Fresh from his excellent performance in the Vuelta a Castilla y Leòn, where he won two stages and the overall, Movistar management are quietly confident of Alejandro Valverde’s chances of yet more success in the Ardennes Classics. That’s even if this season the Spanish veteran has been strongly focused on making his Giro d’Italia debut in May.
As a triple victor of both La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the defending champion in both, it almost goes without saying that Valverde is the default favourite for both races. That’s despite not having raced in Amstel Gold this last weekend and - barring bursts of strong racing in Andalucía early in the season and again in Castilla y León - a relatively quiet spring.
For Valverde, there is much at stake this week in Belgium. Should he win La Flèche Wallonne, he would become the all-time record holder for victories in the mid-week Classic. A triumph in Liège-Bastogne-Liège would enable the Spaniard to move within one win of Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of five in La Doyenne. Furthermore, with three first places [2006, 2008 and 2015], two seconds [2007 and 2014], and a third [2013] place in his palmarès in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a top-three result would put him on an equal footing with Merckx in terms of the record for podium finishes.
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However, Valverde is building towards the Giro d’Italia, too, and when he discussed the Ardennes Classics with Cyclingnews in February, he recognised that “they are going to be different for me" this year.
“Rather than being in top shape I don’t know if I’ll be there at 100 per cent, because I’ve got the Giro d’Italia in May," he said. "You’ve got to be so strong to win those races. I think while I’ll be good, I don’t know if I’ll be good enough to win them.”
Following Valverde’s strong rides in Spain over this weekend, though, Movistar are upbeat about his chances for the upcoming races, but warn that the Ardennes Classics are very different kinds of challenges to the Spanish stage race.
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