Blazin' Saddles: Changing of the guard at Liege-Bastogne-Liege?

With two wins in the past three years – and four in total – Alejandro Valverde is usually the man to beat once the road edges uphill into the Liege suburb of Ans.

But the Spanish veteran's aura of Ardennes invincibility was shattered on Wednesday after he succumbed to an early attack from Quick-Step Floors' Julian Alaphilippe on the Mur de Huy to lose his first Fleche Wallonne crown in five years.

And on Sunday, two sleeps shy of his 38th birthday, Valverde will have to show his class by proving he still has what it takes to draw level with Eddy Merckx's record of five wins in La Doyenne. The question is – can he bounce back after the bursting of his Wallonne balloon?

Firstly, it's clearly not all doom and gloom for the Movistar talisman. After all, he has nine wins to his name this season (10 if you count the one he recently gifted to team-mate Andrey Amador) and prior to Wednesday's runner-up spot finished fifth in Amstel Gold. Indeed, even the man himself insists that he's in the best form of his life.

Valverde also stressed that his loss simply came down to not having his usual power on the third ascent of the Mur de Huy. That and the fact that "Alaphilippe was better".

But did something happen on the Mur that was more than one man in blue being beaten out of the blue by another man in blue.

As Lotto Soudal's Jelle Vanendert, the Belgian who finished third behind Alaphilippe and Valverde on Wednesday, told Cyclingnews: "For the first time in five years, it was as if we all realised that to beat Valverde, we had to put him under pressure well before the finish."

For his part, Valverde is adamant that his shock loss in the Fleche was a one-off. He sees himself riding beyond the end of his contract in 2019 and has even targeted the Toyko Olympics in 2020 as a final curtain call.

"So I think we can expect some more battles between me and Julian on the Mur de Huy in the future," he added.

If that's the case in the Fleche then it may not be the same at nearby Liege where, rumour has it, the uphill finish at Ans is said to be switched to a flatter finish in the centre of town in 2019. All this means that if Valverde wasn't already motivated enough to get back to winning ways after his Wallonne blip, he'll be aware that this year's 104th edition of Liege-Bastogne-Liege may present him with the last feasible chance of drawing level with Merckx.

With the other four Liege winners that are still racing – Simon Gerrans (BMC), Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) and Wout Poels (Team Sky) – either out of form (Martin and Poels), shattered after a long spring (Gilbert) or past it (sorry, Gerro!) then it falls on Alaphilippe to pose the most obvious threat to Valverde making it five on Sunday.

But the 25-year-old tyro – runner-up to Valverde in the 2015 edition – is by no means the only rider to watch over the gruelling 258km race.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) has the characteristics to add La Doyenne to his monumental haul of two Lombardia crowns and this year's Milan-Sanremo – although the Italian would probably have to attack early rather than rely on out-sprinting Valverde on the climb to Ans.

If Poels is somewhat lacking for Sky, then the British team also have Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski, twice third in the race. Then there are the likes of Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb), Romain Bardet (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Michael Albasini (Mitchelton-Scott) and the in-form Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) who have what it takes to triumph in Ans (provided both Valverde and Alaphilippe cancel each other out).

But then what about Astana? The Kazakh team are in blistering form with three wins out of the opening four stages of the Tour of the Alps (for Pello Bilbao, Miguel Angel Lopez and Luis Leon Sanchez) in the wake of Michael Valgren's victory in Amstel Gold. What's more, Valgren was even joined by two former Astana riders on the podium in Roman Kreuziger and Enrico Gasparotto.

If the impressive Valgren doesn't have the legs then Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang could pose an outside threat. After all, an Astana victory exactly one year to the day after Michele Scarponi's tragic death would be a fitting way to remember the much-loved Italian.

Nicknamed La Doyenne ('The Old Lady') and founded in 1892, Liege-Bastogne-Liege is the oldest of all the major Classics and is the fourth of five Monuments in the season. It's also a race that does what it says on the tin – taking the riders from Liege to Bastogne and back, albeit via a circuitous and tortuously hilly circuit.

Considered as the toughest race in the pro calendar – thanks to its succession of unforgiving climbs, including the infamous Côte de la Redoute – Liège-Bastogne-Liège traditionally comes to a head with a finale that includes the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons and the Côte de Saint-Nicolas climbs ahead of the uphill ramp into Ans, which was introduced in 1990.

For a decade at the start of the century – in which the likes of Davide Rebellin, Alexandre Vinokourov, Danilo Di Luca, Maxim Iglinsky and our man Valverde all won – there was little positive journalists could say about the race, besides the obvious. A reflection, perhaps, on just how demanding it is.

Sunday's 104th edition is 258km and features 11 categorised climbs including the Côte de la Redoute, the race's signature climb, as well as the Côte de Roche aux Faucons and the Côte Saint-Nicolas (which all come late in the profile and habitually cause a big shake up in the peloton).

Prior to the explosive finale, a flat-ish opening schlep through the Ardennes is followed by the opening climb of the day, the brand new Côte de Bonnerue, after 70km. The return route to Liège is much more undulating and takes in the Côte de Saint-Roch and the Côte de Mont-le-Soie (another new addition) ahead of the triple whammy of the Côte du Pont, Côte de Bellevaux and Côte de la Ferme Libert.

The road continues to be lumpy ahead of the longest climb of the day, the 4.4km and 5.9% Col du Rosier, which at 565m marks the highest point of the day. It's followed by the Col du Maquisard ahead of the emblematic Redoute (2km at 8.9% with a maximum ramp of 13%).

After a technical descent there follows the climbs of Rouche aux Faucons (1.3km at 11%) and Saint-Nicolas (1.1km at 8.6%) before a 3km descent and the final sting in the tail: a 1.5km rise into Ans at a nasty 5%.

Alejandro Valverde pipped Dan Martin in a two-up sprint as Michal Kwiatkowski rounded out the podium ahead of Michael Matthews, Ion Izagirre, Romain Bardet and Michael Albasini. Adam Yates, Michael Woods and Rafal Majka completed the top 10.

***** Alejandro Valverde, Julian Alaphilippe

**** Michael Matthews, Romain Bardet, Michael Albasini

*** Wout Poels, Ion Izagirre, Dan Martin, Tim Wellens, Michal Kwiatkowski, Vincenzo Nibali

** Rigoberto Uran, Daryl Impey, Michael Valgren, Tiesj Benoot, Dylan Teuns

* Rafa Majka, Roman Kreuziger, Sergio Henao, Davide Formolo, Philippe Gilbert, Michael Woods, Ilnur Zakarin, Warren Barguil, Bauke Mollema, Jelle Vanendert, Tom Dumoulin, Rui Costa, Jacob Fuglsang

Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands won the inaugural women's Liege–Bastogne–Liege last year. Having secured her fourth straight Fleche Wallonne crown on Wednesday, the 28-year-old Boels-Doelmans rider – aptly nicknamed 'The Queen of the Ardennes' – starts as the overwhelming favourite for the 135.5km race on Sunday.