 80km to go. I just feel that it’s going to be a super aggressive race!”

“With the change in the final kilometres I believe many different riders have a chance to win Liége. At the end of the day you just have to be brave and crafty to stand on the highest podium step.”

Alena Amialiusik

“We did a recon yesterday of the course and it was really good to see. The new climbs are very hard! But the finish kilometres are very different compared to last year, with the final 10km having more downhill than uphill. I think that will play a big part with what will happen earlier in the race. Climbers will have to go earlier but there’s a chance someone can come back to the front rider or to a small front group in the final kilometres.”

“I hope it’s an exciting race, and for sure we want to make it hard and do our best.”.

Hannah Barnes

“It’s a fun race and I enjoy the atmosphere. In our recon yesterday you could already see rows and rows of camper vans lining the route.”

“It’s a hard course. There isn’t really anywhere that you can take a rest and prepare for the next climb or for the next round of fireworks to start.”

“I think from how the past two Ardennes races have been ridden this week, the race is going to be aggressive from quite early on. The final is different from the two previous years so there’s a bit of an unknown on where the winning move could go. It makes it more unpredictable.”

“An all-rounder and someone that isn’t afraid to have a go is the type of rider that can win Liége. Like Kasia demonstrated on Sunday at Amstel Gold; you can’t be scared if you want to try to win.”

Hannah Ludwig

“I am happy to race again and I am pretty excited to race my first Liége-Bastogne-Liége! The course is super hard but really nice. It suits a strong climber with a good team and with the downhill towards the finish, I think that it might not be a solo rider that comes to the line.”

“Personally, I would like to be strong for the team, and I hope the race is exciting for all of the fans that are roadside!”

2019 parcours

138.5km with five climbs: Côte de Wanne, Côte de Brume, Côte de la Vecquée, Côte de la Redoute and the final Côte de la Roche-Aux-Faucons coming 15km before the finish.