The triumvirate of the Amstel Gold Race (April 21), Flèche Wallonne (April 24) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April 28) make up the Ardennes Classics, with Amstel - coming just a week after Paris-Roubaix - serving to signal an end to the cobbled Classics season, and the start to a glut of much hillier races that attract both sprightlier one-day specialists and Grand Tour riders who are building up to the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.
Only two riders have ever 'done the triple', with Italian Davide Rebellin taking Amstel, Flèche and Liège in 2004, and then Belgium's Philippe Gilbert doing the same in 2011.
While Rebellin – still racing, at the age of 47, with Algerian Continental team Sovac – won't get another crack at repeating the feat, Gilbert certainly will. The recent winner, at 36, of Paris-Roubaix perhaps has his eye on next year's Milan-San Remo – in an attempt to win all five of the sport's Monuments, having now taken four out of the five – more than repeating the Ardennes treble over the next couple of weeks, but don't put it past him.
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Last year's Amstel winner Michael Valgren (then with Astana, but now at Dimension Data), Flèche champion Julian Alaphilippe and his Deceuninck-QuickStep teammate Bob Jungels, who won Liège, have enjoyed a mixed bag of early-season form. While Valgren has yet to get off the mark – or onto a podium – Alaphilippe already has eight victories this year, while Jungels splits the difference with a stage win at the Tour Colombia 2.1 and victory at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in early March to his name in 2019.
Pick 10 riders across three similar, but subtly different, races? No easy task, you understand, dear reader, but such is life.
"So, where's Jungels?" you ask. The Luxembourg champion hasn't made the cut this time. After riding the cobbled Classics this year, the 2018 Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner is expected to skip La Doyenne as he prepares for next month's Giro d'Italia.
Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep)
Michael Valgren (Dimension Data)
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team)
Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-QuickStep)
Roman Kreuziger (Dimension Data)
Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus)
Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale)
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/10-riders-to-watch-at-the-2019-ardennes-classics
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