It’s time for the final showdown. Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the crowning jewel of the Ardennes week and arguably the most challenging race out of the hilly Classics trio. Taking place on April 27 2025, this year’s La Doyenne will be the ninth edition for the women’s peloton, first introduced in 2017 when Anna van der Breggen took victory. Since then, Liège has set the stage for some of the most brutal and explosive battles in women’s cycling; namely in 2023 when Demi Vollering took the Ardennes Classics triple crown after outsprinting Elisa Longo Borghini to the win. Last year, Grace Brown took the biggest one-day victory of her career in Liège – now retired, the Australian won’t be back to defend her title in 2025, so it’s all to play for in the fight for the top step of the podium on Sunday.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2025 route
The 2025 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes starts in Bastogne and the peloton hits the climbs after just 15 kilometres of racing. The Côte de Saint-Roch spans for one kilometre at a brutal 11.2% average gradient – this could split the peloton early on before a relatively tame opening phase ensues. With around 100 kilometres remaining, the elevation metres start to kick up with ascents coming thick and fast to the finish.
Four climbs then arrive in quick succession over a period of just under 20 kilometres: the Côte de Mont-le-Soie, Côte de Wanne, Côte de Stockeu and Côte de la Haute-Levée. We can expect to see the bunch being whittled down at this point before the longest climb of the day, the Col du Rosier, which will be summited with 60 kilometres left to race. After a long descent, the Côte de Desnié comes next before the iconic Côte de la Redoute which has been the stage for many decisive attacks in previous editions of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Both Lizzie Deignan and Annemiek van Vleuten began solo pursuits to victory from this point in the past.
Once La Redoute has been crested, the rollercoaster of climbs continue all the way to the final categorised ascent: Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons. Spanning 1.3 kilometres at 11%, it’s an extremely tough climb that isn’t even over at the top, with a false flat taking what is left of the peloton at this point towards five kilometres of undulating terrain giving way to the downhill into Liège. The final two kilometres of racing are flat.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2025 contenders
Demi Vollering
Following her narrow defeat at La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday, Demi Vollering of FDJ-Suez will be desperate to leave the Ardennes week with a victory in the races best suited to her. While her form has looked to be impeccable, the Dutch rider appears to be struggling with the favourite status she has entered the Ardennes with – other teams are constantly marking both Vollering and FDJ-Suez and are able to anticipate their attacks. Vollering will want to make the race as hard as possible on Sunday, but she will need to balance this ambition without doing too much work while other teams watch and wait.
The Dutchwoman's teammates will be crucial to her pursuit of victory in this race, especially Juliette Labous who executed a perfect lead out for her on the run-in to the Mur de Huy at Flèche Wallonne. The Frenchwoman is a good second option for FDJ-Suez if Vollering finds herself out of the winning position, though the Dutch rider’s two victories at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the past prove how she can thrive on this type of terrain – it’s most likely that FDJ will go all in for an important Vollering win.
Demi Vollering at La Flèche Wallonne (Image: ASO / Thomas Maheux)
Kasia Niewiadoma
After her fourth places at both the Tour of Flanders and Flèche Wallonne, Kasia Niewiadoma will be hoping for at least a podium for Canyon//SRAM this weekend. The Polish star has shown glimpses of superb potential so far this season, though she has just missed the luck and finishing kick to get the big result she desires. Liège-Bastogne-Liège could be her chance to get that win to open her 2025 tally – she’s performed well in this race before, regularly finishing inside the top-10 and securing fifth place last season in a reduced bunch finish. So far in 2025, Canyon//SRAM have not looked as collectively strong as they did last year, meaning Niewiadoma has found herself without much support in races so far. This means she will need to try and capitalise on the work of teams like FDJ and SD Worx, using it to her advantage if they animate and attack the race. Niewiadoma’s ability to punch up steep climbs – even on tired legs – is one of her biggest assets, so we can expect to see some big moves from her in the finale of Liège if she has the form to make it there in the position to fight for victory.
Kasia Niewiadoma at La Flèche Wallonne (Image: ASO / Thomas Maheux)
Puck Pieterse
Fenix-Deceuninck’s Puck Pieterse will be riding on a high after her big victory atop the Mur de Huy a few days ago. She outclimbed the pre-race favourite and more experienced Demi Vollering to take a win in her first ever participation in Flèche Wallonne – a menacing sign of things to come in the young rider’s career. It’s true that Liège-Bastogne-Liège is an entirely different proposition to Flèche, however, with the climbs being steeper, longer and more frequent. After a busy period of racing, it would be understandable for Pieterse to show some level of fatigue on Sunday, especially considering her age. She did win the fourth stage of the Tour de France Femmes last season which took in many of the same climbs she will tackle in Liège-Bastogne-Liège which will give Pieterse confidence about what she can do on this sort of terrain. It will be important that the young Dutch rider doesn’t get drawn into doing too much work on the front in the latter stages of the race, something which has held her back in the past. Pieterse showed that she can ride a patient and tactical race at Flèche, so she will need to carry this mindset into this weekend for another chance of success.
Puck Pieterse at La Flèche Wallonne (Image: ASO / Thomas Maheux)
Lotte Kopecky
While it is possible that the number of climbs in Liège-Bastogne-Liège will be too challenging for world champion Lotte Kopecky, the SD Worx-Protime rider should not be underestimated. She showed with her victory at the Tour of Flanders that she can respond to attacks on steep gradients while still having enough energy left to pack a punch at the finish – if she can do the same this weekend, Kopecky has a big chance of victory. It will be a case of watching and waiting to see how the likes of FDJ-Suez and UAE Team ADQ play things for Kopecky, she will be hoping for a more subdued race that won’t put her under too much pressure on the climbs. As usual, SD Worx-Protime has a number of options in this race. Mischa Bredewold took a surprise win in the Amstel Gold Race last week, so she will have confidence in her form and give SD Worx another card to play on Sunday. Anna van der Breggen is a former two-time winner of Liège, though it is unknown if she will take to the start line this weekend after sitting out of Flèche Wallonne due to illness. If she does and is in good form, Van der Breggen should have no problem following attacks for SD Worx on the climbs.
Lotte Kopecky at La Flèche Wallonne (Image: ASO / Thomas Maheux)
Elisa Longo Borghini
With a win at De Brabantse Pijl and a third place finish at Flèche Wallonne a few days ago, UAE Team ADQ’s leader Elisa Longo Borghini has had a respectable hilly Classics campaign so far. Although she crashed out of the Tour of Flanders and was forced to have a period of rest to recover from concussion, the Italian rider’s form does not seem to have suffered and she will be looking forward to the climbs of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Longo Borghini relishes a tough and attritional race – one of her strengths is to be able to attack deep into the finale of a race. The main issue that she has faced in previous races is a lack of teammates to help support her at the end when she can sometimes end up alone and isolated in the front group. However, the difficulty of Liège-Bastogne-Liège parcours means that most of the favourites are likely to find themselves without teammates in the finale, which could play into Longo-Borghini’s hands. Like FDJ-Suez, she will want to put the faster finishers under pressure and come to the finish in Liège either alone or with as small of a group as possible to sprint against.
Elisa Longo Borghini at the Tour of Flanders (Thomas Maheux / SWpix.com)
Liane Lippert
Movistar’s Liane Lippert has had an impressive spring so far – she’s always at the pointy end of races and rarely looks like she is suffering on the climbs. At the Tour of Flanders, she came close to dropping Kopecky with her repeated attacks and she backed this up with a respectable fifth place finish at Flèche a few days ago. The German rider was visibly dejected with her performance on Wednesday, however, something that could give her extra motivation for Liège-Bastogne-Liège this weekend. Lippert clearly has the physical strength to be contending for the podium in these races, but she needs to time her attacks well and use her energy in the right places to make it happen. She has finished in the top-10 twice before at Liège so she knows this terrain suits her.
Liane Lippert at the Tour of Flanders (Image: Tornanti)
Other contenders
Outside of the main favourites there are a number of riders who have been performing consistently well throughout this year’s Classics campaign. Principal among them is Kim Le Court of AG Insurance-Soudal Team who secured a sixth place in Flèche a few days ago. The 29-year-old could finally get the breakthrough result she is coming close to at Liège this weekend. Likewise, Niamh Fisher-Black has been steadily improving for Lidl-Trek throughout the Ardennes week – she and her teammate Shirin van Anrooij could play a part in Liège if they can find their form in time. Neve Bradbury is another option for Canyon//SRAM if Niewiadoma isn’t on her best day, while Pauline Ferrand-Prévot also returns to competition for Visma-Lease a Bike after skipping Flèche – the Paris-Roubaix Femmes winner has had a fantastic comeback season and should be suited to the parcours on Sunday.
Prediction
We’re betting on Elisa Longo Borghini from UAE Team ADQ to take victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège this weekend. The Italian rider is one of the best climbers in the women’s peloton and thrives in a tough race.
