ALAPHILIPPE CELEBRATES EARLY LOSES MONUMENT — 2020 LIEGE-BASTOGNE-LIEGE RESULTS

Redemption for Roglic

Primoz Roglic (SLO - Team Jumbo - Visma) - Julian Alaphilippe (FRA - Deceuninck - Quick Step)

Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic pipped an already celebrating Julian Alaphilippe to the line Sunday at cycling’s top Belgian one-day classic Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The epic 160-mile run through the Ardennes culminated with four of the hottest racers in the world contesting the finish, with Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar and Swiss Marc Hirschi in the mix.

Alaphilippe moved left from a lead position to knock Hirschi and Pogacar out of contention but as the Frenchman raised his arms, Roglic continued racing and beat the Frenchman over the line. He was then relegated to fifth by race officials.

“He moved, hit my wheel, that can happen,” said Hirschi.

That left three Slovenians in the top four with Pogacar second and Matej Mohoric fourth behind Hirschi.

The win marks a redemption for Roglic, who led the Tour de France for two weeks before a final-day meltdown. Instead of going under, the former ski-jumper can now close his season with a prestige win.

“It’s unbelievable. It was so close. It goes to show you can never stop believing and never stop pushing until the last centimetre,” said the 30-year-old Roglic.

“It was the first time I did the oldest race in the calendar. It was on my wish list to win a Monument. I’m super happy I managed to win,” he said.

Former soldier Alaphilippe took the defeat on the chin. “I made a mistake and I have to take full responsibility for it,” said the Frenchman who might have been more embarrassed to stand on the podium, without the decision to strip him of second place.

“The only thing to do is get on with the next race now,” said Alaphilippe, who rides for Belgian team Deceuninck-Quick Step.

The five Monuments are the very long one day races with Milan-San Remo, Paris Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders and the Giro Di Lombardia.

LIEGE-BASTOGNE-LIEGE RESULTS

1	ROGLIČ Primož	Team Jumbo-Visma	6:32:02
2	HIRSCHI Marc	Team Sunweb	,,
3	POGAČAR Tadej	UAE-Team Emirates	,,
4	MOHORIČ Matej	Bahrain – McLaren	,,
5	ALAPHILIPPE Julian	Deceuninck – Quick Step	,,
6	VAN DER POEL Mathieu	Alpecin-Fenix	0:14
7	WOODS Michael	EF Pro Cycling	,,
8	BENOOT Tiesj	Team Sunweb	,,
9	BARGUIL Warren	Team Arkéa Samsic	,,
10	KWIATKOWSKI Michał	INEOS Grenadiers	,,

Marc Hirschi (SUI – Team Sunweb) – Primoz Roglic (SLO – Team Jumbo – Visma) – Tadej Pogacar (SLO – UAE – Team Emirates)

RBA/AFP Photos: Bettini