Ardennes classics

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The Ardennes classics are three cycling classics held in mid-April in the Belgian Ardennes and southern Limburg in the Netherlands: Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège.[1] The races are notable for their hilly courses, and often have similar riders competing for the top positions as the races are held closely following each other. Cyclists that are specialised in these hilly courses are known as puncheurs. In recent years, the three classics have been held within an 8-day timeframe.

History[]

The only male winners of the "triple" are Davide Rebellin in 2004 (who was later banned for doping) and Philippe Gilbert in 2011. Gilbert also won the Brabantse Pijl, another important hill classic in mid-April, winning the "quadruple" that year. Other riders to win all three races, though not in a single year, are Danilo Di Luca (who later received a lifetime ban for doping), Michele Bartoli, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault.

In 2017, women's races for all three of the Ardennes classics were held for the first time, with a women's Liège–Bastogne–Liège making its debut alongside a revival of the Women's Amstel Gold Race, which had previously been held from 2001 to 2003, and La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, which has been held since 1998.[2][3][4] Anna van der Breggen immediately clinched the triple by winning all three races, being followed by team-mate Lizzie Deignan in second and Katarzyna Niewiadoma in third in all three events.[2]

There is no official competition connecting the three races, although there have been classifications in the past for the two Walloon races.

In recent years, these three hill classics are held in the second half of April, following a similar set of the Cobbled classics.

Later in the year, there are two similar 'trebles' in Italy: the Trittico Lombardo with the Tre Valli Varesine, Coppa Ugo Agostoni and Coppa Bernocchi in the Lombardy Region, and the Trittico di Autunno (Autumn Triptych) with Milano–Torino, Giro del Piemonte and Giro di Lombardia.

Winners since 1990[]

Year Amstel Gold Race La Flèche Wallonne Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1990  Adri van der Poel (NED)  Moreno Argentin (ITA)  Eric van Lancker (BEL)
1991  Frans Maassen (NED)  Moreno Argentin (ITA)  Moreno Argentin (ITA)
1992  Olaf Ludwig (GER)  Giorgio Furlan (ITA)  Dirk de Wolf (BEL)
1993  Rolf Järmann (SUI)  Maurizio Fondriest (ITA)  Rolf Sørensen (DEN)
1994  Johan Museeuw (BEL)  Moreno Argentin (ITA)  Evgeni Berzin (RUS)
1995  Mauro Gianetti (SUI)  Laurent Jalabert (FRA)  Mauro Gianetti (SUI)
1996  Stefano Zanini (ITA)  Lance Armstrong (USA)  Pascal Richard (SUI)
1997  Bjarne Riis (DEN)  Laurent Jalabert (FRA)  Michele Bartoli (ITA)
1998  Rolf Järmann (SUI)  Bo Hamburger (DEN)  Michele Bartoli (ITA)
1999  Michael Boogerd (NED)  Michele Bartoli (ITA)  Frank Vandenbroucke (BEL)
2000  Erik Zabel (GER)  Francesco Casagrande (ITA)  Paolo Bettini (ITA)
2001  Erik Dekker (NED)  Rik Verbrugghe (BEL)  Oscar Camenzind (SUI)
2002  Michele Bartoli (ITA)  Mario Aerts (BEL)  Paolo Bettini (ITA)
2003  Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ)  Igor Astarloa (ESP)  Tyler Hamilton (USA)
2004  Davide Rebellin (ITA)  Davide Rebellin (ITA)  Davide Rebellin (ITA)
2005  Danilo Di Luca (ITA)  Danilo Di Luca (ITA)  Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ)
2006  Fränk Schleck (LUX)  Alejandro Valverde (ESP)  Alejandro Valverde (ESP)
2007  Stefan Schumacher (GER)  Davide Rebellin (ITA)  Danilo Di Luca (ITA)
2008  Damiano Cunego (ITA)  Kim Kirchen (LUX)  Alejandro Valverde (ESP)
2009  Sergei Ivanov (RUS)  Davide Rebellin (ITA)  Andy Schleck (LUX)
2010  Philippe Gilbert (BEL)  Cadel Evans (AUS)  Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ)
2011  Philippe Gilbert (BEL)  Philippe Gilbert (BEL)  Philippe Gilbert (BEL)
2012  Enrico Gasparotto (ITA)  Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP)  Maxim Iglinsky (KAZ)
2013  Roman Kreuziger (CZE)  Daniel Moreno (ESP)  Dan Martin (IRL)
2014  Philippe Gilbert (BEL)  Alejandro Valverde (ESP)  Simon Gerrans (AUS)
2015  Michał Kwiatkowski (POL)  Alejandro Valverde (ESP)  Alejandro Valverde (ESP)
2016  Enrico Gasparotto (ITA)  Alejandro Valverde (ESP)  Wout Poels (NED)
2017  Philippe Gilbert (BEL)  Alejandro Valverde (ESP)  Alejandro Valverde (ESP)
2018  Michael Valgren (DEN)  Julian Alaphilippe (FRA)  Bob Jungels (LUX)
2019  Mathieu van der Poel (NED)  Julian Alaphilippe (FRA)  Jakob Fuglsang (DEN)
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic  Marc Hirschi (SUI)  Primož Roglič (SLO)
2021  Wout Van Aert (BEL)[5]  Julian Alaphilippe (FRA)  Tadej Pogacar (SLO)

Statistics[]

  • Active cyclists marked in bold.

Most Ardennes classics wins per male rider[]

Rank Name Total wins Amstel Gold Race La Flèche Wallonne Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1 Eddy Merckx 10 2 (1973, 1975) 3 (1967, 1970, 1972) 5 (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975)
2 Alejandro Valverde 9 0 5 (2006, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) 4 (2006, 2008, 2015, 2017)
3 Moreno Argentin 7 0 3 (1990, 1991, 1994) 4 (1985, 1986, 1987, 1991)
4 Philippe Gilbert 6 4 (2010, 2011, 2014, 2017) 1 (2011) 1 (2011)
5 Bernard Hinault 5 1 (1981) 2 (1979, 1983) 2 (1977, 1980)
Jan Raas 5 5 (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982) 0 0
Davide Rebellin 5 1 (2004) 3 (2004, 2007, 2009) 1 (2004)
8 Ferdi Kübler 4 0 2 (1951, 1952) 2 (1951, 1952)
Michele Bartoli 4 1 (2002) 1 (1999) 2 (1997, 1998)
10 Marcel Kint 3 0 3 (1943, 1945, 1945) 0
Léon Houa 3 0 0 3 (1892, 1893, 1894)
Alfons Schepers 3 0 0 3 (1929, 1931, 1935)
Stan Ockers 3 0 2 (1953, 1955) 1 (1955)
Fred De Bruyne 3 0 0 3 (1956, 1958, 1959)
Alexander Vinokourov 3 1 (2003) 0 2 (2005, 2010)
Danilo Di Luca 3 1 (2005) 1 (2005) 1 (2007)
Julian Alaphilippe 3 0 3 (2018), 2019, 2021) 0

Most Ardennes classics wins per female rider[]

Rank Name Total wins Amstel Gold Race La Flèche Wallonne Féminine Liège–Bastogne–Liège
1 Anna van der Breggen 10 1 (2017) 7 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) 2 (2017, 2018)
2 Marianne Vos 6 1 (2021) 5 (, , , , 2013) 0
3 Nicole Cooke 4 1 () 3 (, , ) 0
4 Fabiana Luperini 3 0 3 (, , ) 0

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Ardennes Classics". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b "The UCI Women's WorldTour Chronicle". Union Cycliste Internationale. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  3. ^ O'Shea, Sadhbh (13 April 2017). "Amstel Gold Race Women - Preview". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  4. ^ O'Shea, Sadhbh (17 April 2017). "Fleche Wallonne preview: Can anyone catch Van der Breggen?". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  5. ^ Long, Jonny (2021-04-18). "Wout van Aert beats Tom Pidcock in photo finish at Amstel Gold Race 2021". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
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