Hold the front page! Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s lacklustre spring campaign regained it’s sparkle as Remco Evenepoel claimed La Doyenne on his race debut. The 22 year-old made his bid with a ferocious attack at the summit of La Redoute with 29km to go. No one could hold his wheel for long enough, no one could organise an effective chase and no one could stop the inevitable solo victory. Quentin Hermans, yes you read that right!!!! , took the sprint for 2nd place for the effervescent Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert, with the man-who-refused-to-stay-dropped – Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) – claiming third step on the all Belgian podium. An awful high speed crash with 60km to go left many riders with their race ambitions in tatters and a heavy fall for world champion Julian Alaphilippe.
When Remco, Remco’ed
Remco didn’t so much light the blue touch paper on a damp squib when he made his move on La Redoute, as detonate one gigantic mother-of-a-firework. I am pretty sure there will be scorch marks on the road as his back wheel fought for grip when he accelerated away. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) held his wheel for a while, but Remco kept the power on-and-on-and-on and eventually the elastic snapped.
Like a 🚀#LBL pic.twitter.com/hmM98Nnxct
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) April 24, 2022
Rubber doesn't provide enough grip for those watts. pic.twitter.com/yELvnQbVJP
— Daniel Lloyd (@daniellloyd1) April 24, 2022
With 29km and the ascent of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons to go, it wasn’t a done deal for the Quick-Step tyro by any means. Add to that a chase group full of riders who would surely fight for a Monument on their palmares.
Incredible solo victory by Remco Evenepoel. Belgian winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, his first Monument at just 22, salvages QuickStep's classics season. That said, a bit frustrating that a group that large couldn't put together anything resembling an organized chase. #LBL #LBL22 pic.twitter.com/3lsguz4Ujh
— Neal Rogers 🇺🇦 (@nealrogers) April 24, 2022
Bahrain Victorious in particular fielded a team who were more than capable and had already been attackity in all the right places . Let’s hear those cheers from the Mikel Landa fans amongst us.
⚡️ @BHRVictorious multiplie les offensives et c'est encore 🇪🇸@MikelLandaMeana qui attaque !
⚡️ @BHRVictorious is very aggressive and 🇪🇸@MikelLandaMeana attacks again! #LBL pic.twitter.com/0fMFrqls3i
— Liège-Bastogne-Liège (@LiegeBastogneL) April 24, 2022
However, despite exhortations from twitter, the chase couldn’t quite get it together. In my opinion it wasn’t a case of faffing around, more a case of no one wanted to bring Wout Van Aert to the finish, mixed with a sprinkling of Remco was just that good today. The only time Remco’s advantage over the chasers dipped below 20 secs was when Wout was dropped with 10KM to go. Once he regained his place in the chase group, the gap extended again and Remco started celebrating with 3km to go.
I think today was my best day on the bike maybe ever. The perfect day to have my best day on the bike, I guess.
One or two lost stage races recently doesn't mean much when Liege-Bastogne-Liege is conquered. Remco Evenepoel became first Belgian rider to win Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 11 years (2011 Philippe Gilbert) and youngest winner of LBL in 54 years (1968 Valere Van Sweevelt). #LBL pic.twitter.com/KXdTvOI9Hz
— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) April 24, 2022
What a day, a dream coming true! 👊🏼🏆😍
Can't thank the team enough for all the hard work and support! Thank you to everyone for believing in me!! 💙🐺 #TheWolfpack
I hope everything is well with the people involved in the crash, especially @IlanWilder and @alafpolak1! 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/UH02FM272A
— Remco Evenepoel (@EvenepoelRemco) April 24, 2022
The Wolfpack’s 21st Monument victory 🤩
Photo: A.S.O./Gautier Demouveaux pic.twitter.com/KSAhi8CHKT
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) April 24, 2022
Wanty continue to be awesome!
From Quick-Step’s 21st Monument to Wanty-Gobert’s 1st Monument podium!
Our first podium ever on a Monument 🥈👏 #LBL 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/H07vc7ycs2
— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) April 24, 2022
I was thrilled when Wanty took fourth at Paris Roubaix – hear ALL the Wanty love on our latest podcast. But boy-oh-boy, I am GIDDY with excitement over Quentin Hermans zooming up to snatch second place. Wanty on a monument podium! Be still my beating heart – and bring on the Grand Tours! What’s even more Wanty for me, is that this resultwill sit alongside Quinten’s only professional road race victory – a stage at the Tour of Wallonia in 2018.
🥈 @Quintenhermans: "It's a huge surprise for me & an honor to stand on the podium alongside these champions. I knew Van Aert's wheel was the right one, I felt I had enough to beat him in the sprint. What a way to end our amazing spring campaign."#LBL #LiègeBastogneLiège 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/IxQZ8dmbJb
— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) April 24, 2022
When cross racing meets road racing.
Funnily enough, Quinten Hermans hasn't beaten Wout in a CX race since Tabor in 2018#LBL22 pic.twitter.com/E02e2fEfIK
— Mathew Mitchell (@MatMitchell30) April 24, 2022
Let’s talk WOUT!
When commentators and fans say Wout Van Aert hasn’t had the season he or we expected, this is the reality of that season. By any standards it is exceptional.
Wout Van Aert's 2022 spring classics campaign: Victories at Omloop and E3, gets COVID, returns to take second at Paris-Roubaix and third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège #LBL #LBL22
— Neal Rogers 🇺🇦 (@nealrogers) April 24, 2022
His absolute refusal to remain dropped was a highlight of his ride today, and I LOVE this quote. A sprint of dying swans is a wonderful description of what happens after 257Km of frantic racing.
🇧🇪 #LBL
💬 "In the final kilometres I gave everything to sprint for the podium. It was a sprint of dying swans, but fortunately it was just enough for the podium." – @WoutvanAert
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) April 24, 2022
He’s a GIANT on the podium now ( in so many ways) but it wasn’t always so.
He used to be the little guy: pic.twitter.com/KYK6vRNj3L
— ednl 🇪🇺 (@ednl) April 24, 2022
The other race changing moment
A mass crash on the high speed run into the base of the Col du Rosier with 60km to go, made my blood run cold. So many riders were left injured or were held up as they waited for the road to clear.
Grosse chute au sein du peloton. Plusieurs de nos coureurs ont été retardés ou piégés… #LBL pic.twitter.com/sAfZOnjfXH
— Team Cofidis (@TeamCOFIDIS) April 24, 2022
ER Education EasyPost riders were left scattered on the tarmac.
Odd Eiking, Ben Healy, Rigoberto Urán, Simon Carr, and Ruben Guerreiro were all involved in the large crash at @LiegeBastogneL and were forced to abandon. Medical evaluation is ongoing, and the team will provide updates as more information becomes available after the race.
— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) April 24, 2022
World Champion Julian Alaphilippe took a very heavy fall and had to leave the race in an ambulance. The team report makes grim reading.
Alaphilippe has two broken ribs, a fractured shoulder blade and a collapsed lung. Now stable in hospital, via @LeGruppetto quoting QS team/HLN newspaper https://t.co/tFLkwvverd
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) April 24, 2022
Following Sunday’s crash at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, we have an update on @alafpolak1 and @IlanWilder.
Read more about it and join us in wishing both a full recovery: https://t.co/HZP6oCBYNM
Photo: @GettySport pic.twitter.com/1oe5zOOPFA
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) April 24, 2022
As LouLou lay prone, DSM’s Romain Bardet went to check on him and stay to make sure he was OK as help arrived.
Julian Alaphilippe crashed very hard, he probably even hit the tree. Race over for him. Fair play to @romainbardet for checking on him and asking for help. Let's hope for good news about Loulou. 🙏 #LBL pic.twitter.com/jIUZrItbpO
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) April 24, 2022
Romain Bardet on what happened during that crash when we saw Julian Alaphilippe lying on the ground.
Thank goodness he was there. The team says he is stable and being checked over in hospital. #LiegeBastogneLiege https://t.co/9dtAF1WQ4r
— Sadhbh O'Shea (@SadhbhOS) April 24, 2022
We send our best wishes and hopes to all the riders involved.
Final thought
And that ends the Spring Classics folks. Giro d’Italia in May. Tour de Romandie next! It’s been a great March and April! Enjoy your Sunday folks. Go ride!!! 🚴♂️🚴🚴♀️
— Fred (@fredfalcone) April 24, 2022
Final results
1 Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 6:12:38
2 Quentin Hermans (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Materieux) +0:48
3 Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) same time
4 Dani Martinez (INEOS -Grenadiers) s/t
5 Sergio Higuita (BORA-hansgrohe) s/t
6 Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) s/t
7 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) s/t
8 Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) s/t
9 Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) s/t
10 Mike Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) s/t
For full stage review, go to cyclingnews.