Flanders debates its cycling passion between two runners Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel, the rebellious ‘child’ of cycling until the great emergence of Tadej Pogacar, only four months older than the Belgian phenomenon that this Sunday has conquered with victory in Liège- Bastoña-Liège the first ‘monument’ of his professional career at just 22 years old.
🏁 🇧🇪@EvenepoelRemco s’impose en solitaire à Liège! 💪
⏪ Relive the last kilometer of #LBL 2022.🏁 🇧🇪@EvenepoelRemco takes the win in Liège! 💪
⏪ Relive the last kilometer of #LBL 2022. pic.twitter.com/CWJwvVlsoW— Liège-Bastogne-Liège (@LiegeBastogneL) April 24, 2022
In a way, Evenepoel has protected the record of the great myth of Belgian cycling for years, for decades, and if you take into account that ‘El Caníbal’ reigned 50 years ago, for centuries to come. Eddy Merckx is the only cyclist who has won the great Walloon classic five times, which included a Flemish triumph, to leave the Alexander Valverdewho even let himself go in the sprint that decided the second and third places of the last ‘Dean’ contested by the Murcian cyclist, a totally Belgian podium since Quinten Hermans (second) and Van Aert (third) accompanied the Quick Step runner, who took the reins of his team after the abandonment due to a fall -he was taken to the hospital- of the world champion Julian Alaphilippe.
Attack on La Redoute
The Redoutethe hardest of the ten climbs that the cyclists faced, was decisive since there Evenepoel launched a brutal attack that no one was able to counteract, not even Movistar, which put Enrique Morein favor of Valverde, and tried to capture the Belgian runner without success.
EvenepoelAlone, as if he had a motor in his legs, he demonstrated the great quality that he treasures, the athlete who was a footballer before being a cyclist, to get to play in the lower categories of the Belgian team. Evenepoel He was the great runner who treasured extreme quality, capable of winning everything he could set his mind to, until in August 2020, in Lombardy, he fell into the void when he fell off a bridge. He almost killed himself, in an accident from which it can be well assured that he had a guardian angel protecting him, since he only suffered a pelvic fracture, when the injuries could have been much more serious.
The farewell
However, the recovery has been very hard, to the point of often remaining in the background, while Pogacarwinner last year, and this one absent due to the death of his girlfriend’s mother, only made it successful everywhere.
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It was the Liège-Bastogne-Liège of the farewell of Valverde, with a seventh place finish and four victories in his cycling history. Next year he will see the race on television or from the Walloon finish line, if he prefers, but never again with a bib number and riding among the best.
And among the best, the winner rather, was Annemiek van Vleutenthe great star of Movistar, who took the victory alone, like Evenepoel, in the women’s race where the Mallorcan mavi garcia finished in 13th position.