The big question coming into Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege was “Can anybody beat Alejandro Valverde?” We now know the answer was “no”, but his rivals certainly weren’t about to hand him the victory.
Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) did his aggressive thing in the closing kilometres. Davide Formolo launched an impressive late bid for Cannondale-Drapac’s first WorldTour win in nearly two years (his victory on stage 4 of the 2015 Giro d’Italia was the last). And Dan Martin (QuickStep Floors) looked dangerous when he got away on the final ascent to the finish line in Ans.
But when it was all said and done, nobody could stop Valverde from winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege for a fourth time. He bridged across to Martin with apparent ease, then beat him in the two-up sprint with even greater ease.
And with that, the Spring Classics are over for another year. The Giro d’Italia is just around the corner, but before then, we hope you enjoy this gallery from the 2017 men’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
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- The peloton was in mourning as it rolled to the start of Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Astana’s Michele Scarponi had died just a day earlier, while training for the Giro d’Italia.
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- Astana riders started at the front of the peloton as riders and fans alike held a moment of remembrance for Scarponi.
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- Tiago Machado (Katusha) and Bart De Clercq (Lotto Soudal) lead the day’s early breakaway.
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- The peloton cruising through the Ardennes region of eastern Belgium.
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- Alejandro Valverde kept himself out of the wind until it counted.
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- One of the 10 recognised climbs on the course.
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- Movistar and Sky took responsibility for controlling the pace in the bunch.
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- Sadly, Carlos Betancur (Movistar) has had a rather forgettable start to the year. His best result is 25th in the stage 3 individual time trial at the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe in France, a UCI 2.1 stage race in France.
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- Jarlinson Pantano (Trek-Segafredo) clambers back over a barrier having crashed over it.
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- The Côte de Saint-Roch is one of Liege-Bastogne-Liege’s most well-known climbs. This year it bore a tribute to fallen Italian Michele Scarponi.
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- The breakaway riders, led by Aaron Gate (AquaBlue), tackle the Côte de Saint-Roch.
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- The peloton climbs the iconic Côte de Saint-Roch.
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- Valverde lurking.
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- Matthews (far left) was in a small group that got clear on the Cote de la Redoute last year.
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- Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) broke away with roughly 10km to go, as he is wont to do.
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- Tim Wellens goes on the attack in last year’s race.
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- Sergio Henao (Sky) made a move on the Côte de Saint-Nicolas, and had Michael Albasini (Orica-Scott) for company. The were soon joined by a handful of others …
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- … prompting Davide Formolo to go it alone with just over 5km left.
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- The peloton (or what was left of it) was back together as the one kilometre drag to the finish line began.
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- Former winner Dan Martin made his move with less than 1km to go and opened up a sizeable gap.
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- Alejandro Valverde waited for his moment before bridging across and sprinting past Martin.
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- Michael Matthews, in only his second LBL, was just behind Valverde and Martin in the chase group as he rounded the final corner.
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- Valverde won last year’s race to take his tally to an astounding four wins. Can he make it five on Sunday?
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- Michael Kwiatkowski (Sky) was third, while Michael Matthews had to settle for fourth.
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- Alejandro Valverde, king of the Ardennes Classics.
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- … who had his family on hand to help celebrate.
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- And with that, the Spring Classics are done. Onward to the Giro d’Italia!