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PARIS (AFP) – Belgium's Philippe designer lines up for Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sun with a rare chance of securing a Grand Slam of victories in the thickened 'Ardennes Classics'.

Liege, the oldest one-day artist on the calendar, brings an end to the outflow classics flavour with the one-week stage races that advance up to the prototypal of the threesome Grand Tours looming on the horizon.

Gilbert was untouchable in the prototypal digit of the threesome plateau one-day races, high Fleche Wallonne on weekday just threesome life after also success the Amstel Gold race.

The Omega-Pharma traveller secured both victories with a brawny test kick which mitt his rivals unmoving to the spot.

However Liege is the toughest of the threesome and Gilbert, who grew up in a community at the measure of digit of its some climbs, knows it module present a assorted contest altogether.

"I hit to secure that I don't go in there feeling over-confident. I know I module move in the hope I crapper win it and if I'm prizewinning on the period then I will," said Gilbert.

Going on his past form, designer looks overconfident of emulating the hat-trick accomplishment of European Davide Rebellin in 2004.

However Liege is desirable by some top racers and the French-speaking European is not short of equally ambitious rivals.

Joaquin Rodriguez, for example, hopes designer runs discover of steam.

"I'm looking positively towards Sunday," said the Spaniard, who was runner-up to designer in both Amstel and Fleche -- races where the ability to closing with a quick separate of pace going hard is an unconditional staleness for victory.

"In 2005 Danilo Di Luca easily won the Amstel Gold Race and Fleche Wallonne but wasn't at his prizewinning for Liege and forfeited out."

Alexandre Vinokourov won Liege for the ordinal instance in his occupation terminal year, the disputable Kazakh traveller beating Slavonic Alexandre Kolobnev into ordinal locate after they had broken free of the pack in the test 15 km.

While the capital traveller has had a overmodest classics campaign so far, he believes his ordinal locate closing at Fleche Wallonne is a beatific sign.

"It's my prizewinning result at Fleche Wallonne since I started my career. It makes me even more overconfident for Liege," said Vinokourov.

Going on their underway modify and past results at Liege, Rodriguez, land compatriot Igor Anton of Euskaltel and Leopard-Trek's Andy Schleck are also among Gilbert's large threats.

Anton finished seventh in the vie terminal assemblage and was fifth at the Fleche Wallonne in midweek.

Schleck module be hoping his demand of magnificent modify at Fleche Wallonne, where he worked in hold of older brother Frank, is not a portent of what lies aweigh as he bids to repeat his 2009 conclusion at Liege.

Held over a indifference of 255.5km, the vie heads from Liege southward towards Bastogne and backwards again, steadily eliminating the earth over a series of 10 climbs.

The Cote de Saint Roch, at the 75 km mark, is only digit klick long but has a whopping average gradient of 11 percent.

The test climb is the Cote de Saint Nicolas, a 1.2 km stretch over 8.3 proportionality which leads the peloton to the closing distinction in Ans, just above Liege.

Although the 'Doyenne' usually crowns the strongest traveller on the day, designer module be hoping his aggroup crapper move their superior impact against rivals who module do everything they crapper to stir the European off.

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