The 57th edition of the

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 ...

road cycling race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

was held on 25 April 1971. Belgian

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 ...

concluded his second win in the monument classic, after beating his countryman

Georges Pintens Georges Pintens (born 15 October 1946 in Antwerp) is a former professional road bicycle racer from Belgium who excelled at one-day classic races during the 1960s and 1970s. Pintens most successful year was in 1971 when he captured the Belgian cl ...

in a two-man sprint.

Summary

Cycling icon

attacked solo in Rocourt, at 92 kilometers from the finish in

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 ...

, and soon had a five-minute advantage over his pursuers. In a rare display, he suffered a sudden fatigue on the Mont-Theux and was joined by

. Pintens failed to distance a tired Merckx, and Merckx managed to outsprint his fellow Belgian at the line to seal his second victory in the classic.Bouvet, Philippe (2007), De Klassiekers, Lannoo, Belgium, , p25 The race was run in harrowing weather conditions, with snow and cold rampaging the peloton. 27 of 122 starters finished the race. Years later, one of Merckx' ''soigneurs'' revealed that Merckx, suffering from exhaustion after the race, needed to shower on a chair.

Results

References

External links

1971 Liège-Bastogne-Liège
on ''bikereaceinfo.com''

(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 1971

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1971 in road cycling 1971 in Belgian sport 1971 Super Prestige Pernod