A more aggressive, more exciting edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège resulted last year when the organizers restored the “Bermuda Triangle” to the Belgian classic’s 262km course. The series of three critical climbs — Côte de Wanne, Côte de Stockeu and Côte de la Haute-Levée — in the space of just 12km around the town of Stavelot split the peloton into shreds. Only 35 riders from the 180-strong pack emerged from the “triangle” with a chance of winning.

As a result, none of the pre-race favorites had more than a couple of teammates to help them in the final 80km. This gave an opening for CSC’s German Jens Voigt and Kazakhstan’s Alexander Vinokourov (then with T-Mobile) to make a successful attack 55km from the finish — and eventually contest a two-man sprint in Ans, a suburb of Liège.

This coming Sunday, Vinokourov will be back to defend his title, even though he was originally scheduled to compete at this week’s Tour de Georgia. “I was going to go there for a change of scene and for a bit of tranquility,” Vinokourov said in Liège Friday. “But I have good condition right now and I decided to test it here.”

Now with Liberty Seguros, Vinokourov was tan and talkative Friday after more than a week of training in Spain followed by some time with his family back home in Monte Carlo. His big goal this year is the Tour de France, so Liège-Bastogne-Liège gives him a chance to race against some of the men he’ll face in July. “I still have two months to prepare for the Tour,” Vinokourov said, “but [Ivan] Basso and the others starting the Giro [d’Italia] in two weeks are already in top shape.”

Indeed, besides Basso of CSC, Giro contenders Damiano Cunego of Lampre-Fondital, Gilberto Simoni of Saunier Duval-Prodir and Danilo Di Luca of Liquigas are all racing at Liège this Sunday. The one big Giro favorite missing is Discovery Channel’s Paolo Savoldelli, who will be starting Switzerland’s Tour de Romandie on Tuesday.

The 92nd Liège-Bastogne-Liège not only offers the Giro contenders an excellent long-distance work out, it also might provide one of them with a morale-building victory. Of course, they will have a host of classics specialists to contend with on Sunday, including former Liège winners Paolo Bettini of Quick Step-Innergetic and Davide Rebellin of Gerolsteiner, along with annual podium finisher Michael Boogerd of Rabobank — who is finally hoping to win his favorite classic — and the on-form members of a new generation.

These riders in their mid-20s include the winners of this past week’s two classics, Fränk Schleck of CSC and Alejandro Valverde of Caisse d’Épargne-Illes Balears, as well as Samuel Sanchez of Euskaltel-Euskadi, Karsten Kroon of CSC, and Patrik Sinkewitz of T-Mobile. All of these men have the ability to survive the hills of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and be competitive at the end of almost seven hours in the saddle.

This year’s course has 12 official climbs, but almost as many unofficial ones. As last year, the “real” race begins 90km from the finish, with the “Bermuda triangle.” The Wanne-Stockeu-Haute-Levée trilogy (climbs that all have pitches steeper than 12 percent) is all followed by plunging downhills, which do not give stragglers a chance to rejoin those in front. That was what did the damage last year.

The Wanne is long and narrow, and always makes an initial selection and the hairy descent (as steep as 17 percent) is followed by a bumpy back road into the little valley town of Stavelot. A sharp right turn then takes riders onto the very narrow Stockeu, which averages 10.5 percent (with one 17-percent pitch) for 1.1km. The riders then turn sharp left and plunge back into Stavelot, cross a bridge, negotiate some cobblestones and next wiggle into a narrow street that brings them to the foot of the Haute-Levée.

This 3.4km, 6-percent climb had been excluded from the race for nine years because of concrete barriers placed near its base after a runaway truck crashed there. Haute-Levée is a deceptively hard hill to climb. It opens with a dead straight and narrow section at 12 percent, turns left and right at the same grade through the opening kilometer, and then heads toward a forest of pine trees on a wide, straight, wide road that becomes less and less steep.

This is where the race split into distinct echelons last year partly caused by strong crosswinds. Similar winds are likely this Sunday, perhaps accompanied by rain showers that are forecast after a bright start to the day.

Two more climbs — the Rosier and Vecquée — precede the next big climb, the 2km, 9-pecent Redoute that has pitches as steep as 20 percent. It comes 35km from the finish and is often the hill that produces the winning break. Another long climb, the Sart-Tilman marks the entry into Liège prior to a long, fast drop into the Meuse Valley.

After a short run through back streets, the riders face the 12th “official” climb, the Côte de St. Nicolas, which is a 1km-long wall with a steepest pitch of 13 percent that summits just 5.5km from the finish. From there, the course twists through the St. Gilles residential neighborhood, plunges down into Liège before starting the “unofficial” 1.2km, 8.58-percent climb to the finish in the working-class suburb of Ans.

The final 200 meters are flat, and if more than a couple of riders are still together, this is where the best sprinter left standing has a chance to win. We have to wait till Sunday to see whether that will again be Vinokourov or one of his many younger challengers.

Look for a final preview of Liège-Bastogne-Liège on velonews.com on Saturday.