Hinault: Attack Di Luca

"Di Luca is the strongest at the moment," Hinault told French sports daily l'Equipe, "we saw that in the Amstel Gold and in the Flèche Wallonne. His adverseries know that. So why wait to the last climb?"

Hinault, five-time Tour winner and the true offensive king of his era, feels that the likes of Rebellin and Di Luca must be nipped in the bud, and not left to bloom at the 11th Hour.

"Against riders like Di Luca and Rebellin, you can not sit down and stay on their wheels," claims the man whose legendary 1980 win in the snow at Liège will be remembered forever in posterity.

"You must attack early, there is no other solution."

Breaking clear on the last climb has indeed been Di Luca's speciality.

On Wednesday's Flèche Wallonne, the Italian's rivals remained passive until the final ascent of the Mur de Huy. What is more, their teams helped Di Luca's Liquigas outfit topple Jens Voigt's solo breakaway which brought about the general regrouping just kilometres from the finish.

"None of the favourites dared to attack before the Mur," reiterates the Belgian Rik Vergrugghe (Quick Step), one of the rare riders, along with the Kazakh Andrey Kaschechkin (Crédit Agricole), who actually tried to break before the end.

"The same happened in the Amstel Gold Race. Everyone just waited for someone else to take the initiative, trying to conserve their strength for the last climb of the day."

It was an identical scenario, with the same man stealing the spoils. Just as Davide Rebellin had done one year previously, Danilo Di Luca simply waited for the final kilometre of the steep Cauberg section (at times, a whopping 19% gradient!), to affirm himself as champion.

Winning Wallonne on Wednesday, the Liquigas tactician was lofted to top of the UCI ProTour standings.

But both at the start of the race and the finish, the Italian made it clear that his mind was concentrated on Liège - the one he wanted most.

It remains to be seen if Di Luca will be allowed to break away at the finish, or whether one of his rivals will attack early and re-write the script.

Akin to Amstel's Cauberg or Wallonne's Mur de Huy, Sunday's Liège is crowned with the gruelling Saint-Niclolas climb, six kilometres from the end.

Di Luca is aware that if - like last year - sixty riders embark on this final ascent together, then this could again play in his favour.

But it is precisely because of this possibility that he feels his rivals will attack early on.

"It will be much harder at Liège," he said after winning on the Mur de Huy. "The others will look to attack before Saint-Nicolas, but I remain confident."

The route of this Sunday's "Doyenne" is, at 260 km, much longer than the Fléche Wallonne, and much more demanding also, allowing for more attacking scope early on.

"It will be a very different race," predicts the Italian Damiano Cunego (Lampre), one of the riders hoping to upset the seemingly unbeatable Di Luca.