Il favorito della gara è sicuramente Valverde, 35 anni venerdì, il quale si è imposto già mercoledì nella Freccia Vallone, seconda prova nelle Ardenne. A contendere il successo allo spagnolo ci sarà anche il campione del mondo Kwiatkowski, vincitore una settimana fa all'Amstel Gold Race proprio davanti all'iberico. Tra i pretendenti al trono che si sfideranno lungo i 10 muri, inseriti nella 2a parte dei 253km previsti, tra cui la celebre salita della Redoute, ci saranno pure l'italiano Nibali e il francese Alaphilippe.
Domenica si corre (in diretta dalle 15h30 su LA2 e Livestreaming) la 101a edizione della Liegi-Bastogne-Liegi, la più antica tra le classiche delle Ardenne: basti pensare che la prima edizione risale al 1892. Questa competizione chiude la prima parte di stagione dedicata soprattutto alle corse in linea di un giorno.
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