Preview: Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The final spring classic sees puncheurs and climbers battle in the Ardennes

The last Ardennes classic and fourth monument of the season can be considered the climax and finale of the spring classics. La Doyenne, as it's known, is a race suited to the puncheurs and climbers, which every year brings in very illustrious startlists.

Liége-Bastogne-Liège is the Ardennes classic that suits the climbers the most, having almost 4300 meters on the menu and although it doesn’t feature any mountain, there are some longer ascents to tackle which can be used to drain the energy of the more explosive riders.

A lot of it comes in the final 100 kilometers. There will begin a long sequence of climbs, with virtually no flat roads inbetween. With 75 kilometers to go you have the steepest climb of the day the Côte du Stockeau (1km at 12.8%) and the longest which is the Col du Rosier (4km at 5.7%) with 56 kilometers to go. With 42.5Km to go there’s the Côte de Desnié (1.6Km at 7.5%), and the penultimate climb is the Côte de la Redoute which summits with 29 kilometers to go. It is 2 kilometers long at 8.6% and can set things up for those looking to make the race hard, it’s a narrow climb which can see dangerous attacks too.

The decisive point of the race will be the Côte de la Roche Aux Faucons. It is the final climb of the day, and the small hilltop afterwards can be just as crucial for the race. It is 1.3Km long at 10.5%, it summits with 13 kilometers to go. There are only some seconds of rest before a small second hilltop which has 1,2Km at 6.3% (10 kilometers to the finish). This is a weird combination of climbs, where riders risk cracking on the second if they go all-out to make the differences in the first climb. If they save up for the last hilltop, they risk carrying a big group in the wheel, the tactics can be very interesting.

The descent afterwards to Liége is very fast and doesn’t allow for big recoveries. As it almost goes to the final kilometer, it is also complicated to attack, in which a sprint is to be expected if there isn't any rider off the front.

CyclingUpTodate prediction:

**** Julian Alaphilippe, Wout van Aert

*** Dylan Teuns, Alejandro Valverde, Matej Mohoric,

** Daniel Martínez, Aleksandr Vlasov, Remco Evenepoel, Michael Woods

* Tiesj Benoot, Romain Bardet, Benoît Cosnefroy, Warren Barguil, Michal Kwiatkowski, Tom Pidcock

You will be able to keep up with the race here on CyclingUpToDate as we bring you the race report and interviews surrounding Paris-Roubaix.