Bernal sprints to fifth at Liege-Bastogne-Liege

  • 26 Apr 26
  • race Report

Egan Bernal took fifth place after a thrilling sprint finish from the bunch at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The Colombian rider showed his strength in the 259.5km race, making an early break, before finishing in the bunch sprint.

An early crash in the race caused the peloton to splinter, with Bernal and Laurens De Plus able to make a 50-man break inside the first 30km, racking up a three minute gap.

As the race approached the halfway point, De Plus played a major role on the front of the break, driving the pace for 20km. Attacks from the front group began to come, with Bernal responding decisively to chase down and bring the group back together.

A four-man break went clear, but with 75km remaining, the peloton was all back together, resetting the race ahead of the decisive climbs in the Ardennes.

As the peloton approached the Côte de la Redoute, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) made his attack, taking Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CDM Team) with him - enough to secure them the top two places.

Behind them, Bernal found himself in a reduced chase group of around 21 riders.

In the final kilometres, attention turned to the battle for the remaining podium spot. From the chase group, Bernal positioned himself well in the sprint and delivered a strong finish to take fifth place on the day.