Last year, Valverde’s hopes of winning a fifth consecutive title were denied as he had to settle for second behind Alaphilippe, who became the first Frenchman since Laurent Jalabert in 1997 to win the race.

Deceuninck-Quick-Step rider Alaphilippe has been one of the standout performers on this year’s International Cycling Union (UCI) World Tour, winning the Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo events in March as well as stages of the Tirreno-Adriatico and this month’s Tour of the Basque Country.

He had also looked set to triumph at the Amstel Gold Race in Limburg in the Netherlands on Sunday (April 21) before he and escape partner Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark were caught in the last kilometre.

Alaphilippe had to settle for fourth with Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel first, Australia’s Simon Clarke second and Fuglsang third.

Movistar’s Valverde, meanwhile, holds the record for the number of victories at La Flèche Wallonne with five – two more than any other rider.

As well as holding the title from 2014 to 2017, he also triumphed in 2006.

Valverde only has one top-three finish to his name this season, however.

That came at the UAE Tour, where he finished runner-up to Slovenia’s Primož Roglič.

While the men’s race is a 195.5km route from Ans to Mur de Huy, the women’s is a 118.5km contest and starts and finishes in Huy.

The Netherlands’ Anna van der Breggen of Boels-Dolmans has won the past four editions. 

If she can retain her crown tomorrow at the second of the three Ardennes Classics, she will equal compatriot Marianne Vos’ record of five victories.

"Winning a race that many times would be special, but when we start a race, it's all about winning that race, and absolutely not about me or who is going to win," van der Breggen, the Olympic and world road race champion, told Cyclingnews. 

"The main thing is that I feel good before the three races and then we'll see how the races develop and how we are going to try to win them. 

"If we have a good team plan, then I'm happy with it, and, hopefully, we'll be good. 

"I'd be happy if we won but it doesn't really matter if it's me or a team-mate. 

"It feels really good to help a team-mate to a victory like that."

The 29-year-old van der Breggen is the only rider to have won the "Ardennes triple", which also includes the Amstel Gold Race and the Liège-Bastogne-Liège, having achieved the feat in 2017.