Liege-Bastogne-Liege: Alejandro Valverde wins for third time

Alejandro Valverde becomes only the sixth man to win the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race at least three times

Alejandro Valverde has won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race for the third time.

The Spaniard, 35, who also won in 2006 and 2008, took the victory in the 253km race, one of the Ardennes Classics, after a thrilling sprint finish.

France's Julian Alaphilippe came second, with another veteran Spaniard, Joaquim Rodriguez, taking third place.

A crash just over 40km from the finish took out a host of riders including the last two winners in Liege, Australian Simon Gerrans and Ireland's Dan Martin.

Valverde's victory continues a fine week that also saw him win the La Fleche Wallonne race on Wednesday.

By winning the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race again it means he has done the Fleche-Liege double for a second time in his career after also winning both races in 2006.

Liege-Bastogne-Liege (253 km) results:

1. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) 6hrs 14mins 20 secs

2. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Etixx - Quick-Step) Same time

3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa/Katusha) Same time

4. Rui Costa (Por/Lampre) Same time

5. Roman Kreuziger (Cze/Tinkoff-Saxo) Same time

6. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) Same time

7. Sergio Henao (Col/Team Sky) Same time

8. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita/AG2R) Same time

9. Jakob Fuglsang (Den/Astana) Same time

10. Daniel Moreno (Spa/Katusha) Same time