Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2017 [LAST 20 KM]

April 23, 2017

Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2017– Liège – Ans : 258 km

Liège–Bastogne–Liège, often called La Doyenne (“The Old Lady”), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium. First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five Monuments of the European professional road cycling calendar; usually coming as the last of the spring classics. It is held annually in late April, in the Ardennes region of Belgium, from Liège to Bastogne and back.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) won Liège-Bastogne-Liège for the fourth time in his career, topping Quick-Step Floors’ Dan Martin and Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) with his signature late attack.

But the victory was shrouded in sorrow as the peloton mourned the loss of Italian Michele Scarponi, who was killed while training the day before the race. Valverde dedicated the victory to the fallen Astana rider, and promised to donate his prize money to Scarponi’s family.

“This win is for Michele Scarponi. He was a good friend of mine,” Valverde said, fighting back the tears. “It hurts to think he’s gone, I’ll miss him. I’ll give all my prize money from this victory to his family. This win is also dedicated to him.”

Valverde went into the race as the overwhelming favourite after winning Flèche Wallonne for the fifth time, but his victory was in doubt as Cannondale-Drapac’s Davide Formolo put in a strong solo attack that lasted until 500m to go.

Martin jumped across to the Italian, who quickly faded back, but Valvede latched onto Martin’s wheel at the final turn and from there was unstoppable.

“The team was fantastic, we worked excellently. We controlled the break because it was dangerous,” Valverde said. “On the last climb Dan Martin attacked really hard but I managed to reach him at the right moment to then sprint to the finish line.”

How it happened

The race started following a minute’s applause in memory of Michele Scarponi and with the eight riders from the Astana squad standing at the front of the bunch in the Place de Saint-Lambert. Then having re-donned their helmets and glasses following the homage to their fallen colleague, the 200-strong peloton was off.

The biggest difference to 2016 was, without a doubt, the weather. It was snowy and freezing cold in 2016, to the point where the race was shortened slightly. This time conditions, although chilly, were not nearly as hard. This allowed for a much more tactical event, rather than the race of survival that Liège-Bastogne-Liège became last year.

The early move formed almost as soon as the race had begun, with Tiago Machado (Katusha), Anthony Perez and Stéphane Rossetto (Cofidis), Mekseb Debesay (Dimension Data), Bart De Clercq (Lotto Soudal), Nick Van Der Lijke (Roompot), Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie) and Aaron Gate (Aqua Blue Sport) gaining a large early margin.

The tailwind on the outward leg helped somewhat, and their advantage rose quickly. By the time the eight reached the race’s most southerly point at Bastogne and then turned north, their advantage was up to 13 minutes.

The rolling terrain on the approach to the Cote de Pont, the curtain-raiser at 168 kilometres from the final crucial segment of the race, saw Debesay fall off the pace. But the remaining seven forged on, steadily shedding minutes as they toiled over the steep Cote de la Ferme Libert and into the rolling terrain that followed.

In the peloton, a brief early dig by 2014 winner Simon Gerrans (Orica-Scott) briefly shook up the peloton, but although Mickael Cherel (AG2R La Mondiale) managed to catch him, it quickly fizzled out. The lead had shrunk to six minutes with 60 kilometres to go, but the mood in the peloton seemed relatively – and strangely – calm, with Movistar and Quick-Step Floors tapping out a steady rhythm.

48 kilometres from the finish, on the relatively benign slopes of the Cote de la Maquisard, the main race finally came alight, as Nathan Haas, who had ridden strongly in Amsel Gold, and Omar Fraile (Dimension Data), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe), Alessandro De Marchi (BMC Racing Team) together with Pierre La Tour (AG2R La Mondiale) stomped out of the peloton. For Movistar, Carlos Alberto Betancur controlled the break.

On the Cote de la Redoute, Liège-Bastogne-Liège’s most emblematic climb, as the leading break disintegrated completely, Sebastian Henao (Team Sky) and Laurens de Plus (Quick-Step) stretched out the peloton and finally regained contact with the Haas group. But lone leader Anthony Perez (Cofidis) had a lead of just under four minutes with 31 kilometres left to race – higher than the top favourites would perhaps have liked. The size of the bunch as it wound over the unclassified climb of the Sprimont following La Redoute, was certainly higher than usual, with roughly 120 riders still in contention.

With all the breakaway riders, barring an exhausted Aaron Gate (Aqua Blue), still in the hunt for Perez, the Frenchman could not ease back, and the peloton, powered by Quick-Step Floors and BMC, relentlessly stripped away their advantage. By the foot of the Cote de la Roche-Aux-Faucons, just two minutes separated Perez from the bunch where Valverde remained comfortably in contention.

The second Cofidis rider, Rossetto, opted to give lone chase to his teammate on the second to last classified climb of the course, and finally joined forces with Perez, and then left him behind.

With 9km to go, the peloton was just a dozen seconds behind, and Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) launched a solo attack from the peloton to join Rossetto, but the peloton was closing in, and picked off the rest of the early breakawa.

Wellens’ presence breathed some new life into the breakaway, and they reached the Saint Nicolas climb with 13 seconds on the Sky-led bunch. The leaders quickly faded rapidly on the climb and were caught back, and Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac) put in an attack that was marked by Sergio Henao (Sky) and reeled in. As they crested the climb, Davide Formolo (Cannondale-Drapac) countered and opened up a solid lead.

Omar Fraile (Dimension Data) attacked from the chasing bunch to try to catch Formolo, but exploded and dropped back before 1km to go.

Formolo was suffering with just four seconds under the banner, as behind Dan Martin put in his move with 800m to go. But Valverde rode the Orica-Scott chase up to the two attackers, and then out-sprinted Martin to win La Doyenne for the fourth time.

Results :
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 6:24:27
2 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
3 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:00:03
4 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
5 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
6 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-Scott
8 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:00:07
9 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac
10 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
11 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
12 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky
14 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:10
15 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
16 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:14
17 Rudy Molard (Fra) FDJ
18 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
19 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
20 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
21 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac
22 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb
23 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
24 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:24
25 Omar Fraile (Spa) Dimension Data 0:00:28
26 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
27 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Orica-Scott 0:00:34
28 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:51
29 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:54
30 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
31 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
32 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport
33 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
34 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
35 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
36 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
37 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
38 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb
39 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
40 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
41 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
42 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
43 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data
44 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin
45 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
46 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
47 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
48 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates
49 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
50 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data 0:01:00
51 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
52 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
53 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo
54 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:01:08
55 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:56
56 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie
57 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:13
58 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
59 Jose Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
60 David De La Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:03:22
61 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:29
62 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data 0:03:38
63 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
64 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:03:50
65 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
66 Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
67 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Aqua Blue Sport
68 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:04:42
69 André Cardoso (Por) Trek-Segafredo
70 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
71 Nick Van Der Lijke (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:04:50
72 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:05:01
73 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:31
74 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
75 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
76 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
77 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
78 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky 0:05:35
79 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
80 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team
81 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:05:41
82 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie 0:06:14
83 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:07:27
84 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:07:40
85 Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
86 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ
87 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
88 Rúben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo
89 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
90 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
91 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ
92 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
93 Matej Mohoric (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
94 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
95 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida
96 Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
97 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
98 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
99 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
100 José Mendes (Por) Bora-Hansgrohe
101 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
102 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
103 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb
104 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
105 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
106 Amael Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
107 Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale-Drapac
108 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ
109 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ
110 Kevin Reza (Fra) FDJ
111 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
112 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie
113 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie
114 Alberto Losada (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
115 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
116 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team 0:07:52
117 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:08:41
118 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie 0:09:15
119 Antoine Warnier (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect 0:10:39
120 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie
121 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
122 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie
123 Gregory Habeaux (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
124 Christophe Masson (Fra) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
125 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
126 Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
127 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
128 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ
129 Jeroen Meijers (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
130 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida
131 Pieter Weening (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
132 Matvey Mamykin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:10:44
133 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:11:32
134 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:13:11
135 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
136 Aaron Gate (NZl) Aqua Blue Sport
137 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
138 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
139 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-Scott
140 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
141 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
142 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
143 Michel Kreder (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport
144 Romain Guillemois (Fra) Direct Energie 0:13:32
145 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
146 Pierre Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:13:55
147 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
148 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:14:09
149 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:14:41
150 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
151 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Katusha-Alpecin
152 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:15:35
153 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:16:39