The Ardennes classics
are three
cycling classics held in mid-April in the Belgian
Ardennes and
southern Limburg in the Netherlands:
Liège–Bastogne–Liège
Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five '' Monuments'' of the European professional ...
,
La Flèche Wallonne
La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium.
The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week betw ...
and
Amstel Gold Race
The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic road cycling race held in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classic ...
. First held in 1892, 1936 and 1966 respectively, 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 specialized in these hilly courses are known as
puncheur
A puncheur or puncher is a road bicycle racer who specialises in rolling terrain with short but steep climbs.
The ideal races for this type of rider are one-day spring classics, which are characterized by multiple hills with a 10–20% gradient ...
s. In recent years, the three classics have been held within an 8-day timeframe.
Since the late 2010s, all three of the men's races have been joined by equivalent races on the women's circuit:
Amstel Gold Race for Women,
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine is a professional women's bicycle road race held each year in Wallonia, Belgium, in April. It is part of the UCI Women's World Tour, cycling's season-long competition of top-tier races, in which it is the third-old ...
and
Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes
Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes is the women's event of Liège–Bastogne–Liège, an annual road bicycle racing event in Wallonia, Belgium, held in late April. The inaugural race, won by Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen, was run on 23 Ap ...
.
History
Prior, there was already a points classification for the Belgian Ardennes classics, called
Ardennes Weekend (combining La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège).
With the introduction of the Amstel Gold race, originally between both races, the period between the Belgian classics was extended to 1,5 week. Since then, the original points classification became unofficial.
The only male winners of the "triple" are
Davide Rebellin
Davide Rebellin (9 August 1971 – 30 November 2022) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI Continental team . He was considered one of the finest classics specialists of his generation with more than fifty top t ...
in 2004 (who was later banned for doping) and
Philippe Gilbert
Philippe Gilbert (born 5 July 1982) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships in 2012, and for being one of two riders, along with Davide Rebellin, to have won the three ...
in 2011. Gilbert also won the
Brabantse Pijl
The Brabantse Pijl ( en, Brabant Arrow, french: italic=yes, Flèche Brabançonne or ''Flèche Branconne'') is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race held annually in Flemish Brabant and in Walloon Brabant, Belgium. Since 2005, the race has been or ...
, 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
Danilo Di Luca (born 2 January 1976) is a former Italy, Italian professional road racing cyclist, best known for winning the 2007 Giro d'Italia, but also for several positive doping tests, the last of which resulting in a lifetime ban from the sp ...
(who later received a lifetime ban for doping),
Michele Bartoli
Michele Bartoli (born 27 May 1970, in Pisa) is a retired Italian road racing cyclist. Bartoli was a professional from 1992 until 2004 and was one of the most successful single-day classics specialists of his generation, especially in the Italia ...
,
Eddy Merckx
Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...
and
Bernard Hinault
Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...
.
In 2017, women's races for all three of the Ardennes classics were held for the first time, with
Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes
Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes is the women's event of Liège–Bastogne–Liège, an annual road bicycle racing event in Wallonia, Belgium, held in late April. The inaugural race, won by Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen, was run on 23 Ap ...
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
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine is a professional women's bicycle road race held each year in Wallonia, Belgium, in April. It is part of the UCI Women's World Tour, cycling's season-long competition of top-tier races, in which it is the third-old ...
, which has been held since 1998.
Anna van der Breggen
Anna van der Breggen (born 18 April 1990) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2021 for Team Flexpoint, , and . She won the gold medal in the women's road race at the 2016 Summer Olympics ...
immediately clinched the triple by winning all three races, being followed by team-mate
Lizzie Deignan
Elizabeth Mary Deignan (née Armitstead; born 18 December 1988) is an English professional world champion track and road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . She was the 2015 World road race champion.
Deignan is ...
in second and
Katarzyna Niewiadoma
Katarzyna "Kasia" Niewiadoma (born 29 September 1994) is a Polish racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Among her wins are the Amstel Gold Race, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and the stage race The Women's Tour. She is a former nati ...
in third in all three events.
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
The cobbled classics are four cycling classics held in March and April. Cobblestones, like mountainous terrain, are important elements in courses of cycling. Many classic cycle races in northwestern Europe contain cobbled sections. The two Monume ...
.
Later in the year, there are two similar 'trebles' in Italy: the
Trittico Lombardo with the
Tre Valli Varesine
The Tre Valli Varesine is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Varese, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour.
It is usually the first and most important race of Trittico Lombardo, which con ...
,
Coppa Ugo Agostoni
The Coppa Ugo Agostoni is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Lissone, Italy. The race is held in memory of Italian cyclist Ugo Agostoni, winner of prestigious classic Milan–San Remo, killed during World War II. It is also called ''Gi ...
and
Coppa Bernocchi
The Coppa Bernocchi is a European bicycle race held in Legnano, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.
In 1919 the business magnate Antonio Bernocchi founded the Coppa Bernocchi (or Bernocchi Cup ...
in the
Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
Region, and the
Trittico di Autunno (Autumn Triptych) with
Milano–Torino
Milano–Torino is a semi classic European single day cycling race, between the northern Italian cities of Milan and Turin over a distance of 199 kilometres. The event was first run in 1876 making it the oldest classic race in the world. The ev ...
,
Giro del Piemonte
The Giro del Piemonte, since 2009 known also as Gran Piemonte, is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Apennine Mountains, Italy. The race first took place in 1906. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Eu ...
and
Giro di Lombardia
The Giro di Lombardia ( en, Tour of Lombardy), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five ' Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in ...
.
Winners since 1966
Statistics
* Active cyclists marked in bold.
Most Ardennes classics wins per male rider
Most Ardennes classics wins per female rider
See also
*
Cobbled classics
The cobbled classics are four cycling classics held in March and April. Cobblestones, like mountainous terrain, are important elements in courses of cycling. Many classic cycle races in northwestern Europe contain cobbled sections. The two Monume ...
*
Classic cycle races
The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most ...
References
{{Road bicycle racing
*
*
*
Sport in Wallonia
Cycling in Limburg (Netherlands)
South Limburg (Netherlands)
Ardennes