Liège-Bastogne-Liège closes this Sunday the season of great spring classics which they exalted John Degenkolb (Sanremo and Roubaix) e Alexander Kristoff (Tour of Flanders), but also confirmed the qualities of the world champion Kwiatkowski (Amstel Gold Race) and the indomitable combativeness and class of Alejandro Valverde (Walloon Arrow).
Peter Sagan was once again one of the big or presumed big names to disappoint, so much so that he annoyed Oleg Tinkov, the owner of Tinkoff-Saxo, who this year hired the ex-Cannondale Slovakian to the tune of millions. Absent Tom Boonen, who hopes to make a great comeback in the Giro, and Fabian Cancellara, at rest after the bad crash at Harelbecke, Sagan was unable to take advantage of the favorable circumstances as did Philippe Gilbert, another great loser of this season's classics , who only has to reverse the negative trend this Liège, a race that has already seen him triumph in 2011. As for Sagan, the Slovak will not be there, leaving Rafa Maika and Roman Kreuziger the task of guiding Tinkoff-Saxo in the Doyenne , the oldest classic on the cycling calendar having been born in 1892 with the first of three consecutive victories by the Belgian Léon Houa.
The old Luca Paolini has taken care of saving the Italian colors in this part of the season with the splendid solo in Ghent-Wevelgen. Paolini will not race in Liège on Sunday. For the third time in seven days, Vincenzo Nibali will once again try on the spurs of the Ardennes, who in the Amstel Gold Race has already attempted an important sortie in the last twenty kilometres, unfortunately finding a "brake" breakaway partner in Toni Martin who in the end the success of Kwiatkowski, his co-equipier at the Etixx-Quick Step, favored. But that of this Doyenne it will be a more peaceful and serene Nibali after the decision of the independent commission in Lausanne which "saved" Astana from the risk of losing the World Tour license, as requested by the UCI itself, after the doping cases that emerged within the Kazakh team, cases that had negative protagonists in particular the two Iglinski brothers, Valentin and Maxim, the latter winning the Liège in 2012 right ahead of Nibali (then leader of Liquigas).
Astana will race sub judice, well monitored by the UCI, but the dreaded storm has subsided. And Nibali, given the many bumps with the last Cote de Saint-Nicolas, a handful of km from the finish, has entered the poker of favorites in the bookmakers' bets, listed 10 on a par with Daniel Martin, the Irishman who won in 2013 The super popular is Alejandro Valverde, given at 4, the Spaniard who is back on the shields after the resounding success in the Freccia Vallona on Wednesday, already second last year, who is aiming for a trio in the Doyenne after the victories in 2006 and 2008. Behind the Iberian champion, listed 7, is Kwiatkowski, winner of the Amstel Gold Race. But also watch out for tough customers, such as Simon Gerrans, the last Liège winner, and Joaquim Rodriguez, the old Purito who has savored the taste of victory in the Tour of the Basque Country rediscovering his old grimpeur explosiveness.
