This Sunday sees the fourth monument of the season with the final of the Ardennes classics Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Having had two races in the past week the form of the main contenders is easier to predict and therefore theoretically make the race easier to predict. My tips for Amstel where all up there but lacked that final push and for Wednesday Fleche Wallone I picked out Evans as a potential winner and he went on to prove me right.
Gilbert, Valverde and Rodriguez go into to the race as the 3 shortest odds riders with the bookies but I am not backing any of them. For a full list of odds from different bookies see here: http://www.oddschecker.com/other-sports/cycling/one-day-classics/liege-bastogne-liege/win-market
Instead here are my three picks (ALL EW):
Cuengo (13/1 Bet 365)
Cuengo has been prominent all week with solid top 10 finishes in the other two Ardennes Classics. I think this weekend could see him go that little bit further onto the podium. His team Lampre have been strong in protecting him and I feel he has been holding himself back and targeting this race.
Frank Schleck (16/1 Sky Bet)
So far this week I have backed Frank’s brother both times and have been disappointed. They have both been up there in the race getting in breaks and attacking but have lacked that killer instinct to really go for it. I am getting annoyed because I feel their closeness as brothers is stopping them winning races. Andy seems always to hold something back so not to drop Frank. My reasoning for backing Frank in this race is that I feel Andy is going to sacrifice everything for Frank and Frank has targeted this race and they are both highly motivated to win as Frank only last week became a father and so they want to celebrate that. I am backing more on a potential heart warming story than form but what the hell.
Hesjedal (40/1 Sky Bet)
He again is on good form and came second last weekend in Amstel Gold. Although he will be more closely marked because of that result I still feel that he has a good chance at winning the race. The profile of the race suits his punchy racing style and his team is very strong with riders like Dan Martin and Christian Van Der Velde in it. Also at 40/1 he represents the best value from the outside priced contenders.
The Race is at 1pm on Sunday on Eurosport.
