Liège-Bastogne-Liège may be missing one of its most well-known climbs, the côte de la Redoute. The organizers have decided the current approach, due to some road work, is too dangerous. The Stockeu will also be dropped.
La Redoute, situated a little more than 30km from the finish, has often been one of the most decisive climbs. It is 2.1 kilometers long with an average gradient of 8.4 percent. RTBF reports that the only way to get the famous climb back in is if the road work has been finished by then.
Instead of going up Stockeu, the race will go around and then climb the Haute-Levée, thus breaking the famous triple of Wanne, Stockeu, Haute-Levée.
To make up for the lack of leg breakers, ASO, the organizer of the race, decided to bring back the côte des Forges instead. This climb has featured in the past, such as in 1999, when the late Frank Vandenbroucke won the race.The Forges will be after the Redoute, approximately 25km from the finish.
The côte des Forges lives in the history books of the Tour de France. The climb was featured in stage seven of the 1995 Tour de France that started in Charleroi and finished in Liège, Belgium. The climb was situated around 16 kilometers from the finish, and is where Johan Bruyneel, who is now at the helm of Lance Armstrong’s RadioShack team, managed to stay with Tour legend Miguel Indurain as he powered to the finish line.
Bruyneel sat in behind Indurain as Bruyneel’s teammate, Laurent Jalabert, was vying for overall victory. Bruyneel later said “It was like sitting behind a motorbike.” The stage ended with the Belgian taking the stage win and the yellow jersey in his home country. The Spaniard would take the jersey from Bruyneel the following day, and keep it all the way to Paris for what would be his fifth and final Tour victory.
The exact route will be announced in the spring and hopefully by then the roadwork has been completed, so that La Redoute can be included after all.