Vollering and Pieterse put up a fight, but Le Court secures the victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège

The men's race was the Tadej Pogacar show, but in the women's race, everything was up for grabs. That had been the case all spring: every major classic was won by a new name. It was no different in the hilly classics, with Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime) winning the Amstel Gold Race and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) finishing first in Wednesday's Flèche Wallonne. Liège-Bastogne-Liège promised even more excitement.

Like the men earlier in the day, the women had difficulty forming an early breakaway. After a long battle, with plenty of attacks, chases, and so on, eight women stood out from the pack: Dutch riders Laura Molenaar (VolkerWessels) and Sylvie Swinkels (Roland) were joined by Constance Valentin (Winspace), Tiril Jorgensen (Coop-Repsol), Victorie Guilman (Cofidis), Danielle de Francesco (Arkéa), Solbjork Minke Anderson (Uno-X) and Fariba Hashimi (CERATIZIT). However, the leading group did not gain more than three minutes, as FDJ-SUEZ did not let them get far ahead.

On the Côte de Stockeu, only four of the eight remained, but with 70 kilometers to go, the last breakaway riders were caught. It was then Maeva Squiban who took off. The French rider from UAE Team ADQ wanted to try her luck in a solo breakaway, and she did so brilliantly. She gained more than a minute, but it was clear that this breakaway would not last long either. She made it to the foot of La Redoute, but that was it. On the final climb, it took a while before anyone attacked. Elisa Longo Borghini paid the price for her efforts: she had to let go and saw her chances of victory go up in smoke.

After the steep climb, Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) tried to break away. She opened up a nice gap but later joined Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon // SRAM), Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education - Oatly), and Anna van der Breggen. A spectator also briefly joined the breakaway, but the 'fan' was efficiently pushed aside by a motorcyclist. The strong leading group caused concern among the chasers, with FDJ-SUEZ again taking responsibility for setting the pace. Elise Chabbey gave it her all, but on the Côte des Forges, the gap was still not closed.

The four leaders continued to increase their lead but kept an eye on each other. Rooijakkers was not riding with them, and van der Breggen was a little done with it. There was a lot of disagreement among the leaders, but things were not going well in the chasing group either. Movistar finally took responsibility before the Roche-Aux-Faucons, the last climb of the day. The four riders started the difficult climb with a lead of about 15 seconds. Van der Breggen pushed on, but the favorites quickly closed the gap.

In a single move, the gap was closed, thanks to Rooijakkers, who dropped back for her leader Pieterse. It marked the end for Kasia Niewiadoma, Marlen Reusser, and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. Pieterse was the first of the favorites to make a move, but Vollering took over. She pushed hard, and only Pieterse, Kerbaol, and Kopecky could follow, albeit with great difficulty. The four of them reached the top, after which Kerbaol continued alone. The Frenchwoman was the underdog and took advantage of the bickering among the favorites.

The three chasers did not work together, allowing Reusser to return. She wanted to continue, but there was no cooperation. Yet Pieterse can never sit still. She pushed hard on the slopes of the Roche-Aux-Faucons and shook off Kopecky. The strong Kimberley Le Court had joined the chasers, and they were now working together, especially since the world champion had been dropped. The three of them managed to catch up with the EF Education - Oatly rider, who could not keep up with the chasers on her own. The gap with the chasers was large but not insurmountable.

The four at the front had to continue to work together to stay ahead of the second group, where Van der Breggen played a domestique role. But the descent in the final phase secured their lead, so it came down to chance in the final kilometer. Vollering took the lead and was the first to sprint. The extremely fast Le Court overtook her, leaving Pieterse and Vollering behind in second and third place.