Race organizer ASO today announced course changes for the women's peloton of La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Fém, with the final race of the Ardennes Classics on April 24, where riders will travel to Liège to take on the Côte de Mont-le Soie for the first time.

Team SD Works won the title last year with Anna van der Breggen taking her seventh win in Huy and Demi Vollering taking the title in Liège. Van der Breggen has since retired from competition, leaving the top step of the podium vacant for the 24 teams nominated to the starting line of the Fleche Wallonne Femme. The same lineup of competitors was invited to Liège - Bastogne - Liège.

All 14 Women's WorldTour teams have been selected to compete in both races in Belgium, with 10 Continental teams also receiving invitations. Out of the Continental teams was Serratigit-WNT Pro Cycling, which finished 12th overall, one of the top three Continental teams in the 2021 world rankings.

Two Continental teams, Valcar Travel & Service and Parkhotel Valkenburg, were listed by the organizers as teams with a confirmed automatic bid.

In the 25th edition of the Fresh Wallonne, the first of the three passes over the Mur de Huy comes 27.5 km earlier than last year, 70 km after the 133.4 km course. Before that, the Côte de Chérave and Côte d'Eref will be passed twice each. The combination of climbs on the final two laps of the course, each 31.2 km long, is the same as the men's course, which this year does not include the Côte du Chemin des Gues.

Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege added nearly 6 km to the 142.1 km length of steep climbs and cobblestones; after 55.3 km, the peloton first faced the 1.7 km, 7.9% Mont-le-Soix climb, then the Côte de Wanne and Côte Côte de Wanne and Côte de la Haute-Louvet before returning to the familiar climb of the Côte de Wanne.

The climbs of La Redoute and Roche aux Faucons in the final 30km of the race will be joined by the new passes of Rosier and Dessinée.

This is the fifth women's race to Liège. Last year, Parkhotel Valkenburg and Team DSM were unable to make the start line for Liege-Bastogne-Liege due to a positive test for COVID-19 in their tissue prior to race day.

* - obliged by UCI rules to be invited to the Continental. Wildcard invitation [17]