Movistar's Alejandro Valverde has dedicated his Liege-Bastogne- Liege win to the memory of Michele Scarponi.
The death of the Astana rider on Saturday, affected many riders, teams and supporters, and Valverde said after his victory; “This win is for Michele Scarponi. He was a good friend of mine.
“It hurts to think he’s gone, I’ll miss him. I’ll give all my prize money from this victory to his family. This win is also dedicated to him.”
Speaking about his win, Valverde said: "This is the most special of my four wins on Liège-Bastogne-Liège, due to the circumstances.
"We worked a lot from kilometre 0 before getting the win with a strong attack in the final.
"It's a race for the books of history after a perfect week. I think we were all at the limit in the end. Martin went very strong, I calculated my distance and decided I could go 500 metres from the finish.
"It was my time, I never doubted even when Albasini jumped in my wheel. I was able to catch Martin, take a breath for five seconds, and then sprint to the finish”.
By Kev Monks for Digital Sports Group
Source: DSG
