1892. That's been quite a while. That was the year in which the very first edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège took place and it's thus quite logical that this race is now nicknamed La Doyenne (the "oldest"). That was 122 years ago but this year it's the 100th edition of the Belgian classic which will take place between Liège and Bastogne (and back again).

For this 100th edition, the race route has been slightly modified in order to bring back some climbs which, according to the organisor of the race, have created the legend of this race.
In this article you'll find all the details about the Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2014 race route with the track drawn on Google Maps/Google Earth, the profile of the race and the itinerary and time schedule.

A little bit of history

Since this is the 100th edition this seems to be a good occasion to have a look at the history of the race.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège was organised for the very first time in 1892 and at that time it was an amateur race which saw the light, mainly thanks to the initiative of the Pesant Club Liégeois which still exists today and which still organises the U23 version of Liège-Bastogne-Liège which was won by Anthony Turgis (CC Nogent-sur-Oise) last Saturday.

The two first editions were won by Léon Houa, a cyclist from Liège. Maybe thanks to his successes in this race, he became the first recognised professional rider in 1894 in Belgium. And by chance, 1894 was also the first year in which pro riders could participate in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Houa again won this race.

Until now, Houa is still one of a select group of only 5 riders who have won 3 times or more La Doyenne. He is not, however, the record man of the race because Eddy Merckx managed to win this race 5 times (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975) and a bit more recently, Moreno Argentin won it 4 times (1985, 1986, 1987, 1991).
One rider could join this select group this year: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) who won the Flèche Wallonne this Wednesday and who won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2006 and 2008.

After the 3rd victory of Houa in 1894, the race which we now know as La Doyenne didn't really seem to become an oldy. Indeed, between 1895 and 1907 it was not organised and only in 1908 it made its comeback. As if it was to prove itself once again, it started as an amateur race again and continued like that until 1911. In 1912 an intermediate category between pro and amateur riders which we no longer know now, the indépendants, could participate in the race and it continued like that the next year as well. Because of the first World War, the race is put on hold, like all other races, and when it makes its comeback it's again open to professionals. From 1925 till 1929 it is however again reserved to the indépendants again.

Concerning the race route, the Belgian newspaper Le Soir mentions the most important modification which took place when the race was co-organised by the Société du Tour (now part of A.S.O.) and the Pesant-Club Liègeois. Indeed, in 1990 the French company organised the Belgian race for the first time and according to the Le Soir newspaper, that was the end of the climb of the «wall» of Stockeu, at the entrance of Stavelot which usually led to huge "traffic jams" at the foot of the Haute-Levée and in exchange, the peloton climb(ed) the côte Saint Roch, just outside Houffalize, and before the curve towards Bastogne, the côte de Lorcé, between Le Rosier and La Redoute, and the côte de Fraiture, between Chambralle and les Forges.

There have been other changes since, and the Côte de Stockeu is for example again part of the race route since several years now.

The finish location of the race has also been moved around several times and in 1992 the race ended for the first time in Ans and not in Liège. It was the first time in 1992 out of 3 within an agreement between the organisors and the city but Liège-Bastogne-Liège has finished in this city next to Liège ever since, and this will again be the case in 2014.

The Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2014 race route on Google Maps

Since several years, the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race route is quite similar every year, but the organisor of the race introduces some changes every year anyway. This year, the race route is a bit different in the final approach of Bastogne (where a special sprint will award 5000€ specifically for this 100th edition) and again in the way back up to Liège.
A bit later, the Côte de la Vecquée will be climbed instead of the trio Col du Rosier, Côte du Maquisard and Mont-Theux. After the Côte de la Redoute, the riders will instead climb the Côte des Forges, Côte de la Roche aux Faucons and the Côte de Saint-Nicolas. With these changes, the race route is 1.5 kilometers longer than in 2013, for a total distance of 263 kilometers.

After the start on the Place Saint-Lambert in Liège at 10AM (the advertising caravan will leave at 9AM), the race will really start on the N30 around 10.15AM, at 7.3 km from the starting place. The route between the starting place and kilometer 0 is he same as last year and will thus follow the Rue Joffre, Boulevard de la Sauvenière, Boulevard d'Avroy, Avenue Destenay, Pont Kennedy, Rue Grétry, Quai de la Boverie, Pont des Vennes, Boulevard Poincaré, Boulevard Frankignoul, Boulevard de Douai, Quai des Ardennes, Pont de Chênée, Rue de la Station, Rue des Grands-Prés and the Rue d'Embourg before they get on the N30.

The first climb will be after 70 kilometers in the race: the Côte de La Roche-en-Ardenne (2.8 km @ 6.2%).
Once they get in Bastogne on the La Doyenne roundabout (one of the rare roundabouts which are taken completely by a cycling race: indeed, usually the race doesn't take the left lane to cut off because this roundabout is dedicated to La Doyenne the whole year long ... but this year, the trip continues towards the sprint and to the Mémorial du Mardasson; I must admit I haven't been able to verify the precise route followed through Bastogne this year so if you plan to go see the race there, please ask locally to make sure you're at the right place!), followed by the feeding zone and the successive climb of the Côte de Saint-Roch (1 km @ 11.1%), Côte de Wanne at 96 km from the finish (2.8 km @ 7.2%), the Côte de Stockeu 6.5 km further (1 km @ 12.4%) and the Côte de la Haute-Levée (3.6 km @ 5.6%).
After the second feeding zone in La Gleize, the riders will climb the Côte de la Vecquée (3.1 km @ 6.4%), the Côte de la Redoute at 44.5 km from the finish (2 km @ 8.9%) and a bit further they thus go find the Côte des Forges at 31.5 km from the finish (1.9 km @ 5.9%), followed by the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (1.5 km @ 9.3%) and finally the Côte de Saint-Nicolas (1.2 km @ 8.6%). 5.5 kilometers further, the finish will as usual be in the Rue Jean-Jaurès in Ans.

The finish is planned between 4.31PM and 5.10PM.

The Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2014 race route on Google Maps, the profile of the race and its itinerary and time schedule

Hereunder you can find the race route on Google Maps, the profile and the itinerary and time schedule of Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2014. In order to make it easier to read this map, the part Liège > Bastogne is shown in dark green and the part Bastogne > Liège in black. Click on the images to open them:

The Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2014 race route in Google Earth

Do you prefer to watch the race route in Google Earth and for example do a virtual fly-over of the race route? Download the following KML file to do so:

> Download the Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2014 race route in Google Earth

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Classics | OpenStreetMap/Google Maps/Google Earth

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