The 55th running of

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 ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

classic cycling race in Belgium was held on Thursday 22 April 1969.

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (born 17 June 1945), known as Eddy Merckx (, ), is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an ...

won the race, his first of five victories in the monument classic.

Summary

Five riders were in an early breakaway, two of which were teammates of

, the young Belgian who had already won every major classic in the spring of 1969, apart from

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

. At 98 km from the finish, Merckx broke clear from the pack on the Stockeu and combined with his two teammates

Roger Swerts Roger Swerts (born 28 December 1942) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer. As an amateur he placed 18th in the individual road race at the 1964 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal at the 1965 UCI Road World Championships. He turned profes ...

and Vic Van Schil in the front of the race. Swerts was dropped, and Merckx and Van Schil powered on to

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, with Merckx doing most of the work. Merckx wanted to give the victory to his teammate, but Van Schil insisted Merckx should win.Bouvet, Philippe (2007), De Klassiekers, Lannoo, Belgium, , p25 Britain's

Barry Hoban Barry Hoban (5 February 1940 – 19 April 2025) was an English professional cyclist who rode during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He formerly held the record for the most stage wins in the Tour de France by a British rider, winning eight betw ...

won the sprint for third place, trailing eight minutes behind Merckx and Van Schil.

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 1969

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

1969 in road cycling 1969 in Belgian sport 1969 Super Prestige Pernod