Paris (AFP)

An additional chance for the riders of the big tours: the postponement planned for the fall of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, one of the "monuments" of cycling which should have taken place on Sunday, benefits the men of the Tour de France, the opinion of former champion Laurent Jalabert.

First, an obviousness in the calendar which remains to be formalized according to the desired resumption of competitions: "Liège will take place after the Tour de France", underlines the Frenchman who obtained the best results (2nd in 1997 and 1998) in the Dean of classics since the historic victory of Bernard Hinault, under the snow, forty years ago.

The date of the race, if cycling can resume its place in a world turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic: probably in the first half of October, according to the project which seems to be favored by a majority. Either as an extension of the Tour de France (August 29 to September 19) and the world championship (September 27) which will concern substantially the same riders as the Dean, given its selective course.

"The race will remain the same", analyzes Jalabert who refutes the climatic hazard: "We are even more lucky than in April to have good weather". He retains, however, the difference related to the plateau which could be somewhat different from the usual.

- No saturation -

"The qualities required will be identical but we may find runners who are not used to being at the start," said the Tarnais, currently confined to his house in the South West. Even if it does not exclude that a classic runner who will not have participated in the Tour has a chance.

If the last laureates of the Dean (Jakob Fuglsang, Bob Jungels, Alejandro Valverde, Wout Poels) succeeded in the big laps, the main contenders in the yellow jersey abandon the Liège race, with the difference in altitude yet equivalent to a mountain stage. This time, the situation changes. "We will not hear about saturation," predicts Jalabert before a season concentrated on three, maximum four months.

"The races are going to be linked, he noted. Those who will arrive on the Tour de France will have a huge desire. It then depends on how they will leave the Tour. But, in the next two to three weeks , we can be very efficient. " Especially since the candidates will not have had a campaign of classics at the start of the season to erode their strengths.

From there to see men such as Egan Bernal, the Colombian winner of the 2019 Tour, or Thibaut Pinot, join the fight, the step is quickly taken. Neither of them knows Liège-Bastogne-Liège. But both (Pinot winner in 2018, Bernal 3rd in 2019) have already shone in the Tour of Lombardy, the classic of the end of the season which is closest, by its course, to the inimitable Dean.

© 2020 AFP