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Simon Gerrans wins 100th edition of Liège-Bastogne-LiègeLiege Bastogne Liege 2014 logo

Simon Gerrans wins 100th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Orica-GreenEdge rider wins second Monument of his career, defending champion Dan Martin falls on final bend
by Simon_MacMichael
Sun, Apr 27, 2014 16:30
8

Simon Gerrans of Orica-GreenEdge has won the second Monument of his career today, beating Movistar's Alejandro Valverde and Michal Kwiatkowski of Omega Pharma-Quick Step to the line to claim victory in the 100th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Defending champion Dan Martin of Garmin Sharp had attacked from a select group inside the final kilometre and as he reeled in the two riders ahead, Katusha's Giampaolo Caruso and AG2R's Domenco Pozzovivo, it looked as though the Irish rider might become the first man to win back-to-back editions since Michele Bartoli in 1997 and 1998.

Coming round the final bend, however, and poised to lead the race into the final 300 metres Martin, second to Valverde at the Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday, crashed to the ground, with no other rider involved in the incident.

Instead it was Australian national champion Gerrans who triumphed at the end of the 263km race, adding the oldest Monument, nicknamed La Doyenne and first raced in 1892, to his palmares which already include the 2012 edition of Milan-San Remo.

"It's incredible," said Gerrans afterwards. "I don't have the words to express what I'm feeling. It was really a super hard race all the way at the finish. And I really have to thank my team. With 30kms to go, I actually felt I didn't have good legs but they insisted. I owe them a lot. You never know what happens on such a final.

"I just gave the maximum until the final bend. To win here really is a dream come true. It unfolded perfectly for me. I was well placed and managed to avoid Dan Martin who crashed just in front of me. I then had the legs to finhish well.

"I was confident I could beat guys like Valverde and Gilbert on a sprint like that one but after 250kms, everything can happen.”

Simon Gerrans
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

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giobox | 10 years ago
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Congratulations to Gerrans but my what a dull race. One wonders if the days of the 50km breakaway winning are truly over (of course we can all speculate as to why those days ever came about...). Today we saw a group of incredibly timid racers in a procession, until 1km to go when they remembered that it was a race. A race like today, there is genuinely no point tuning in till the last five minutes.

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ColT replied to giobox | 10 years ago
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giobox wrote:

Today we saw a group of incredibly timid racers in a procession, until 1km to go when they remembered that it was a race.

Or, according to the winner...

" said Gerrans afterwards. "It was really a super hard race all the way at the finish." "

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giobox replied to ColT | 10 years ago
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ColT wrote:
giobox wrote:

Today we saw a group of incredibly timid racers in a procession, until 1km to go when they remembered that it was a race.

Or, according to the winner...

" said Gerrans afterwards. "It was really a super hard race all the way at the finish." "

Of course he will say that - did you actually watch it? Not going to go down in history as a classic edition of the race, that's for sure.

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JDee replied to giobox | 10 years ago
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giobox wrote:

Congratulations to Gerrans but my what a dull race. One wonders if the days of the 50km breakaway winning are truly over (of course we can all speculate as to why those days ever came about...). Today we saw a group of incredibly timid racers in a procession, until 1km to go when they remembered that it was a race. A race like today, there is genuinely no point tuning in till the last five minutes.

I agree that this years race was pretty dull, but it's not like they've all been boring. Last year's L-B-L was pretty great, with Garmin displaying some fantastic tactical riding!

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Alan Tullett | 10 years ago
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I thought Gerrans would win this one as he had a rest. But I also had Dan in my team and his fall probably cost me some sunglasses! Not much though compared to what it cost him but he obviously has good form so I'm sure he'll win some other things this year. But why did he go over? Did his pedal hit the ground or was he just leaning too much!!

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trevisotart | 10 years ago
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Not half as gutted as I was , backed valverde to win had £20 on him ! fools and their money ect ect .

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stenmeister replied to trevisotart | 10 years ago
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trevisotart wrote:

Not half as gutted as I was , backed valverde to win had £20 on him ! fools and their money ect ect .

I had an each way bet on Valverde for the Vuelta last year. Made a profit of 18p thanks to his third place.

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Jones The Steam | 10 years ago
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Absolutely gutted for Dan. Thought he had it in the bag! 2

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