Gilbert to start Liège with van Garderen protected by BMC

Despite a hard crash at the mid-week Flèche Wallonne, BMC’s Philippe Gilbert will line up for the 253km Liège-Bastogne-Liège but Tejay van Garderen will shoulder the expectations of the team.

Tejay van Garderen (L) leads BMC in training for Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Sirotti)

"When everything is right, you don't see so much of the work they are doing," Gilbert said. "But now you really appreciate the help and the support you get.

“Every hard day it is getting better because we work well together. I know I will not be on my best on Sunday because I don't think it is possible. But at least I will be at the start and then we will see."

Sport Director Valerio Piva said van Garderen will enjoy protected status in his first appearance in Liège since 2012.

"I feel good, I feel prepared and motivated," van Garderen said. "It was a bit of a blow to see so many crashes on Wednesday from a lot of our stronger guys, especially Philippe.

“I still have faith that he is going to have a good ride on Sunday. For sure we will be there in the final. When you have all of this adrenaline and when he (Gilbert) is on his home roads going by the house he grew up in, he is not even going to feel the pain. I think he will be able to push through it."

BMC for Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Tejay van Garderen (USA), Philippe Gilbert (BEL), Brent Bookwalter (USA), Ben Hermans (BEL), Klaas Lodewyck (BEL), Joey Rosskopf (USA), Samuel Sánchez (ESP) and Dylan Teuns (BEL).