'Balaverde''s preparation for a tilt at the Giro d'Italia next month has led him through several of the Continental level races, with no serious attempts at WorldTour races aside from a top 10 finish in the Strade Bianchi. His win in the Vuelta a Castilla y León last weekend gave him the ideal launch into La Flèche Wallonne, a race he has come to dominate in recent years.
If you could have designed a race specifically to suit Valverde, this would be it. Having already won it in 2006, and twice more in the last two years, there's few who know the punishing summit finish better, and fewer still who possess the punching power to be able to almost guarantee success on it.
And so it was. A group of around 40 riders remained at the front of the race as they reached the Mur de Huy, with Valverde (MOV) always prominent in the group. Joaquim Rodriguez (KAT) made the first move, but didn't have the legs to keep it up and dropped back.
Dan Martin (EQS) was next in line to make a bid for glory, taking his teammate Julien Alaphilippe and Valverde with him. Valverde swept past on the outside as they crested the climb for the flat last 100m, and although last year's runner up Alaphilippe tried to keep up, he could do nothing to avoid a repeat of last year's top two, with Martin rounding off the podium.
It was a win that Movistar had planned from the start, always at the head of the peloton and putting in the majority of the work to reel in the day's break, started by Steve Cummings (DDD), who was also the last man to be caught. The only time Movistar showed any signs of straying from their plan to get Valverde this record-breaking fourth Flèche Wallonne was when Ion Izaguirre attacked on the run to the final climb, along with Bob Jungels (EQS).
Ultimately it was a fairly by-the-numbers race, the expected duel between Valverde/Movistar and Etixx-QuickStep the entire focus of the day. But Valverde and Movistar's feat is all the more impressive for it, especially given the immense one day firepower thrown at them by Etixx-QuickStep, who are surely becoming increasingly frustrated at not yet having won a Classic in 2016.
Valverde, meanwhile, will look next to Sunday, where he will attempt to be the first man in history to win three Ardennes Doubles in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Tim de Waele
Race results
1. Alejandro Valverde (MOV) 4:43:57
2. Julien Alaphilippe (EQS) + :00
3. Dan Martin (EQS) + :00
4. Wout Poels (SKY) + :04
5. Enrico Gasparotto (WGG) + :05
6. Samuel Sanchez (BMC) + :05
7. Michael Albasini (OGE) + :05
8. Diego Ulissi (LAM) + :05
9. Warren Barguil (TGA) + :05
10. Rui Costa (LAM) + :05
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