Michael Woods continued a six-year streak of top-10 finishes in Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday, finishing 10th in the chasing group behind Remco Evenepoel at La Doyenne.
The Canadian was part of an elite chasing group sprinting for podiums 43 seconds behind the Belgian, who jumped away some 29km earlier at the Côte de La Redoute to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Woods, part of the group with Israel Premier Tech teammate and 2019 winner Jakob Fuglsang, later said he didn’t have enough superlatives for how Evenepoel attacked and rode solo to victory the first time he entered the race.
“He was only in one day,” Woods told Cyclingnews after finishing the 257km monument. “I mean amazing. It’s hard to find more superlatives to describe how he drove.
“Everyone just watched and were impressed during this attack on La Redoute.
That proved to be true as Evenepoel’s unstoppable charge propelled him down the descent and to a victory that looked little in doubt even with nearly 30km of hilly roads to go.
Woods said he and Fuglsang weren’t at the head of the main group when Evenepoel jumped away and the pair didn’t expect there to be any trains left at La Redoute this late.
“We were lagging behind a bit because I think we lulled ourselves into that false sense of security,” he said. “When you’re that high up on La Redoute, if someone attacks, it just won’t stay.
“That’s just from experience – that’s how I’ve always ridden La Redoute. You think, ‘Well, if attacks start here, they’ll come back’, unless Evenepoel does it.”
He said that although he and Fuglsang finished 10th and 13th, the team’s performance throughout the race went according to plan, even if the result wasn’t what they were aiming for.
“Big disappointment,” was Wood’s first assessment of the result. “Like last year, but even more so this year, there were headwinds at Roche-aux-Faucons, only stronger.
“I did my best to part with a strong group of guys but because of the headwind there wasn’t enough cohesion. Then it comes down to a sprint, and it’s so difficult to beat someone of that caliber in a headwind sprint. Jakob helped me out in the final, but we gave in to the wind too early.
“I think I went according to plan,” he said of executing his team’s ideas for the day. “Maybe I could have gotten to the earlier stages earlier [of Roche-aux-Faucons] because I felt really good, but the plan was to save it a bit more for the last climb and try to really make the difference there. But here, too, the headwind was just too strong.”
Sixth at La Flèche Wallonne and tenth at Liège were disappointing results from the Ardennes for a man with a history of podiums at both races. Leaving spring behind him, he heads into the Tour of Romandy with a stage win in the Gran Camiño stage race – although illness has affected his form in recent months.
“I really struggle with illnesses,” he said. “I was sick even in Camiño the night I won. I got another illness and I’ve been struggling with it ever since.
“It’s been a tough two months but I’m finally getting healthy and finding my legs and I think I’ll be good for the rest of the season.”
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