Liege Beckons Cadel Evans Above, But The “Punchers” Are On Form
PARIS, April 25, 2008 (AFP) - Luxembourg’s Kim Kirchen may be a marked man
after claiming victory in the Fleche-Wallonne classic which precedes the
Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Sunday’s finale to cycling’s spring classics series.
But the Duchy’s latest winner of a respected one-day classic, following in
the wake of former Amstel Gold winner Franck Schleck, will be one among many.
As the oldest existing one-day classic and the fourth of cycling’s five
one-day ‘monuments’, victory in Liege-Bastogne-Liege is one of the most
coveted in the sport.
With 12 short but steep climbs, totaling 25.7km and with a total average
gradient of 7.6 percent, the race is particularly well suited to climbers,
such as on-form Australian Cadel Evans and Italian Damiano Cunego.
However the peloton’s ‘punchers’ - racers who can climb almost as well as
the specialists and add equally strong sprint skills and a dose of tactical
nous when needed - are just at home in the ‘Doyenne’.
Tour de France runner-up Evans showed his Liege ambitions when he finished
a promising second in Wednesday’s Fleche-Wallonne, the traditional warm-up to
Liege and the second of the ‘Ardennes classics’ after the Amstel Gold race.
It was only in the final meters of the steep ramps leading to the Mur de
Huy finish line that the Aussie, and the rest of a small bunch, were stunned
by Kirchen’s late acceleration.
Kirchen is now a favorite for Liege - although given the profile, and
added distance of the race compared to Fleche’s 199.5km - the Luxembourg
puncher is under no illusions.
“It’s 50 kilometres longer and first I need to recover by Sunday but
everything is possible,” Kirchen said after Wednesday’s rain-soaked race.
Evans finished just over a minute behind Italy’s reigning Liege champion
Danilo Di Luca in the 2007 edition, but this year the Silence-Lotto rider
looks in better form as he hones his training for his big aim of winning the
Tour de France.
His performance at the Fleche, when only Kirchen could match then better a
late attack by the Aussie, suggests things are coming along nicely.
Evans’ best finish in Liege was a fifth place finish in 2005 - when
Alexandre Vinokourov and Jens Voigt went on a long two-man attack - but
despite form which suggests he is the big favourite he insists the bigger
picture is more important.
“My job is to win the Tour (de France). Everything else is a bonus,” he
said Wednesday.
Another climber with real victory pretensions is former Giro d’Italia
winner Cunego, who underlined his Liege credentials with a superb victory, on
his race debut, at Amstel ahead of Luxembourger Franck Schleck of CSC.
With the Cote de Saint-Nicolas - a 1km climb with a punishing average
gradient of 11.1 percent - coming just before the steady rise towards the
finish line, past editions have been decided by a combination of late, but
also much earlier attacks.
“It’s difficult to gauge where the race is going to be decided,” added
Evans.
“In 2005 it was a long way out. And last year it was just after the final
climb, just before the finish line. Each edition is different, but that’s what
makes the race interesting.”
Italian Paolo Bettini, the winner in 2000 and 2002, is set to go over the
final part of the course, which has been slightly modified, on Saturday.
Organisers ASO (Amaury Sports Organisation) have added the Cote de la Roche
aux Faucons, with a 10 percent gradient, and that could be decisive.
It remains to be seen whether Quick Step’s reigning Olympic and world
champion copes with returning to the peloton after missing the Amstel Gold
with a broken rib from a crash at the Tour of the Basque country.
Other contenders include Spanish puncher Alejandro Valverde, the runner-up
last year, up and coming Dutchman Robert Gesink and Italian Davide Rebellin.
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