Liege-Bastogne-Liege rerouted due to snowfall
The team cars noticed how bad the situation was along the course as they made their way towards the feed zones. The visibility was very poor and the roads close to impracticable.
At 11:30 AM local time, one hour into the race itself, the organizers decided to change the course in order to avoid the worst of these snow-affected areas. As a result, the riders left the original route at KM 45 and joined it again 30 KM later. Overall, the peloton took a more direct route south so the course is now 248 KM long as opposed to the initial 253 KM.
Given that the reroute happened before the first climb of the day, Côte de La Roche-en-Ardenne, it did not have any significant impact on the race and on the team tactics.
The riders`association representative for the race is Kristof Vandewalle, but as he was not present, Cristian Salvato took the responsibility. He was called repeatedly in the morning by teams regarding the snowfall. However, the race organizers took their time and made a decision while the race was unfolding, not before.
Vandewalle had his say on the matter: “It made no sense to make the decision before the start. There was no thick layer of snow then – any decision had to be made during the race. It changes quickly out there. They were well prepared. The race organizers took it really seriously, they will not make any stupid decision – we can trust them.”
