Sunday will be the 10th time that Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) has taken part in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a race in which he has had luck, success, and disaster in equal parts over the years. Not to mention his well-known encounter with the surreal side of life that seems to flourish so naturally in Belgium - the time when he soared to victory in Liège in 2013 while being pursued by somebody dressed up as a giant panda.
That was followed 12 months later by a crash on the final corner, just as he was sprinting to what could have been – although we'll never know – a second victory in as many years. 2015 saw him hit by crashes in both Flèche and Liège, abandoning both, and in 2016, after a very promising third place in Flèche, the freezing weather and snow in Liège severely hampered his chances and he finished 46th.
"I've had some very bad luck in Liège, but when I do a good ride in Flèche, normally I'm on track for a good ride in Liège as well," Martin told a small group of reporters before the weekend. Earlier in the week he finished an encouraging second on the Mur de Huy behind the unstoppable Alejandro Valverde. "Last year the weather didn't suit me, it was not a normal Liège, but in 2012, say, I was sixth in Flèche and then went on to get fifth in Liège."
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"Liège is a race where a lot can go wrong, because it's a very long race, and that's partly why I love these races so much. It's six and a half hours of concentration where every little bit of everything you do, counts."
If Flèche remains very much defined by its final climb, then the other Ardennes hills in Liège-Bastogne-Liège are nearly always changing – apart from the last segment from the Cote de la Redoute. This year sees the introduction of three new ascents, the hardest is the Cote de la Ferme Libert, which replaces the Wanne-Stockeu-Haut Levee trilogy that traditionally acted as a curtain raiser for the race. On top of that, the Cote de la Rue Naniot, which split the last ascent in Ans in two, has been removed.
"For me personally, I don't think it changes the race much, but I think for the race as a whole it will alter things. Because people are scared of those changes, they think 'this happened on the Cote de Wanne, so you've got to be in the front on the Cote de Wanne' or 'this happened on the Stockeu…' It's almost like a script."
Liege-Bastogne-Liege or Il Lombardia?
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