The Dane finally did it
Fuglsang finished second to Julian Alaphilippe at both the La Flèche Wallonne and the Strade Bianche. The two also lost a sure victory at the Amstel Gold Race. This time, however, the Astana rider attacked on the final climb with 15 km to go and only 2 km further down the road, he was clear of all the competitors. It looked like the victory was in the bag but it wouldn’t be Fuglsang if he wouldn’t provide at least one suspenseful moment. With 5 km to the finish line, the Dane crouched over his handlebars and his back wheel slipped out. Luckily for him, he somehow managed to hold the slide. In the end, Fuglsang crossed the finish line 27 seconds before Davide Formolo.
“I don’t know why it took so long,” the Dane commented on his 13-year wait for a Monument win. “The first few years I had to grow up first but this season it seems like everything has come together and everything is going well and we have a really strong team. It’s an amazing feeling and a super way to finish off these three Classics. It’s been a big goal for me this week and to crown it off with a victory today in such a race, it’s just amazing.”
Rumours circulated that Alaphilippe and Fuglsang exchanged a few words during La Doyenne, which the Dane later confirmed at the post-race press conference.
“Before we took the speedy downhill to La Redoute, I was in the wheel of Luis León Sánchez and he was in the wheel of his guys. I looked over at him to see if I could get any sign of how he was feeling and he looked back and said to me ‘I hope you win today’. I looked back and said ‘thank you and good luck’.”
What a guy Julian Alaphilippe is!
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2019 results
1 Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) – 6:37:37
2 Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe) + 27s
3 Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) + 57s
4 Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)
5 Michael Woods (EF Education First)
6 David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ)
7 Mikel Landa (Movistar)
8 Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) + 1:00
9 Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida) + 1:05
10 Wout Poels (Team Sky) + 1:26
