Lizzie Deignan has not been named in Trek-Segafredo's team after falling ill ©Getty Images

Defending champion Lizzie Deignan has been forced to pull out of tomorrow’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège because of illness.

The British rider was initially down to defend her title but Trek-Segafredo have decided to leave her out of their six-strong squad.

Shirin van Anrooij of The Netherlands has been drafted in to replace Deignan for the International Cycling Union Women’s World Tour race in Belgium.

"Lizzie was sick last week (not COVID) so she isn’t at 100 per cent going into these tough races," a Trek-Segafredo spokesperson told Cyclingnews.

"It doesn’t make sense for her to race until she’s in top condition."

With Deignan ruled out, Dutch riders Anna van der Breggen of SD Worx and Annemiek van Vleuten of Movistar Team will be the only former champions in the women’s event.

Van der Breggen won the first two editions of the competition which launched in 2017 before van Vleuten captured the title in 2019.

Jumbo-Visma rider Marianne Vos of The Netherlands arrives in good form after winning last week’s Amstel Gold Race and will look to challenge van der Breggen who has already claimed two titles this season, including the recent La Flèche Wallonne.

Primož Roglič will be looking to defend his Liège-Bastogne-Liège title ©Getty Images
Primož Roglič will be looking to defend his Liège-Bastogne-Liège title ©Getty Images

In the men’s event, Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe of Deceuninck-QuickStep has spoken of his determination to win the Liege-Bastogne-Liege after falling short to Slovenian Primož Roglič of Jumbo-Visma last year.

Alaphilippe will hope to pick up from where he left off after securing the La Flèche Wallonne crown in midweek.

"The big goal has always been Liege-Bastogne-Liege, a race that is close to my heart," said Alaphilippe.

"After the Tour of Flanders [last year] I was tired, I took a rest and then completed a good training block. 

"I didn’t do any altitude training, but I did a lot of long training sessions with a lot of short slopes.

"After my victory in the Flèche Wallonne, I will start without stress, but I also want to show my rainbow jersey on Sunday."

Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia and UAE Team Emirates team-mate Marc Hirschi of Switzerland have been given the all-clear to compete after returning negative COVID-19 tests.

The team looked set to miss the race after two members tested positive earlier in the week.

But they have now been given permission by organisers to participate after further testing produced negative results.