Racing

Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2015 preview: the key climbs

Where Sunday's Monument will be won or lost

Cote de la Haute-Levee

Philippe Gilbert battles his way up the Stockeu last year, one of the key climbs in Liege-Bastogne-Liege (Pic: Sirotti)
The Cote de Stockeu may be short - but it's very steep (Pic: Sirotti)
The Stockeu wounds you, but it is the Haute-Levee that finishes you off - just ask Joaquim Rodriguez, who was dropped on the ascent last year (pic: Sirotti)
Julien Arredondo goes deep as he battles with Jan Bakelants on La Redoute (pic: Sirotti)
The residential street of the Cote de Saint-Nicolas may not look pretty but it offers a last chance for a solo attack (pic: Sirotti)
Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha, left) and Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin, right) race up the final, uncategorised ascent at Liege-Bastogne-Liege (Pic: Sirotti)

Cote de la Haute-Levee

If the Stockeu is the climb which wounds you, it is the Haute-Levee that finishes you off, and it’s often where strong teams will hit the front hard to rid the peloton of any stragglers.

Though slightly shorter than the Col du Rosier which follows, and not quite as steep, it is the proximity of the Haute-Levee to the Stockeu that makes it such a killer.

After the rapid descent of the Stockeu, the climb rises up again almost immediately and continues for 3.6km, with the 13 per cent gradient offering the perfect platform for riders on the front to lift the pace.

The gradient does relax to give an average of 5.6 per cent, but with a number of false flats you can expect teams to really put the hurt on any struggling rivals.

By the time the peloton has crested the Haute-Levee, any out-of-form riders are likely to be well out of the back, never to return, before the Col du Rosier, the race’s longest climb, further weakens the resolve of both the breakaway and any stragglers.