Every News: Alaphilippe can claim classics crown at new-look Liege

Alaphilippe can claim classics crown at new-look Liege
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PARIS: Cycling’s spring classics culminate with a new look Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday (today) where all eyes will be on Julian Alaphilippe, the “nightmare” Frenchman emerging as the top one-day racer in the world.Rivals and ex-pros alike have heaped praise on the 26-year-old who embarks on “La Doyenne” of the classics, first raced in 1892, surrounded by the all-powerful local team Deceuninck-Quick Step.Organisers have this year moved the finish line from atop a sharp ascent in the working class industrial zone into the centre of the prosperous Liege centre 15km away, where a wild reception awaits the finale of what is a huge event on the Belgian sports calendar.Traditionally won on the old route by punchy climbers such as Alaphilippe, the new winning post is likely to see a select group contest a sprint, another discipline in which Alaphilippe excels.“He’s total nightmare,” declared Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang after coming second to him for the third time this season at the midweek Fleche Wallonne.“I have massive respect for him and you can only admit he’s just the best one-day racer around,” said the Astana rider who also described Alaphilippe as a “good lad”.“He’s strong, very strong indeed.”Alaphilippe had just won the Fleche for the second consecutive year with an astonishing late ‘kick’, a lethal last-minute acceleration which is becoming his trademark.Winner of Milan-San Remo, Sunday’s race would mean a second Monument (ultra-long classic) in a single season for Alaphilippe.Former top French rider Laurent Jalabert told Le Parisien newspaper this week Alaphilippe’s two stage wins and polka dot jersey at last year’s Tour de France had taken a weight off his back.