Everything coming up Valverde in 2017
Two days short of his 37th birthday, the evergreen Alejandro Valverde's title as King of the Ardennes Classics is now more secure than ever. Riders who take multiple victories in major races tend to be slated as uninventive. But for all that Valverde's run of four straight wins at Flèche Wallonne (five in total) and four victories in Liege-Bastogne-Liege is repetitive, that doesn't make the wins any easier to achieve. Nobody is unbeatable in any race, but as Michael Albasini (Orica-Scott) wryly pointed out yesterday, in the case of Valverde and the Ardennes, "nobody has figured out how to do it yet."
With hindsight, it's easy, too, to criticise teams for failing to try more inventive strategies, and certainly Orica-Scott and Team Sky's willingness to work with Movistar at Flèche Wallonne in particular ultimately only increased the likelihood of another Valverde victory. But with so many Ardennes wins in his palmares, it has now got to the point that Valverde and his team can employ his stunning success rate to force their rivals' hands, as they did on Sunday.
When Movistar stopped pulling half-way through Liege-Bastogne-Liege behind a particularly tenacious early break, it was because they have the least to lose. The brutal truth is that with so much Ardennes success, other teams needed a win at Liege more, and thus they duly cranked up the pace behind the break once more, and in the process produced such a high speed that further attacks from more serious contenders were all but quelled. And as Ans drew closer and closer without any major moves until the finale, the ball, once again, moved steadily further into Valverde's court.
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Valverde is already in a league of his own in La Flèche Wallonne where he now boasts two more victories than any other rider. Victory for Valverde in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, given the circumstances in which it was raced, was always going to be a bittersweet affair, but it's also brought him even closer to the Holy Grail of Eddy Merckx's all-time record of five and puts him on a level with Moreno Argentin, one of Italy's greatest ever Classics champions. He's now the first rider ever to take three 'Ardennes doubles' after 2006 and 2015; at 36 years and 363 days old, he is Liège's oldest winner; and he has already equalled his own record total of 11 wins for an entire season (in 2008 and 2014). Valverde could already go on holiday this season, as he said, but in a year where everything he touches seems to turn to gold, he's not likely to stop now. Could this be his year at the World Championships? (AF)
Martin the bridesmaid once again
How to solve a problem like Alejandro? It's a question that was already bugging Dan Martin ahead of the Ardennes Classics, but you suspect that the events of the past several days have had the Irishman cursing the fates at being born into the wrong era.
Van Avermaet honours the Monuments
Matthews' best hopes of Classics success still lie in the Ardennes
Does the route needs changing?
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