2016 Liège–Bastogne–Liège
The 2016 Liège–Bastogne–Liège was a one-day classic cycling race that took place on 24 April 2016. It was the fourth cycling monument of the 2016 season and was the thirteenth event of the 2016 UCI World Tour. The race came at the end of the spring classics season.
| 2016 UCI World Tour, race 13 of 28 | |||||||||||||
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| Race details | |||||||||||||
| Dates | 24 April 2016 | ||||||||||||
| Stages | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Distance | 248 km (154.1 mi) | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 6h 24' 29" | ||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||
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The race took place on a 248-kilometre (154 mi) route that started in Liège, headed to Bastogne and returned to Liège before ending in Ans. The route included many hills, especially in the final 70 kilometres (43 mi), which were the principal difficulty in the race. Originally the race was scheduled to take place on a 253-kilometre (157 mi) route, but due to the bad weather conditions the race was shortened. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) was the defending champion and was among the favourites for victory, following his victory in La Flèche Wallonne the previous week.
The decisive move in the race came in the final classified climb of the day, the Côte de la Rue Naniot, where Michael Albasini (Orica–GreenEDGE) initiated a four-man breakaway. The group contested the sprint for victory, with Wout Poels (Team Sky) winning ahead of Albasini and Lampre–Merida's Rui Costa.