Gilbert not our only Liege rival: cyclist Schleck

Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck said he won't have a fixation on Belgian rival Philippe Gilbert when Liege-Bastogne-Liege brings the spring classics season to an end Sunday. Gilbert lines up for the 255.5 km race with a rare chance of securing a Grand Slam of victories in the tough 'Ardennes Classics' after his Fleche Wallonne win on Wednesday followed victory at the Amstel Gold race a week ago. The Ardennes triple has been achieved only once before, by Italian Davide Rebellin, in 2004. But while Gilbert starts as the favourite, 2009 race champion Schleck said he will be taking other contenders just as seriously. Alexandre Vinokourov took advantage of the favourites marking each other to ride away from the pack with Russian Alexander Kolobnev inside the last 15 km to go on and claim his second career victory on the race last year. Schleck said it would be a mistake to simply focus on Gilbert. "I don't think we should just look at Gilbert. We have to keep our eyes open. There are many guys who can win the race," said the Luxemburger. "Who counted Vino last year? We had a press conference before Liege and nobody mentioned Vino. "There are many more (rivals). There's (Robert) Gesink, Vino, Kolobnev, (Joaquin) Rodriguez, (Samuel) Sanchez. I believe there are 10 guys and I hope I didn't forget anyone." Arguably, the pressure is on Gilbert to perform. Since his recent successes French-speaking Belgians -- who normally turn out in their droves on the 10 climbs which pepper the latter half of the course -- are getting excited. The last Belgian victory on the race, known as 'La Doyenne' because it is the oldest of the one-day classics, being first raced in 1892, came courtesy of Franck Vandenbroucke in 1999. But for the Walloons (French-speaking Belgians) the date to retain is 1978, when Joseph Bruyere triumphed. Gilbert, who grew up at the foot of the La Redoute climb, can end decades of frustration but he is taking nothing for granted. "I have to make sure I don't go in there feeling over-confident," said Gilbert, who has finished fourth the past two years. "I know I will start in the hope I can win it and if I'm best on the day then I will." The first climb, the Cote de Saint Roch, at the 75 km mark, is only one kilometre long but has a whopping average gradient of 11 percent. The final climb is the Cote de Saint Nicolas, a 1.2 km stretch over 8.3 percent which leads the peloton to the finish line in Ans, just above Liege. For the past two years the winning moves originated on the Roche aux Faucons, the penultimate climb which begins at the 236 km mark and heads up for 1.5 km at an average gradient of 9.5 percent. It was there, in 2009, that Schleck made his move. And at the end of a classics campaign in which teammate Fabian Cancellara narrowly missed out on victory in Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, he feels its time for luck to be on their side. "We could have won three or four classics if we'd had a little bit of luck. It's a big factor in cycling," added Schleck. "You need it and we haven't had it yet but I'm sure one day the nut will open and we will win."