The 85th 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 ...

was held on 18 April 1999. It was the fourth leg of the 1999

UCI Road World Cup The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long Road bicycle racing, road cycling competition held from 1989 until 2004 and comprising ten one-day events. The World Cup was made up of around ten Road bicycle racing, one-day races chosen from the prest ...

, held between

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' ...

and

Amstel Gold Race Amstel Gold Race may refer to: * Amstel Gold Race (men's race) The Amstel Gold Race is a one-day classic cycle races, classic road bicycle race, road cycling race held annually since 1966 Amstel Gold Race, 1966 in the province of Limburg (Netherl ...

. Belgian Frank Vandenbroucke won the race after a solo attack on the Côte de Saint-Nicolas. Dutchmen

Michael Boogerd Michael Boogerd (born 28 May 1972) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the leaders of a generation of Dutch cyclists in the late 1990s and early 2000s, together with teammate Erik Dekker and female cyclist Leontien va ...

and

Maarten den Bakker Maarten Jan den Bakker (born 26 January 1969) is a retired road bicycle racer from the Netherlands, who was a professional rider from 1990 to 2008. He won the Dutch National Road Race Championships twice and he participated in nine Tours de Fr ...

completed the podium. 71 of 191 riders finished the race.

Race Summary

Frenchman

Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 1968) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as ''"Jaja"'' (slang for a glass of wine; when he continued drinking wine as a professional, the nickname stuck ...

broke away from the peloton at from the finish but was caught later, before the

Côte de La Redoute The Côte de La Redoute is a climb, often included in the Liège–Bastogne–Liège cycle route. It is located in Wallonia in the municipality of Aywaille and its incline is 1.6 km long with an average of 9.5%. It is named after a redoubt in t ...

. On La Redoute, a duel unfolded between Frank Vandenbroucke and

Michele Bartoli Michele Bartoli (born 27 May 1970, in Pisa) is a retired Italian road racing cyclist. Bartoli was a professional cyclist from 1992 until 2004 and was one of the most successful classic cycle races, single-day classics specialists of his generati ...

. Bartoli, seeking a third consecutive win and winner of

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. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

earlier in the week, attacked on the lower slopes of the climb, before being joined by Vandenbroucke. The two riders sprinted shoulder to shoulder for 10 seconds, before Vandenbroucke broke clear on the steep upper slopes and reached the top with ten seconds on Bartoli,

and

. After the Côte de La Redoute, with three climbs remaining, a lead group of 17 riders was formed with all key contenders, apart from a worn-out Jalabert. Peter Farazijn did most of the work for his leader Vandenbroucke and countered attacks from

Paolo Bettini Paolo Bettini (born 1 April 1974) is an Italian former champion road racing cyclist, and the former coach of the Italian national cycling team. Considered the best classic cycle races, classics specialist of his generation, and probably one of th ...

and

Davide Rebellin Davide Rebellin (9 August 1971 – 30 November 2022) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1992 and 2022 for twelve different teams, taking more than sixty professional wins. He was considered one of the ...

. On the Côte de Saint-Nicolas, from the finish, Michael Boogerd attacked early on the climb, but was countered by Vandenbroucke who broke clear and powered on solo to the finish in Ans. Vandenbroucke, who was second in the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

and seventh in

in the weeks before, claimed his first and only career

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

win. Boogerd finished second at 30 seconds. Michele Bartoli was distanced by Maarten den Bakker in the final kilometre and finished a disappointing fourth.

Result

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liege-Bastogne-Liege

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

1999 in Belgian sport Liege-Bastogne-Liege 1999 in road cycling April 1999 sports events in Europe