Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Philippe Gilbert is counting on his recently improving form - and some help from friends and bad weather - to get him the win at Liège

Norway’s “other” rider Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Sky) is enjoying a breakthrough spring, with strong performances in Ardennes

The road to California heads through the Ardennes for Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) this year

Legendary images by famed Dutch photographer Cor Vos, from the pages of VeloNews Magazine

Andy and Fränk Schleck are determined to take another win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège

The Ardennes' big dogs come out to close the spring classics on Sunday and we run down the favorites, the course and the underlying stories

Swiss rider has surprised in 2012 and will have some freedom at Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday

Canadian escapes late in midweek classic with reeling Norwegian

Gilbert has gone from 12th to sixth to third in the last week en route to Liège-Bastogne-Liège

American on the mend after knee tendon injury, cold hampered him at Pais Vasco, Amstel Gold

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After strong performance at Amstel Gold, Garmin feeling well-suited for higher finish at two remaining Ardennes races

Italian U23 Flanders champ has already made starts in two major classics in his neo-pro season

Tour de France champion Cadel Evans will not participate in Flèche-Wallonne on Wednesday or Liège–Bastogne–Liège on Sunday

It's a matter of when, not if, the young Slovak earns his first classics win

The 2012 Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23, through the lens of Casey B. Gibson

Andrew Hood runs down the chances of the four Spanish favorites for the Ardennes classics

1. Michael Valgren ANDERSEN (DEN) in 4:35:48 2. Ian BOSWELL (USA) at :15 3. Joshua BERRY (USA) at :52 4. Dieter BOUVRY (BEL) at :58 5. Jimmy TURGIS (FRA) at :58

Americans first to podium at U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Canadian levels on a quiet spring and being patient ahead of the hilly classics and a run at the Giro overall

Amstel, Liège are top goals for GreenEdge sensation

Virus wiped out the early season for 2009 Liège winner

Previous winners of Liège-Bastogne-Liège

King of the Classics gives his point of view on today's riders, picks winners through Liège

Team Type 1-Sanofi landed prestigious wild-card invitations to race in the Ardennes classics

Alexander Vinokourov will take legal action against a Swiss magazine that charged him with buying his victory in the 2010 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, his Astana team said Wednesday.

A Swiss magazine has accused Alexander Vinokourov of buying his victory in the 2010 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the agency Sports-Information reported on Tuesday.

The Schleck brothers say it was impossible to beat Philippe Gilbert at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Graham Watson is on hand as Philippe Gilbert wins the 2011 Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège

• 1. Philippe Gilbert, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 6:13:18
• 2. Frank Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 0:00
• 3. Andy Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 0:00
• 4. Roman Kreuziger, Astana, at 0:24
• 5. Rigoberto Uran, Sky, at 0:24

Philippe Gilbert caps a sweep of the Ardennes classics, easily out-sprinting Fränk and Andy Schleck to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Paris-Nice winner Tony Martin will be at the center of HTC-Highroad's battle plan for the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Classic in Belgium on Sunday.

LIÈGE, Belgium (VN) – The peloton returns to the scene of the Stockeau massacre in a race for the first time Sunday. The descent of the Ardennes climb was the site of the massive crash that led to the neutralization of stage 3 at last year’s Tour de France.

LIEGE, Belgium (VN) – Dan Martin is starting Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but will be fighting a troubling arm injury suffered in a crash on Wednesday.

LIÈGE, Belgium (AFP) ─ Defending champion Alexander Vinokourov has ruled out a concerted effort in the peloton to stop race favorite Philippe Gilbert from winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium – Two weeks ago, Fabian Cancellara was the talk of the cycling media. Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) has assumed that role with three wins in a week, but Cancellara's Leopard-Trek teammates aren't looking past anyone for Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Having recently come away from the World Track Championships with yet another rainbow jersey (Madison with Leigh Howard), a silver medal (points race) and a seventh place (scratch) young Aussie sensation Cameron Meyer is ready for the first race of his Euro road season, Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege. VeloNews caught up with him as he tries to build on his already amazing 2011.

WALSHOUTEM, Belgium (VN) – Greg Van Avermaet is ready to close a long classics season Sunday and is looking to deliver a result to BMC Racing. Van Avermaet, 25, will start his first Liège-Bastogne-Liège Sunday.

WALSHOUTEM, Belgium (VN) – Nearly lost in the fever of Philippe Gilbert’s triumph for Omega Pharma-Lotto at La Flèche Wallonne Wednesday was Alexander Vinokourov’s best-ever result in the mid-week classic. Astana’s defending champion of Liége-Bastogne-Liége ground out a fourth-place result atop the Mur de Huy and said afterward that the ride gave him much confidence ahead of Sunday’s Ardennes finale.

HUY, Belgium (VN) ─ Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervélo) is hoping to cap his spring campaign with a run for the podium at Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.

HUY, Belgium (VN) — Philippe Gilbert will wake up Thursday morning as he did Monday, focused on recovering from a tough, winning effort in the hills near his hometown of Verviers, Belgium. So says the winner of all three high profile hilly classics contested this spring.

HUY, Belgium (VN) – Alexander Vinokourov will have a full arsenal at his disposal in his bid for a third Liège-Bastogne-Liège title Sunday. Roman Kreuziger will join his Astana teammates Saturday evening in Liège after the Giro del Trentino wraps up earlier in the day in Italy.

WALSHOUTEM, Belgium (VN) – Leopard-Trek has been denied in all but one of the spring classics this year. While their top focus is on Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Andy and Fränk Schleck on Tuesday reaffirmed their plans to be aggressive in the finale at La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday.

FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (VN) – After a tough first year at Team Sky, it looks like Simon Gerrans is back on top. The 30-year-old Australian finished third Sunday in the Amstel Gold Race, his first classic of the spring.

Editor’s note: Every week through the 2011 road season, VeloNews editor-at-large John Wilcockson is writing about key features of the week’s racing. This 10th installment focuses on the career of rider of the week Philippe Gilbert.

VILT, Netherlands (VN) — Philippe Gilbert left no doubt Sunday on the Cauberg, launching a violent attack midway up the climb to claim his second Amstel Gold Race in a row. The win was the third consecutive hilly classic for the Omega Pharma-Lotto rider, who cemented his position as king of the Ardennes.

SAN BENEDETTO DEL TRONTO, Italy (VN) – It is four days before the season’s first one-day monument at Milan-San Remo and 2008 winner Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) is making plans. But those plans are much farther reaching than the 300 kilometers he’ll face Saturday.

The full punch of the Ardennes Mountains will be felt during Liège-Bastogne-Liège April 24 when the Côte de la Haute-Levée returns to the sport’s oldest monument.

Vino's win, bottles in Belgium and frequent flyer tips

Astana’s Alexandre Vinokourov fires back at his critics, asking, "In what other sport are you allowed to participate without the right to win?"

Sylvain Chavanel will miss the Tour de France after crashing into another team's car during Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

"The sniper," Katusha's Alexandr Kolobnev, is taking aim at the Tour — and the worlds.

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After the Kazakh dropped the Russian in the last 100 meters of the last climb and cruised the final 400 meters to the line, the crowd let out an unseemly chorus of boos. That’s probably never happened before at a monumental classic.

Chris Horner (RadioShack) and Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) were close to the podium with solid performances in Sunday’s grueling Liège-Bastogne-Liège, while Christian Vande Velde, Ted King, Brent Bookwalter and other Americans have strong finishes.

Frank Schleck got a warm round of applause from fans crowding around the Saxo Bank team bus Sunday, but it couldn’t erase his disappointment at not being able to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Despite getting booed as he crossed the finish line Sunday in victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a repentant Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) said fans and journalists should believe him when he says his win was clean.

2010 Liège-Bastogne-Liège results

Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) wins Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood snaps some pix of Alexander Vinokourov's flashy new Specialized.

Chris Horner (RadioShack) hopes his winning legs from the Tour of the Basque Country will make him one of the protagonists at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the toughest, oldest classic

Alberto Contador is undeniably the reigning king of the grand tours, but one day he wants to come to the Ardennes and add one of the major classics to his palmares.

Alberto Contador might not be racing much between Sunday’s conclusion of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and July’s Tour de France, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be busy.

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After a few frenetic weeks, with sometimes as many as four races in one day, European racing takes a relative breather.

Alberto Contador (Astana) is aiming his pistol at the Ardennes classics.

Hot off second place at the Vuelta al País Vasco behind Chris Horner (RadioShack), Valverde says he’s in shape to have a good run through the Ardennes.

Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) has been one of the enigmas of the 2010 season.

Roman Kreuziger and Vicenzo Nibali will lead Liquigas into the Ardennes classics, with Franco Pellizotti joining for Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Fabian Cancellara could win Liège-Bastogne-Liège, says Saxo Bank boss Bjarne Riis.

Following a tough win at Paris-Nice, defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador has reconfigured his racing schedule for the next two months.

Filippo Pozzato believes he’s poised to win at least one major classic this spring and he could care less which one it is.

Lance Armstrong will be back in the spring classics this year in a big way. RadioShack sport director Johan Bruyneel told Biciciclismo that Armstrong will race Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.