Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) chased down a late breakaway and then prevailed in a rain-soaked dash to the line to win his third Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Dani Moreno (Katusha) had attacked a small lead group just ahead of the final kilometer, and as the favorites hesitated he opened a significant gap. Finally Valverde took the initiative to bring him back, and despite bringing most of the other hopefuls along with him the 35-year-old Spaniard found the legs to kick to the victory at the end.
Julian Alaphillippe (Etixx-Quick-Step) crossed second with Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) third.
“Yes, it’s incredible,” he said. “I think it was just getting away from me at the end. I had to attack to close down Moreno and sprint. Second in Amstel [Gold], first in Fleche [Wallonne], and then a win here — I’m very happy.”
The looping route around the Belgian Ardennes served up 10 major ascents in six and a half hours. The Col du Rosier at 194km was the longest at 4.4km, but there were other notable grinds, among them the Cote de Stockeu at 12 percent, and the Redoute, Roche-aux-Faucons, and Saint-Nicolas, all around 9 percent.
With 80km remaining in the 253km Ardennes monument the peloton was in pursuit of a five-man break some 30 seconds up the road: Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida); Marco Minaard (Wanty-Group Gobert); Anthony Turgis (Cofidis); Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Argon 18); and Matteo Montaguti (AG2r La Mondiale).
Astana was on the sharp end for Vincenzo Nibali. The team sent Andriy Grivko off the front with 77km to go. Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar) followed to keep an eye on things for Valverde. And soon Orica-GreenEdge followed suit with Simon Yates. Others followed and before long the small breakaway had become a large front group.
Next to try their luck were Michele Scarponi and Tanel Kangert (Astana), Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge), Julian Arredondo (Trek Factory Racing) and Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff-Saxo). They took a couple dozen seconds over the bunch, led by Katusha on behalf of Rodriguez.
The two Astanas soon left the others behind, save Chaves. And with 60km to go they had built a gap of nearly a minute.
With 40km remaining their advantage was coming steadily down, until a big crash took down or blocked Nibali, defending champion Simon Gerrans (Orica), Dan Martin and Nathan Haas (Cannondale-Garmin), Nicolas Roche (Sky), Fränk Schleck (Trek Factory Racing) and a host of others with La Redoute on the horizon.
Etizz-Quick-Step took charge at the front of the chase and resumed hacking away at the gap. Incredibly, Gerrrans hit the deck again, and this time he limped to the side of the road and sat down, his race clearly done.
Ahead, Kangert lost contact, leaving Scarponi and Chaves out front. And with 30km to race, they clung to a half-minute’s advantage. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Sky) launched a solo pursuit, but it didn’t last long as the peloton paid close attention. And with just under 24km to go — and reports of heavy rain at the finish — the two leaders soon felt the chase breathing down their necks and with a quick look round they called it a day.
The Roche-aux-Faucons and Saint-Nicolas awaited. Katusha was on point as the bunch hit the penultimate climb. Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo) was first to shoot away, and Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) followed, just as the rain began to fall on the race.
Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) slipped away and bridged to the leaders. A smallish chase emerged briefly only to be brought back, and with 10km remaining Zdenek Stybar (Etixx) drove the chase on the wet roads with Saint-Nicolas yet to come.
The three leaders had only 12 seconds as the final climb began. Behind, Valverde was parked on Stybar’s wheel. And then he took the point, dogged by Moreno. The escapees retrieved, Nibali was next to give it the gas, and riders began popping off the back, among them world champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx), with Samuel Sanchez and Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing).
Over the top of the Saint-Nicolas it was a sizable group in contention for the victory, perhaps 15 riders, with Caruso setting the pace. And as they hit the final kilometer it seemed anyone’s race to win.
Moreno went first, just ahead of the red kite, and he pried open a small gap. Valverde hesitated, waiting for someone else to do the work of chasing, and nobody did. Finally, Valverde launched, but Rodriguez followed, and the two dragged the others with them up to Moreno and into the final corner.
With 100m to go Valverde found that extra gear and took the victory.
Valverde now leads the UCI WorldTour with 338 points.
The post Alejandro Valverde takes Liege-Bastogne-Liege appeared first on VeloNews.com.
View the full article
