Astana’s Sanchez attacks, Izagirre and Fraile in top 20 in Liège-Bastogne-Liège
One of the most prestigious and tough 257-kilometers-long race from Liège to Bastogne and back, played with the sprint of small group of 5 riders, where Primož Roglič from Slovenia wins, and, according to the final protocols, Marc Hirschi and Tadej Pogačar took second and third places.
About 23 kilometers to the finish Spanish champion of Astana Pro Team Luis Leon Sanchez attacked, but he was caught by the chasing peloton after 2 kilometers.
Finally, Astana Pro Team riders Gorka Izagirre and Omar Fraile finished in Top 20, taking 17th and 19th places respectively.
«We didn't have a clear leader for this race, everyone could try their chances, depending on their legs. We wanted to try to get the best possible result and all riders were motivated enough. Of course, a very intense calendar has its strong impact, some of the riders are tired after the Tour de France, and some just yesterday joined us after the BinckBank Tour. Nevertheless, the guys did their best, two of them finished in Top 20, Sanchez tried to attack at 25 km before the finish, but, unfortunately, we were a little bit unlucky today. This is a cycling race, the strongest won, but we continue the series of Belgian classics, let's see what we can show there,» commented the sports director Dmitriy Fofonov.