The 109th running of Liège-Bastogne-Liège will take place on April 23, 2023. The course will cover 258.5 kilometres. Starting in the centre of Liège, the first half of the race is relatively flat as it heads south towards Bastogne, before returning to Liège over hilly 160 kilometres.
Eight of the 11 categorised climbs are packed into the final 85 kilometres. The trio of Côte de Wanne, Côte de Stockeu and Côte de la Haute-Levée, concentrated on 15 kilometres, will take the first major toll of the peloton.
The final four ascents begin at Côte de Desnié, which was added in 2021. The 1.6-km climb, averaging 8.1 per cent, has a particularly stinging section halfway up. Then the peloton reaches the Redoute, the most famous, and difficult of the categorised climbs, as it averages almost 10 per cent. Adding what the organisers called a subtlety, the uncategorised climb, the Côte de Cornémont, injects a new twist just after la Redoute.
After a one-year hiatus, the Côte des Forges, at 1,300 metres long and averaging 7.8 per cent returns as the penultimate climb. Leading into the final climb, the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons at just 1.3km in length but with an 11 per cent gradient. A short descent to a false flat follows, with another short incline before the final blast along a fast 10km through Liège to a flat finish.
Last year, Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) launched the winning move on the Côte de la Redoute with 29km to go and soloed in for victory.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège climbs
- Côte de La Roche-en-Ardenne (km 69.7/188.4 km to go) - 2.8km climb at 6.2%
- Côte de Saint-Roch (km 120.9/137.3 km to go) - 1km climb at 11.2%
- Côte de Mont-le-Soie (km 164.8/93.3 km to go) - 1.7km climb at 7.9%
- Côte de Wanne (km 173.1/85 km to go) - 3.6km climb at 5.1%
- Côte de Stockeu (km 179.6/78.5 km to go) - 1km climb at 12.5%
- Côte de la Haute-Levée (km 183.8/74.3 km to go) - 2.2km climb at 7.5%
- Col du Rosier (km 198.1/60 km to go) - 4.4km climb at 5.9%
- Côte de Desnié (km 211.4/46.7 km to go) - 1.6km climb at 8.1%
- Côte de la Redoute (km 224.2/33.9 km to go) - 1.6km climb at 9.4%
- Côte des Forges (km 234.8/23.3 km to go) - 1.3km climb at 7.8%
- Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (km 244.8/13.3 km to go) - 1.3km at 11%
