Despite being hot favourite for today’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Alejandro Valverde says that he has no pressure to win after taking second in Amstel a week ago and taking Wednesday’s Fleche Wallonne.

“I don’t have that kind of stress considering what I’ve already done this week,” Valverde told Cyclingnews. “So the pressure on them (his rivals) is a lot higher, not on me.”

His Movistar team will be expected to chase the breaks, which will be made harder if it rains during the race.

“Rain makes it a lot harder, and you have to be even more alert than usual,” he said. “In any case, I wouldn’t be so sure it’s going to rain.”