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Alejandro Valverde has won his 3rd Liege-Bastogne-Liege with a sprint finish in the Belgian spring classic.
After winning in 2006, and 2008, Valverde would add his name to the trophy again in a race that provided plenty of drama.
For around the first 180 kilometres an eight man break away led the field and was able to grab a seven and a half minute lead over the peloton.
Gradually that closed and right before the fifth climb of the day they were caught.
This triggered another break away with three riders getting away from the peloton.
It would eventually reduce to two with Michele Scarponi and Esteban Chaves surviving for 50 kilometres in the front.
During this time a big crash eliminated key riders from the race.
Up to 40 were involved including Tejay Van Gerderen, Dan Martin, Nicolas Roche, Frank Schleck, and Mathias Frank.
Australia’s Simon Gerrans was also involved but would get back riding again in pursuit of the peloton.
Unfortunately for the Australian he would crash again with around 40 kilometres to go and be forced to withdraw for the event.
His chances of a back to back classic were over.
With 19 kilometres to go, and the peloton back together, Roman Kreuziger attacked with Gianpaolo Caruso joining him.
They would be joined by Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang and the trio tried to make it to the finish line.
Unfortunately, on the final climb, with 6 kilometres to go, they would be caught by a reduced peloton.
Led by Valverde they would join the three break away riders and set up a thrilling dash to the line.
With one kilometre to go, and Nibali away from Valverde, the Spaniard was in a prime position to win the race.
He waited until the perfect time and attacked after the final corner of the race.
Valverde would hold out the rest in a sprint finish and win the race.
Julian Alaphilippe would finish 2nd with Joaquin Rodriguez in third.
Valverde has now won the La Fleche Wallonne and the Liege-Bastonne-Liege in the same week. He is the first person to do that since he did the feat in 2006.
He is a freak in the hill spring classics.
Can Simon Gerrans go back-to-back in the Belgium classic after winning the event last year? Find out as The Roar live blogs the event from 10:30pm AEST.
Last year the Australian, who rides with Orica Greenedge, won the race in a sprint finish after surviving attack after attack during the six and a half hour race.
He became the first Australian to win the event and just the second non-European rider to achieve the feat.
You can re-live the highlights of the race in 2014 through this wonderful video from his team.
Heading into this year’s edition Gerrans has had a limited preparation. He suffered a broken collarbone late last year and only returned to racing last month after being out for over two months.
As a result his conditioning is not at the same level as last year. Despite that the Australian is confident of a good showing.
“The team we will have at Liège is the strongest we have put together for any of the classics,” he said on his official website.
“We will have a fantastic opportunity to achieve a good result with myself or one of my teammates.
“I may find during the race that I’m lacking a little bit of condition, however I won’t be counting myself out.
“I have been working really hard to be in good shape and I hope to be in the front at the final.
“If this is possible, a win is not completely out of the question.”
Gerrans is joined in the team by fellow Australians Luke Durbridge and Simon Clarke.
Overall there are eight competing in the classic race with Michael Matthews a potential replacement rider for Orica Greenedge.
On this special weekend for Australia, and the Anzac’s, it would be remiss of me not to mention those who fought in Belgium in World War I.
On the Western Front, which included large parts of Belgium, around 46,000 Australians lost their lives fighting for the Allies.
Over 295,000 personnel from Australia served in the Western Front and 134,000 were wounded of captured.
Lest we Forget.
Gerrans is one of a few favourites for the race. Leading the charge is Alejandro Valverde who finished second behind Gerrans last year.
He will be looking to exact revenge for falling short last year. Others to look out for include Michal Kwiatkowski, Joaquim Rodriguez, Daniel Martin and Rui Costa.
Four previous winners: Gerrans, Martin, Valverde, and Philippe Gilbert, are in the event.
Gilbert, who is listed for the event, could be a late withdrawal after a crash in the Flech Wallonne race during the week.
He will be the home favourite if he competes.
The event itself is described as one of the toughest classics. Riders race for over six hours over 253 kilometres of hilly terrain.
Ten climbs are in the schedule which will test each rider.
The race itself won’t be won until the last 30 kilometres as teams and riders sort each other out.
It should be an action packed day of racing and The Roar will keep you covered with the event.
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