Former winner Wout Poels not racing Luik-Bastenaken-Luik with Unibet Rose Rockets
Unibet Rose Rockets can at least look forward to the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and La Flèche Wallonne this spring. Bas Tietema's team has also secured a wildcard for the Walloon one-day race. However, participation in Liège-Bastogne-Liège is off the table, which is a bitter pill, especially for former winner Wout Poels.
The 38-year-old Dutchman cherishes very fond memories of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, having won the Walloon classic in harsh weather conditions ten years ago. The climber beat Michael Albasini and Rui Costa in a sprint while riding for Team Sky, marking perhaps the biggest victory of his career.
However, the Limburg native will not get the chance to race 'La Doyenne' with his new teammates at Unibet Rose Rockets, as the organizers have favored the Spanish ProTeams Burgos BH, Caja Rural Seguros-RGA, Equipo Kern Pharma, and TotalEnergies. Three other ProTeams - Cofidis, Pinarello-Q36.5, and Tudor Pro Cycling - had already secured entries.
All eighteen WorldTeams will line up at the start of the monumental classic at the end of April, which was won last year by Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian soloed impressively in his rainbow jersey to claim his third Liège victory, having also won the editions of 2021 and 2024.
Invitation for VolkerWessels
Organizer ASO also announced on Wednesday which teams will participate in the women's Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Besides the fourteen WorldTeams, the following ProTeams will take part: Cofidis, Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi, Lotto-Intermarché Ladies, Ma Petite Entreprise, Mayenne Monbana My Pie, St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93, and the Dutch team VolkerWessels.
