Foldable Bikes Party: Ardennes Classics 2018

Wednesday, 11 April 2018

Ardennes Classics 2018 - The Complete Guide

https://ift.tt/2GQLjh8

The dust and mud have barely had time to settle on the pavé of Paris-Roubaix before one-day racing moves east to the Ardennes for the next 11 days.

Interest in the hilly Classics will lie mainly in three areas this year. Firstly, there is the question of how far Quick-Step Floors can extend their domination in the cobbled Classics (Paris-Roubaix and Gent-Wevelgem being the honourable exceptions) into the Ardennes, with Julian Alaphilippe, Bob Jungels and, above all, four-time Amstel Gold winner Philippe Gilbert as their prime candidates. Gilbert's track record in Amstel, where he can equal the all-time total of five wins of Jan Raas, will be the main story this coming Sunday.

Any possible Ardennes Classics scenario cannot fail to include Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team), who has never triumphed in Amstel Gold but whose track record in Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège is already one for the history books. Already the best-ever performer in Flèche Wallonne, with five wins, a fifth Liège-Bastogne-Liège title would put him on record-equalling terms with Eddy Merckx himself.

Whilst Valverde versus Quick-Step Floors will be central to the main three Ardennes races, there are plenty of other individual contenders.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) has unfinished business in Amstel Gold, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) has said he is targeting Liège, Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) has an excellent track record in the two Belgian races, and then Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) can hardly be ruled out either. Everybody's biggest challenge will be working out how to beat Valverde in Flèche and Liège, and, in Amstel Gold, Gilbert.