ANS, Belgium (Reuters) - Alejandro Valverde lived up to expectations when he timed his final effort to perfection to claim an emotional win in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic for the fourth time on Sunday. The Movistar rider jumped away from a group of top guns with some 250 metres left to catch Dan Martin and easily outsprint the Irishman. Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski took third place in the fourth of five 'Monument' classics as Valverde achieved the Fleche-Liege double for the third time after 2006 and 2015. "My first words are to dedicate this victory to Michele Scarponi, who was a great friend of mine," Spaniard Valverde said as tears rolled down his cheeks. There was a minute of applause before the start of Sunday's 258-km race in memory of Scarponi, with his Astana team mates wearing black armbands.

Source: thestar April 23, 2017 15:11 UTC