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Put under pressure by her rivals throughout the race, especially by Movistar and Trek-Segafredo, Vollering took matters in her own hands on the final climbs and set a brutal pace on her rise to glory.
Accelerating clear on the lower slopes of the Mur de Huy, she was challenged before going again and taking a convincing win on the famous climb.
“My teammates really helped me to focus and keep believing," said Vollering. "Today was a team effort even though I did it by myself on the climbs.
“The last time up I did my own pace, I could not believe there was a gap, I only saw it late and I was really surprised the gap was so big."
Van Vleuten, Niewiadoma, Moolman and Longo Borghini raised the pace and formed an elite group over the top of the Mur de Huy on the penultimate ascent of the iconic climb. They were chased down by a much-reduced peloton, but the attacks immediately restarted, with Australian Amanda Spratt (Trek-Segafredo) jumping clear solo to establish an advantage with 32 kilometres left to race.
She tackled the Cote d’Ereffe solo with a group of three chasing ineffectively behind and the peloton led by Movistar and SD-Worx solidly pursuing behind once Spratt’s lead reached a minute.
The gap began to tumble on the run-in to the Cote de Cherave as the teammates of the pre-race favourites used up their energy to set their leaders up for the victory. A crash in the peloton brought down Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez) and Kristen Faulkner (Jayco-AlUla), with Spratt reaching the climb with just under 20 seconds lead.
The Australian was swept up by the chasing bunch as the top climbers accelerated to form an elite group of 11 riders by the summit, with Vollering in particular leading the way. The group stalled on the descent to the final climb of the Mur de Huy, and were joined by another group ahead of the decisive climb.
On the early slopes of the Mur, Vollering upped the pace and accelerated away, and despite being joined at one point of the limb by Liane Lippert (Movistar), the Dutchwoman had enough left in the tank to drop her rival and win convincingly atop the climb.
Lippert finished runner-up with Gaia Realini (Trek-Segafredo) rounding out the podium.
Vollering is on track for the rare feat of winning the 'Ardennes triple', Amstel Gold Race, Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the same season, a feat last achieved by her team director Anna van der Breggen in 2017.
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How to watch cycling LIVE on SBS
The Cycling Classics continue on SBS VICELAND this Sunday, with the women's and men's editions of Liege-Bastogne-Liege live and free for Australian audiences.
