Liege-Bastogne-Liege Challenge and Pro Race

Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2018

Sportive Sat April 21, Pro race Sun April 22, 2018

Duration: 3 Nights Distance: Various distances

Liege-Bastogne-Liege is the oldest of cycling’s classics. First run in 1892, Liege Bastogne Liege, or LBL, takes you through the hilliest parts of Belgium, along routes typical of the Ardennes. Join us for a weekend riding the Liege Bastogne Liege Challenge on the Saturday ahead of watching the professionals on the Sunday. Hotel only, overland bike transport and VIP and Hospitality options.

Bookings for this event will open shortly

DETAILS
Liege Bastogne Liege is nicknamed ‘La Doyenne’ as it is the oldest race out of the classics which is still taking place today. Don’t be fooled and think that Belgium is flat. This race takes in plenty of steep, hilly sections and makes for some dramatic racing.

The king of the classics Alejandro Valverde followed up on his mid-week Fleche Wallone win with yet another win at Liege Bastogne Liege

VIP HOSPITALITY AT THE START AND THE FINISH NOW ALSO AVAILABLE _ CLICK HERE

Liège offers a wealth of tourist, cultural and commercial attractions all year round. With a great selection of museums, shows, exhibitions, concerts and gastronomic delights. Liege to us though is best known for its cycling heritage. Liege will also welcome the Tour de France in July 2017. You can still be there as we offer a5 star city centre hotel with exclusive VIP hospitality – more information about the 2017 Tour de France in Liege here

Prices – Brussels arrival and self-drive

£479 based on 2 people sharing a twin or double room
£199 supplement for the sole occupancy of a single room

What’s Included:
- A Sports Tours International cycling jersey made by Santini – More information here
- A safe pair of hands – More information
- Entry pack delivered to your hotel if booked with us
- 3 nights hotel accommodation at the 4 star Ramada Plaza Liege
- 3 breakfasts at convenient times for the events
- 2 evening meals Friday and Saturday so you can go out in liege on Sunday
- All hotel taxes
- Airport transfers (Brussels arrivals)
- The services of our Sports Tours International staff
- Transport to various viewing locations on Pro Race day
- Bike storage at the hotel in your room
What’s not included:
- Entry into Liege Bastogne Liege Challenge available. Prices and details below
- Door to door overland bike transport from the UK – £125 per bike – More information
- Bike rental – £129 (Trek Carbon 105), £189 (Trek Carbon Ultegra) – More information
- Travel insurance – please visit our insurance page
- VIP access and Hospitality – More information
2018 EARLY BOOKING DEAL ON DOOR TO DOOR OVERLAND BIKE TRANSFER FROM THE UK – BOOK BEFORE 31 DECEMBER 2017 AND GET £25 OFF IF BOOKED WITH OUR TRAVEL PACKAGE

Liege Bastogne Liege Challenge START & FINISH

Halles des Foires de Liège within 10 minutes from our hotel.

You can start at the below times:
- £40 – 271 km: between 06:30am & 7:30am
- £35 – 158 km: between 06:30am & 9:30am
- £30 – 76 km: between 08:00am & 10:00am
The finish in Liège will be closed officially at 8pm.

Included with your entry:
- Event insurance (helmet is compulsory)
- Plenty of provisions en route including sports drinks, fruit and snacks
- Timing and video-recording with chip on 3 climbs
- Technical and medical service
- An itinerary
- Massage at finish
- An exclusive medal and certificate
- LBL Challenge t-shirt
- €5 deposit for timing chip, refunded at the finish
Grand Prix Montagne (GPM)

Your personal time on the the timed ascent and your personal video at the top will be electronically registered on 3 mythical climbs: La Redoute, Roche-aux-Faucons and Saint-Nicolas. This will be done with the chip that’s attached to your race number which will be provided with your entry pack.
- Côte de Stockeu : 1000m – 11,0%
- Col du Rosier : 3900m – 6,0%
- Côte de La Redoute : 1900m – 8,0%
- Côte de la Roche aux Faucons : 1400m – 9,9%
- Côte de Saint-Nicolas : 1200m – 7,6%
Via ‘My LBL Challenge’, you can then see your times and your position compared to other riders.

Please note:

Due to road works near Stavelot the course of the Liege Bastogne Liege Challenge and professional race has had to be adapted. The route of the 103rd edition of La Doyenne will now lose the well-known triptych of the Côte de Wanne, Stockeu and Haute Levée and in its place there will be the 3 lesser known slopes of the Côte de Pont, Cote Bellevaux and the Ferme Libert before tackling the Col du Rosier. This won’t make the challenge any easier, as the Ferme Libert has an average gradient of 12.4% and is one of the toughest slopes in Belgium.

Read More

Watch the pros:

Alejandro valverde won Liege Bastogne Liege yet again. He made his move on the final climb at just the right moment. Anna vd Breggen performed the extraordinary feat of winning all 3 Ardennes Classics by winning the inaugural Liege Bastogne Liege women’s race. She had already won Amstel Gold and Fleche Wallone.

Previous LBL winners include Bernard Hinault, who pulled off a memorable solo breakaway in 1980, won amidst blizzard conditions; Eddy Merckx, having managed five victories in a seven year span from 1969 to 1975, including three in a row; Moreno Argentin, Italy’s maestro, with four wins between 1985 and 1991. Others include cycling legends such as Ferdi Kubler, Josef Fuchs, Sean Kelly, Rolf Sorensen, Adri Van der Poel, Jacques Anquetil, Laurent Jalabert, Alexandre Vinokourov and Alejandro Valverde.

Ride the route:

Be a part of LBL’s rich cycling history and join us for the 2018 Liege Bastogne Liege at the end of April in 2018. You have the opportunity to ride the amateur event on the Saturday with 271km, 158km and 76km distances available and we will guide you to the best vantage points to watch the LBL Pro race on the Sunday. Join us on this weekend travel package to the 2018 Liege Bastogne Liege sportive and pro race. You can find a detailed day-to-day itinerary about your trip away on the travel package tab.

TESTIMONIALS

"2016 Liege Bastogne Liege"

It is some 14 years since I last went on one of your tours which at that time was with Graham Baxter. I have just returned from this weekend’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege trip and I wish to tell you how much my colleague and I enjoyed the experience. This enjoyment, (not blighted in any way by the effort of having to cycle!) was in large part due to your staff. The team of Roy, Dave and driver Simon were excellent. They were very competent and friendly and went the `extra mile` to ensure that the weekend was a success.
Two very satisfied customers thanks to them and the organisation behind them.
Best wishes,
Bob

Bob - April 27, 2016

"2017 Liege Bastogne Liege"

Just wanted to thank you and Sports Tours International for the brilliant weekend we have just had!

I'm a bit of a newbie in regards to cycling but Lee has been a keen cyclist for some time. It was great to be right in the crowd as the race went past and soak up the atmosphere and excitement! And it's even inspired us to get out more on the bikes!

The guides; Dave, Darryl and Roy (I hope I've got that right!) were great, the driver Paul did a sterling job and we were impressed how everything went so well to time, like clockwork and we were able to station ourselves strategically along the route to get a great view.

We were able to explore Liege, which was lovely - we even managed the famous 380-odd steps up to the citadel to witness the great views across the city from the top!

Thank you again, for what was a lovely surprise and turned out to be a great trip!

Fay - April 25, 2017
ITINERARY
Friday April 20 2018 – Arrival day – Contact us for extra night stays

We’ll be staying at the centrally located hotel in Liege namely the Ramada Plaza Liege on a half board basis so you will have breakfasts and evening meals included. Although we have left the Sunday night free as a night for you to go out for an evening meal in Liege. On Sunday we will also provide you with a packed lunch as we may have limited time to stop for lunch. For those of you who have bought an entry through us, we will hand out your race numbers for tomorrow’s amateur event to you this evening. You are allowed to keep your bike in your room with you. The rooms are nice and spacious.

If you have rented a bike or you have made use of our overland bike transport service then your bike will be available for you this evening at the hotel.

Brussels airport arrivals

If you want to come and join us in Belgium through Brussels airport, we will be running 2 transfers from the airport to our hotel in Liege, at 12.00 and at 19.00. Please advise us of your flight details at the time of booking and we will come and collect you from Brussels airport at the above times only.

Self drive arrivals

Alternatively make your own way to the Hotel Ramada Plaza. Don’t forget to arrange your parking directly with the hotel in advance.

Don’t want to fly with your bike?

Make use of our bike rentals or overland bike transport –
- Door to door overland bike transport from the UK – £125 per bike – More information
- Bike rental – £129 (Trek Carbon 105), £189 (Trek Carbon Ultegra) – More information
Saturday April 21, 2018 – 2018 Liege Bastogne Liege Challenge

After an early breakfast, ride the short distance from the hotel to the start. There will be the option of taking part in either the 271km, 158km or 76km events. For those not riding the sportive the day will be at leisure in the city of Liege. As the start and finish are so near it is easy to get to the start in the morning and back to the hotel straight after the finish. We will provide an additional feed and mechanical stop en route with our support minibus. After the Challenge, we will have dinner together at the hotel and our reps will brief you about tomorrow’s Pro event.

Sunday April 22, 2018 – 2018 Liege Bastogne Liege

Our location in Liege is ideal for accessing the start area where you will be able to see the teams arrive, after which we take you to numerous points along the route to get as many sightings of the race as we can, including the steep hills of the Cote St Roch, Cote de Wanne, Cote de Wanneville, Cote de La Redoute and the finish in Ans.

VIP HOSPITALITY AT THE START AND THE FINISH NOW ALSO AVAILABLE _ CLICK HERE

Below you will find a short itinerary of today’s schedule:
- Registration and start area: Place Saint-Lambert, Liege at 15 minutes walking distance from the Ramada Hotel
- Rider’s signing on: From 8h55 until 10h05
- Final call at 10h10
- ‘Départ fictif’ at 10h15, place Saint-Lambert
- Official start at 10h30, after a 7,3 km procession from the start and registration area
After watching the start we will return to the hotel to get on the coach and we will take you to various vantage points en-route. No need to worry about lunch as we will bring it with us. The finish of the 2018 Liege Bastogne Liege is likely to be in Ans again which is only 5km from the hotel. After watching the finish, we will take you the short distance back to the hotel and the evening is free for an evening meal out in Liege.

Monday April 23, 2018 – Airport Departures

We will run one transfer to Brussels Airport, leaving at 10:00. Please book a flight to depart after 13:00.
HOTELS & PRICING

Ramada Plaza Liege

The hotel is a beautifully converted 17th Century convent located in the historic city centre on the banks of the river La Meuse. This centrally located, 4-star hotel is less ...

Liege-Bastogne-Liege Challenge and Pro Race Hotels

Ramada Plaza Liege

The hotel is a beautifully converted 17th Century convent located in the historic city centre on the banks of the river La Meuse. This centrally located, 4-star hotel is less than a 15 minutes walk from the central station and shopping area. There is FREE WiFi internet access for all guests.

Bikes are allowed to be kept in your room as the rooms are spacious.

The hotel is located a mile away from the start and finish of all sportive distances of the 2016 Liege Bastogne Liege Challenge. Motorways to Germany, Holland, France, Luxembourg, Brussels and Liege are accessible within a short space of time and there is on-site parking for guests.

Liège offers a wealth of tourist, cultural and commercial attractions all year round. With a great selection of museums, shows, exhibitions, concerts and gastronomic delights.
IMPORTANT INFO

How to Book

Click on the Book Now at the top of the page. At time of booking we require a non-refundable deposit per person plus any applicable entry fee. The balance of your travel package must be paid, at the latest, 12 weeks before departure to avoid the cancellation of your trip. Please look here for our full booking conditions

Single travellers and twin to share

We welcome single travellers on our tours and holidays as it is a great way to join a like-minded group of people and you will make lots of new friends. If you would like to join our group as a single traveller we can offer you two options. A single room or if you want to avoid the single supplement then you can make use of our ‘twin to share’ option. We will pair you up with another traveller (of the same sex) and you can enjoy the event without having to pay extra.

General, visa, passport and health information

For passport and visa information, please check the relevant section on this page.General Travel and health Information for your destination is available on the FCO website. Please note that this information relates to UK passport holders only and that other nationalities should refer to their own authorities for this information.

Travel Insurance

For details of specialist sports travel insurance for our travel packages, please visit our insurance page. You must ensure that your travel insurance policy covers you to participate in cycling events if you will be doing so. There is additional information about our other Concierge Services on our special web page.
GALLERY
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ASK A QUESTION

Previous Question

Q. I am a single traveller, is this trip for me?

A.
Every year we find lots of people decide to travel to Liege-Bastogne-Liege on their own. If you are a single traveller and want to join our group or want to take part in this great event, use our 'twin to share' option. We will pair you up with another person so you don't have to pay the sole occupancy supplement.

Q. Can I bring friends or family if they're not riding?

A.
Friends and family are more than welcome to join you on this trip. If they're not riding the challenge on Saturday, they can either head out onto the course in our support vehicle, or spend the day exploring Liege.

Q. Do I need a medical certificate?

A.
No, you don't need a medical certificate for the Liege-Bastogne-Liege challenge.

Q. Can I change the distance I'm riding?

A.
Your challenge entry allows you to drop down to a shorter distance. As all three distances set off from the same point, you can change your mind up to the very last minute, depending on how you feel on the day.

Q. How do I enter the Liege-Bastogne-Liege challenge?

A.
Simply select the distance you want to ride when you book your trip. We will collect your race number and pack, and bring them to your hotel.

Q. Is bike hire available?

A.
Yes. You can add a rental bike when you book, or contact us directly to add bike hire to your booking.

Ask a Question
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