Vollering secures Ardennes classics triple with Li�ge win

Sun, Apr 23, 2023
Other News (AP)

LIEGE, Belgium (AP) - Demi Vollering completed a prestigious hat trick of wins in the Ardennes classics as she claimed victory in Li�ge-Bastogne-Li�ge on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Dutch rider also triumphed in the Amstel Gold Race and Fl�che Wallonne this year, following in the footsteps of her sports director at the SD Worx team, Anna van der Breggen, who also achieved the feat in 2017.

Off to a terrific start to the season, two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar also aims for the rare triple when he takes on defending champion and local favorite Remco Evenepoel in the men's race. Only the late Davide Rebellin and Philippe Gilbert have managed to win the Amstel, the Fl�che and cycling's oldest classic in succession during the same season on the men's tour.

Li�ge-Bastogne-Li�ge - also known as La Doyenne - is one of the "monuments" of cycling, the five most prestigious one-day events in the sport, along with the Tour of Flanders, Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Lombardy.

Vollering outsprinted Elisa Longo Borghini to win the hilly 142.8-kilometer race for the second time in her career and claim a fifth win this season. Vollering's teammate Marlen Reusser was third, 22 seconds off the pace.

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Longo Borghini and Vollering attacked from a reduced group of riders in the final ascent of the day and built a 23-second lead coming into the last five kilometers. Longo Borghini launched the final sprint 150 meters from the finish line but Vollering's raw power was too much for her to handle.

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