The first of the Ardennes classics, it's small, sharp hills almost all the way, which is perfect for me. it's always been the worst for the three for me, and I don't feel like I've peaked yet, so we'll see how it goes.

We've sent our full Ardennes squad here that we will t the rest of the races with the exception of Slagter, who is off leading a smaller race and will be in instead of Cardoso in the other races.

A wide range of favorites could win this race. Even defending champion Kreuzinger is only considered an outsider. But Purito and Gilbert have to be the main favorites.

*** Rodriguez, Gilbert, Valverde, D. Martin
** Kreuzinger, Henao, Costa, Moreno, Sagan
* Kwiatkowski, Gerrans, Iglinskiy, Hesjedal, Bakelants

Well the time is here for Ardennes week, and I can't wait! See you after the race!

Not much to say that I didn't say in the preview. All I can do is give it my best shot here and build to my peak for later in the week.

Big break got away early, but most of the favorites teams decided to play their cards as they came and stayed in the pack.

That includes us. Early on we had the whole team near the front. We didn't want to repeat the final stage in Catalunya, but we also wanted to make sure nothing happened that we couldn't control.

Unfortunately that wasn't the case. With still 40 km left to go Purito charged up the road, mirroring his other efforts this year. And he was followed by none others than Gilbert, Costa, Valverde, Henao and Kwiatkowski.

With 15 km to go it was down to me a Ryder. The pacing was being held by Tinkoff for Kreuzinger, one of the only favorites still back here with me. The race wasn't stagnant though. Gerrans put in probing attacks almost every bump in the road. Almost every time Cadel Evans followed with Gilbert up the road, causing Moreno to stir as well.

So with 10 km to go and only 3 hills ahead, Ryder got on the front and we plowed away from the other competition, who were either too tired to follow, or were looking at each other with their teammates up the road.

Fairly quickly we caught a group, but without two key names. Purito was up the road by over a minute, and Gilbert still had 30 seconds on us too. At the bottom of the penultimate hill Ryder gave me the signal, but not before this...

1.5 km to go and I was on the Cauberg. Gilbert had slowed and nearly cracked as I got him. I had Rodriguez in my sites, by the draggin slopes can fool you, and the radio in my ear was saying 45 seconds. No way I could close that gap, right?

I ripped the radio out of my ear. and headed for the summit, giving my final digs as I reached the top. I finally looked up as the finishing straight appeared in front of me.

And what I saw was Purito raising his arms in the air.

No time for self pity. I sprinted to snag 2nd before I fell off my bike and was surrounded by press. Behind, Kreuzinger, without making a single move the entire day, won the bunch sprint for third.

Rodriguez wins in another daring attack. I though I needed to stay calm and I would catch him like LBL last year. But so far he's eluded me. I need to decide now whether I follow him if he does the same in Fleche.

Gilbert's form is certainly in question. He slid back to the other group, and simply couldn't stay with Purito or me in the finale. For the guy that won the Ardennes triple, that is surely disappointing.

It's hard to really judge the other favorites, as their placing really shows how much energy they had based on what they did in the race.

One thing I can say is it was an amazing race by Hesjedal. With the way the race played out I couldn't have placed without him. I'm ecstatic that he hung in there for 6th.

No time to lose moping in defeat. La Flèche Wallonne is in 2 days. And this time, I intend to win!

The route for the Fleche is unlike that of Amstel in many ways. First, the climbs are generally harder, more spread out, and steeper. There are also less of them in general. However, the whole dynamic is changed by the finish, atop the Mur de Hoy.

We send the same squad here, but as promised, Slagter replaces Cardoso. Other than that, we are ready, and this will be out Liege squad as well.

This time I am 2nd only to Purito in the betting. By Liege, mark my words, he will be second to me. However, Nibali and Mollema join the fun here, which will no doubt make the race even tougher. One thing worth mentioning is that Purito has no Moreno here, which will hopefully play in my favor.

*** Rodriguez, D. Martin, Gilbert, Valverde
** Kreuzinger, Nibali, Costa, Sagan, Mollema
* Kwiatkowski, Henao, Gerrnas, Hesjedal, Quintana

Nothing else left to say. Time to get racing!

Not much to say, but the Mur de Hoy should be vital.

A three man break got away early in the morning, and as you can see they had some company. The crosswinds whipped up to 70 kph all through the dark and rainy stage. When can we get some calm sunshine!?

Surprisingly, the race was stagnant. perhaps it was the wind, but the first time up the Mur de Hoy nothing happened at all, and the break was just a minute away.

And so we started to pace, not wanting to take any chances.

But of course that couldn't last, and Henao attacked straight at the bottom of the next climb, followed by Nibali, Kwiatkowski, and Kreuzinger.

But it was still 25 km from the finish, and we had practically the whole team still with us. So instead of following I stayed behind the viscous tempo of my team, Garmin. Twice a favorite's group including Purito attacked, and twice we got them back before they could even hold a gap.

But eventually we started to run out of firepower. It was me and Ryder again. When the favorites attacked, I followed, with him trailing behind. But it went nowhere, as Orica brought it back.

Up front, Henao had somehow fended up the crosswinds with no draft to slip away alone. With still 2climbs remaining, could he hold on to his 1:15 gap?

The three man group behind was working, but we were about to catch them.

So with the final climb on the horizon, the Polish champ attacked, leaving the other two in the dust. But still he was almost caught and Henao was a minute up the road from him.

This time I didn't hesitate. The minute we hit the climb, I was gone, catching everybody but Henao. With 1.7 km to go I wasn't worried about risk. I had risked too much by letting Henao go (despite the team's best efforts).

Around the final bend I was getting closer. I could feel the gap coming down. I could touch him, and the burning in my legs was progress instead of pain. 500 meters to go.

And then I hit a wall. All of a sudden I wasn't accelerating, I was fighting to stay in front of the rest. The pain was pack, and a gap so close slipped away in front of me.

And Sergio Henao took La Fleche Wallonne...

It looked like J-Rod would catch me, but I managed to roll in in 2nd. 2/2 in the classics. If I was going for runner up.

Gilbert beat Gerrans to the line for 4th, and Hesjedal just missed a top ten in 11th.

Once again, 2nd is a great result. And I lived up to what I said about beating Purito. But once again I loose marginally because I let an attack go. I still think the choice made sense. With 35 km still to go, why follow a bunch of outsiders. After all, I had my whole team on the front. The break seemed destined to fail, especially in the high gales.

But alas, I am 2nd, and the Colombian from Sky is first, again in a loss via strategy.

That should be me. I mean, I was on there later, but I should have been then.

Well.. I don't know what to do but defend my title in the king of all hilly races. See you there.

We're here. The final of my Ardennes hopes. I won here last year, and I've been second in the other races this year. However, being the most consistent, I am one of the biggest favorites. Liege is perhaps slightly more mountainous than Amstel and there are more climbs than Liege. Winning the monument again would certainly make up for any ill feeling of the earlier results.

Same squad as before. We aren't changing anything.

As far as favorites, it's basically the same as before, perhaps we just know who is on form now.

Once again no Moreno for Purito, not sure why.

*** Rodriguez, D. Martin, Gilbert, Valverde
** Henao, Nibali, Costa, Sagan, Kwiatkowski
* Kreuzinger, Mollema, Gerrans, Hesjedal, Quintana, Contador

Time to win. That's all I'm here for.