Valverde Wins Liege-Bastogne-Liege

27 April 2015 11:24

Movistar's Alejandro Valverde celebrated his 35th birthday weekend by winning the 101st Liege-Bastogne-Liege race. This Ardennes classic race was over 253 kilometres with ten climbs before the finish in Ans.

Some two hundred riders started the race which rolled out of the Place Saint-Lambert in Liege.

With 214kms left, a break of Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida), Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Otto Vergaerde (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Clement Chevrier (IAM Cycling), Marco Minnaard (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Anthony Turgis (Cofidis), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Argon 18) and Rasmus Quaade (Cult) established themselves and built up a lead of 4.45.

Over the Côte de Saint-Roch climb with a lead of 3.40, the eight riders looked in control but onto the Côte de Wanne with less than ninety kiloemetres left and Quaade, Chevrier and Vergaerde dropped back from the front group which was joined by Andriy Grivko (Astana) and Gorka Izagirre (Movistar).

Astana led a chase group and they were able to bridge across to those ahead to form a new group of twenty one riders, who had seventy two kilometres left to race.

Katusha chased them down and another group of Michele Scarponi, Tanel Kangert (Astana), Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge), Julian Arredondo (Trek Factory Racing) and Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff-Saxo), took over on the descent of the Côte de la Haute-Levée.

They worked together to take a lead of fifty seven seconds going into the last sixty kilometres of the oldest classic race.

On to Col du Maquisard which was 2.5 kms long with a 5% average gradient and Boaro was back in the peloton along with Arredondo.

There was a crash with 41.2kms to go which saw Nicholas Roche of Team Sky in a ditch following a big crash on a right hand bend which also involved Dan Martin, Franck Schleck, Simon Yates, Vincenzo Nibali and Simon Gerrans. Arashiro of Europcar also looked in a bad way and was attended to by a doctor.

Up front Esteban Chavez, Kangert and Scarponi were only seventeen seconds ahead.

A couple of kilometres later and Gerran was down again and his race along with that of Roche and Martin was over, whilst Kangert was dropped from the lead group.

Siutsou of Team Sky went on the attack in an attempt to join Chavez and Scarponi but was soon caught and with twenty kilometrs remaining Chavez and Scarponi were joined by the peloton.

Roman Kreuziger, Jakob Fuglsang and Giampaolo Caruso led as the rain came down ahead of a group that contained Dani Moreno and Rui Costa, going through Bonacelles.

A peloton of around thirty riders were now chasing the three out front who had a lead of twenty one seconds with 12.2kms left.

Past Standard Liege's football ground and thirteen seconds was still the gap but the peloton was closing and they joined the escapers for the final six kilometres.and the climb in Saint-Nicolas, which was the penultimate climb.

With Michael Kwaitkowski dropped, Roman Bardet was in the front group with Nibali and Dani Moreno who went under the flam rouge first.

He opened up a bit of a gap on the climb. Alejandro Valverde of Movistar went after him and caught Moreno.

This came down to a sprint and it was Valverde who took the win in 5.14.25 ahead of Julien Alaphilippe, Rodriguez, Costa and Kreuziger fifth, followed by Bardet, Henao, Pozzovivo, Fuglsang and Moreno.

"An incredible victory," said Valverde who won the Fleche Wallone race on Wednesday. "I could see it getting away from me and I had to attack Moreno and sprint. I had to control things but I am very happy with my win."

Source: DSG