Cycling: Freccia Vallone, on the Huy wall a guaranteed battle between the big names

Wednesday for cycling connoisseurs. In the Ardennes the Freccia Walloon is broadcast and with the final wall of Huy promises a show. Last year Joaquin Rodriguez won, who also this year had made this classic one of his primary goals for the season, but the crash at the Amstel Gold Race casts some shadows on the Spaniard's chances of making an encore. The man to beat looks more like the world champion, the Belgian Philippe Gilbert, who has yet to hit a finish worthy of his pedigree this year. Even Peter Sagan, after the disappointing round on Sunday at Amstel Gold, will try to make up for it in this penultimate classic-monument of the North. The 205 km route, from Binche (no longer from Charleroi) to Huy is dotted with deadly walls that barely reach a height of 200 meters but which present asperities of up to 22% like the final 1200 meters at the finish line in Huy, which dominates the Meuse basin. A fascinating race rich in history, the Freccia Vallone, if in this edition it does not line up champions such as Bradley Wiggins – who is racing with Vincenzo Nibali in the Giro del Trentino – or Fabian Cancellara – who allowed himself a rest after the exploits in the Ronde and Roubaix – however, he also sees two big names in stage racing at the starting line: Andy Schleck and above all Alberto Contador, who is fueling himself in view of the grand tours and who will also race next Sunday in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège . With Contador in Team Saxo there will also be Roman Kreuziger, the winner of the last Amstel Gold. Also keep an eye on the Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, final pink jersey in the Giro d'Italia, Alejandro Valverde, brilliant second in the Dutch beer classic, and Thomas De Gendt, the solitary winner on the Stelvio in the 2012 Giro. Among the Italians, also if they are not very popular, there are three names above all: Enrico Gasparotto, Damiano Cunego and Moreno Moser, Sagan's teammate. A race also won in the past by Fausto Coppi (1950), the Freccia Vallone has the two Italians Moreno Argentin and Davide Rebellin as the riders with the most victories, no less than three, a record shared with Marcel Kint and Eddy Merckx.