Two days short of his 37th birthday, Alejandro Valverde's continued his domination of the Ardennes Classics with his fourth title in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Movistar man is now one short of the all-time record of Eddy Merckx' five victories in La Doyenne.
This year's win was more tactical than his previous shows of devastating strength: Valverde waited until the last moment to unfurl an acceleration that took him past Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) and into the finishing straight ahead of the field. But it was also a Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory that was tinged with a sense of mourning for Valverde's friend and colleague, Michele Scarponi.
Visibly emotional at the finish line and all but in tears as he remembered Scarponi, Valverde's latest victory, his 11th this season and 107th of his career, was one that was dedicated to the person who has been in everybody's thoughts this weekend.
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"This victory is dedicated exclusively to him and his family, after what happened to Michele everybody is in a state of shock," Valverde said later. "It's been a very important loss, he was an excellent person, a very happy person, and I had a great friendship with him, too.
"When I heard yesterday about what had happened, I suffered a lot, it really hurt, and I was always certain that if I won, the prize money would go to his family. From here I'm sending them a very big hug."
Valverde said that Scarponi's death had not made him think of retiring sooner, "because there are dangers but it will always be like that. From above, I'm sure he's telling us we should continue racing, and I'm sure today he gave me a push to try and fight on for the victory."
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