Julien Alaphilippe, who finished fourth in La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday, said he felt relieved from the pressure and was able to go into Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege without feeling the pressure to win.

Alaphilippe, a world champion, has been second in his debut in 2015 in the old Ans finish, two years ago he celebrated an untimely "victory" and was relegated from second to fifth place, and last spring he finished second behind Tadey Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates), who had been They have come close to victory many times.

Alaphilippe will be back again this year as Quick Step Alphavinir begins his quest for a big Classic win in the finale of the Spring 2022 Classic.

"Liège is a big goal, but that's what I've been saying since 2015," Alaphilippe said in his pre-race press conference on Friday. 'I don't feel any pressure. With a strong team, especially Lemko Evenpole, we can aim for the win." [Monument. I was always close to winning, but it didn't work out. It's a prestige race, it's hard to win and everyone respects and dreams of winning."

Alaphilippe said after Flèche that he was happy with his form. He had won in each of his last three participations, but finished fourth in Mulle de Uys. He will face Pogachar, Wout Van Art (Jumbo Visma), and Flèche winner Dylan Tuns (Bahrain Victorious) in Sunday's 257 km race.

He said he expects a fast finish, as the final is a little different this year. The Col de La Redoute is nearing its end with 29 km to go, and the following Côte des Forges has been deleted.

"Of course, the race could change. 'The parcours has changed a bit. Today's reconnaissance showed that the final climb before La Redoute to the finish would be faster.

"I guess the bottom line is that the race is more open and could be faster in the end. I'm not too worried after the frache. I have something in my head and so far it has always worked out well when I wanted to peak my form. As Lemko said, the group is very strong.

In recent classics, races often start quite far from the finish, as was the case with Ineos Grenadier, who was exposed to crosswinds in the first 50 km of Paris-Roubaix.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège boasts an elevation gain that rivals the queen stage of the Grand Tour and gets more difficult as the race progresses. Alaphilippe said he has "no idea" whether he will be riding long distances on Sunday.

"You have to be prepared for the race to be really fast and really hard. But as I said before, from La Redoute to the finish it's pretty fast."

"One team might go full throttle, so we have to be prepared for that. Anyway, it will be a really hard final and as we have seen in the last few races, it will almost always be on full throttle. We have to have good legs to be ready for that."