Wouter Poels said winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege was a “dream come true” almost four years after a crash almost ended his career.
The 28-year-old Dutchman suffered a ruptured spleen and kidney, three broken ribs and bruised lungs in a crash on stage six of the 2012 Tour de France.
“Some doctors were saying it would be better to stop riding a bike, so now to win Liege is really amazing — like a dream come true,” the Team Sky rider said.
Photo: EPA
More known as a specialist climber whose previous best results came at stage races of up to one week, Poels hopes the win will help him take the step up to Grand Tour leader for his team.
“I hope I can go next year maybe in a Grand Tour for my own chances,” said Poels, who will be one of Chris Froome’s chief lieutenants in July’s Tour de France. “I don’t know if it will be the Tour — Chris is outstanding in that. I also have to show I can do that, I hope with this victory I can speed up [the process to becoming a Grand Tour leader] a little bit — we’ll see.”
Poels had come fourth in La Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday last week, already his best ever result in a one-day classic, and before the race Froome — who came home 112th, more than 10 minutes back — had said he would be riding for Poels and Polish teammate Michal Kwiatkowski.
When the race got to the business end after more than six hours of riding through cold, snow, rain and hail, Poels showed great maturity and strength in riding at the front, ensuring he could react when Michael Albasini of Orica-Greendge launched his attack in the final 3km.
Only Poels, Samuel Sanchez of BMC Racing Team and Rui Costa of Lampre-Merida managed to follow.
In the sprint finish, Sanchez had no strength left, Costa faded and Albasini did not have the kick to overtake Poels, who had struck out for home first.
“You always hope for a really nice victory, you dream about it, but that you can win it now on a day like this is really amazing, it’s a really special feeling,” Poels said. “So I’ll enjoy it.”
“When I passed the finish line I really couldn’t believe it,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling, an amazing victory, the highlight of my career.”
Switzerland’s Albasini revealed he had initially expected to be riding to help Australian teammate Simon Gerrans, the 2014 winner.
“At the end I was still there and he wasn’t feeling good, so it was up to me to make the race,” the 35-year-old said. “I tried to stay with the leading positions to cover any attacks. On the cobbles I knew I was going to just ride at my own tempo. Sometimes it’s easier to just follow your own tempo [than that of others]. I was surprised that I was the strongest, although in the end I think I was one of the strongest and not the strongest because the strongest won.”
While the favorites, including defending champion Alejandro Valverde of Movistar, failed to match the attacking move by Albasini, Costa denied that it was a surprise result.
“At the end there was no Valverde and no Purito [Team Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez], but there were other guys,” said the 29-year-old Portuguese, world champion in 2013. “With the day and the weather we had it was really the best vying for victory at the end.”
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