Simon Gerrans makes Liege history for those still awake

Simon Gerrans took pity on the thousands of Australians who stayed up until the early hours to watch the 100th edition of what they call the ‘Doyenne’ – or old lady – of the Classics.

With even daytime viewers in Europe having to practically prise open their eyelids with matches to avoid falling asleep, Gerrans avoided the sprawling body of defending champion Dan Martin, who had dramatically crashed out on the final bend, before rounding Italian Gianpaolo Caruso (Katusha) to secure Australia’s first ever victory in Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

It was a worthy win for Gerrans, who had to see off the challenge of his perpetual adversary Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and the youthful brilliance of Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) to post the second Monument victory of his career.

The Victorian may be pushing 34 but Gerrans is still adding to his extraordinary palmares.

A two-time national road race champion and three-time Tour Down Under victor, Gerrans had already entered the select group of riders to have won individual stage victories in all three of cycling’s Grand Tours when he outsprinted Fabian Cancellara in 2012 to win the maiden Monument of his career, Milan-San Remo.

Now, one week after Gerrans posted his third third-place finish in Amstel Gold, the Orica-GreenEDGE captain added Liege-Bastogne-Liege to his quiver, becoming only the seventh rider in history to win both ‘La Doyenne’ and Milan-San Remo.

And to think that amid the snorefest that was the opening 260 kilometres of the race, it had not looked to be Gerrans’ day. Struggling with the succession of 10 punchy climbs, Gerrans was feeling the pinch ahead of the Cote des Forges and the Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons – two testing climbs reintroduced to the race in its centenary year in a supposed bid to add a bit more pizzazz into proceedings.

“I have to thank my teammates because I really didn’t have the legs with 30 kilometres remaining,” Gerrans told reporters after his win.

Simon Clarke, Pieter Weening and Ivan Santaromita were real work horses in those final 30 kilometres following some equally selfless work earlier on by Cameron Meyer, Daryl Impey, Christian Meyer and Michael Albasini.

For a short time it looked like the French might have been able to end their lengthy hoodoo in Monuments. No Frenchman has won a Monument in 83 attempts and the likes of Warren Barguil (Giant-Shimano), Roman Bardet (Ag2R-La Mondiale) and Europcar duo Pierre Rolland and Cyril Gautier showed enough zeal to suggest that the terrible run may be brought to an end.

Then we witnessed a last-ditch break by the diminutive Italian duo of Caruso and Ag2R-La Mondiale’s Domenico Pozzovivo, who approached the final two kilometres with a 15-second cushion that made Italians believe they could witness their own first victory in a Monument in 29 attempts.

It wasn’t until Ireland’s Dan Martin – the winner in Ans last year – surged clear on the final rise towards the finish line when it looked like Caruso and Pozzovivo’s luck had run out. Garmin-Sharp’s Martin has already rounded Pozzovivo and had Caruso in his sights when he over-zealously clipped a pedal on the final tight left-hand bend, crashing out just ahead of a zebra crossing with just 150 metres remaining.

At this point, Gerrans was riding in the wheel of his old adversary Valverde – both riders clearly thinking about past duels on Old Willunga Hill during the Tour Down Under. While Martin was sure of catching Caruso on the final straight we’ll never know if the 27-year-old would have had a significant enough kick to hold off both Gerrans and Valverde.

Judging by Gerrans’ superb acceleration in the final 100 metres – and the reaction by both Valverde and Kwiatkowski – Martin may have been hard pressed to hold onto a podium place.

It’s perhaps unfortunate that Gerrans’ critics will say that neither of his monumental wins has come without either gamesmanship (from him) or bad luck (for his rivals).

But there’s a huge difference from tactically sandbagging the juggernaut that is Fabian Cancellara in the approach to San Remo than there is profiting from an unfortunate – albeit clumsy – mistake from another.

Regardless of Martin’s plight, Gerrans fight was most likely against the man whose wheel he trailed as he passed the prostrate Martin – and anyone who beats a rider of Valverde’s calibre in this kind of finish stands a very good chance of finishing atop the highest rung of the podium.

Seeing the national champion pump his fists over the finish line at least justified what had seemed like a very poor decision for so many Australians staying up until the wee hours of a Monday morning.

It may have been the 100th edition of Liege-Bastogne-Liege – and Gerrans may have demonstrated his class – but it was hardly a race to savour.