Key points:
· The women’s and men’s races of the Flèche Wallonne will take place on Wednesday 18th April and the women’s and men’s races of Liège-Bastogne-Liège will take place on Sunday 22th April.
· The 82nd edition of La Flèche Wallonne will take place entirely within the Province of Liège and feature the famous Côte de La Redoute.
· Two of the eleven climbs in Liège–Bastogne–Liège (Côte de Bonnerue and Côte de Mont-le-Soie) were not in the previous edition.
Boels Rental renewed its commitment to cycling by extending its sponsorship of the Ardennes classics until 2020.
The Ardennes week brings down the curtain on the first part of the cycling season with two world-renowned classics. La Flèche Wallonne will start in Seraing for the first time in 82 editions of the race, with the usual finish on the Mur de Huy after 198.5 km. The peloton will take a detour on the roads of the Dean of Classics, tackling La Vecquée and then La Redoute prior to completing two laps of the final 29 km circuit.
In contrast with the puncher party in Huy, the Dean of Classics will again descend into a war of attrition. The toughest parts of the 258 km course will be the two trilogies of Pont, Bellevaux and Ferme Libert and La Redoute, Roche-aux-Faucons and Saint-Nicolas. This time around, the final spring classic is combining tradition and modernity with a direct ride from Liège to Bastogne via Côte de Bonnevue. Côte de Mont-le-Soie will spring a final surprise on the peloton on the way back.
“Loyalty” will be the buzzword of the 2018 Ardennes campaign for the female peloton. The 21st La Flèche Wallonne Femmes will feature a 118.5 km course with two ascents of Côte de Cherave instead of the usual one, but the puncher’s crown will still be decided atop the Mur de Huy.
Finally, the second edition of Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes (135.5 km) is bringing back last year’s course without changes in a bid to earn the loyalty of the female cycling elite. The race will start in Bastogne and feature many difficulties, with the final 45 km stretch similar to the one in the men’s event. These climbs will provide a launch pad for anyone looking to succeed Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen.
As well as unveiling the courses of the Ardennes classics, the organisers revealed the team selection for the upcoming editions of Paris–Roubaix, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. The following squads have been selected to compete alongside the 18 WorldTour outfits:
2018 Paris-Roubaix
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits (FRA)
Delko Marseille Provence KTM (FRA)
Direct Energie (FRA)
Team Fortuneo – Samsic (FRA)
Veranda’s Willems – Crelan (BEL)
Vital Concept Cycling Club (FRA)
WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic (BEL)
2018 Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Aqua Blue Sport (IRL)
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits (FRA)
Direct Energie (FRA)
Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise (BEL)
Team Fortuneo – Samsic (FRA)
WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic (BEL)
Wanty – Groupe Gobert (BEL)
2018 Flèche Wallonne
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits (FRA)
Delko Marseille Provence KTM (FRA)
Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise (BEL)
Team Fortuneo – Samsic (FRA)
Vital Concept Cycling Club (FRA)
WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic (BEL)
Wanty – Groupe Gobert (BEL)
