Michael Woods re-confirms team’s confidence in him with career best result

After a quiet spring, Michael Woods stormed to second place on a beautiful spring day in Belgium’s Wallonia region in front of his parents who were on hand to spectate. The short ascents that define the Ardennes Classics made for a tactical edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and suit Woods’s strengths perfectly. It was Woods final major target ahead of riding for the general classification at the Giro d’Italia.

“I struggled a lot at the start of the season with illness,” said Woods after the race. “I didn’t have the season start I wanted to. Today is the first day I actually felt like a bike racer again. I felt awesome throughout the day and had really great support from the guys.”

Woods promising but still young professional career has taken huge steps forward in the past year. A resilient seventh-place performance at the 2017 Vuelta a España showed that the 31-year-old’s racing chomps extended to Grand Tours while his outstanding explosive climbing ability has always made him dangerous in hilly races. While his first win as a WorldTour pro is still elusive, second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the latest proof Woods is amoung the best in the world.

“JV [Jonathan Vaughters] told me I could win an Ardennes classics, and I didn’t believe him when first told me,” explained Woods. “Now I’m starting to believe.”

The winning move came over the top of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons. Woods have Jungels a bike length as he took on food and the Luxembourg champion took off.

“I was a bit to blame for that,” admitted Woods. “I was right on his wheel, and I grabbed a gel when he went. He rode a strong and courageous race. I wouldn’t expect anything less from him. He’s a classy guy.”

In the final, Romain Bardet attacked and in his shadow was Woods who worked with the Frenchman well until launching his sprint to nab second in the final meters.

“Bardet made an excellent move,” said Woods. “I knew as soon as he went that it was the move to follow. I was able to get on his wheel and we worked fairly well together up the climb.”

Much love to my @Ride_Argyle boys today? https://t.co/WpPD37EeNN

— Michael Woods (@rusty_woods) April 22, 2018

Woods was pleased with the result calling it his biggest result to date. He achieved it in front of his parents who were on hand to spectate but he dedicated the result to his wife who was at their in-season home in Girona. “My wife had some tough news a few days ago, and I really wanted to get a good result for her here,” Woods said. “I finished the race and gave her a call. We shared a big smile. I’m really happy to pull something off for her and the team after a tough start to the season.”

Woods next target is the Giro d’Italia where he will contest the GC against the likes of defending champion Tom Dumoulin and Chris Froome. If he continues to make the same progress as we’ve seen in the past months he could be poised to take his professional victory and a strong result in the GC.

“Woods is clearly progressing in his ability to read a race and to ride in front of the peloton,” said EF Education First-Drapac team boss Jonathan Vaughters added. “Following Bardet’s attack showed newfound tactical savvy.”