From one Ardennes classic to the next. Fleche is admittedly far less hilly than Amstel, but the increased length of the hills makes it up for that. The finish up Mur de Huy might suit the climbers a bit better than Amstel did, however.
The startlist is the following. Most notably missing since Amstel is Sagan.
The race is off to a very hectic start, with a broad variety of riders looking to join the day's early breakaway. This leads to groups being chased down by the favourite teams, time after another.
40 km into the day, we still don't have an established group as Garmin, GreenEDGE and Radioshack pushes the pace at the front of the main field.
It takes another 20 km, but eventually a few riders succeed in creating a fair bit of advantage. Clement represents us, alongside Tom Veelers (Blanco), Rafal Majka (Saxo), Stijn Vandenbergh (Quickstep) and Mathieu Sprick (Argos).
They march on at the front for several hours without any notable events taking place, so we once again make a jump to the last 60 km of the race.
From here, things get really crazy as Philippe Gilbert is trying to make up for the Amstel failure with a long-range attack. Astana's Egor Silin tags along, together with the Vini Fantini duo of Fabio Taborre and Mauro Santambrogio.
To most people's shock, the rest of the favourites are fine letting Phil race up the road. Garmin simply maintains the same pace as earlier.
The quartet thus distances the main field by over two minutes in no time, and the early break is caught just 10 km after the attack.
Just a little while later, we reach the Mur for the second and penultimate time. Philly is obviously doing most of the work in the group, but he can't prevent the peloton from reducing their advantage to just under 2 minutes.
Veelers, Vandenbergh and Sprick are meanwhile dropped from the lead group.
Regardless of Phil's efforts, it's over for the group a few kilometers more towards the end, near the top of the penultimate hill.
A little attack from Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) over the summit is quickly neutralized by Rodriguez's Garmin team.
That means we're approaching a classic uphill battle for the title.
Orica-GreenEDGE takes control as the peloton enters the streets of Huy, but there is little they can do to stop Rigoberto Uran (Sky) from launching a big attack right from the bottom of the Mur.
Palini, Valverde, Vanendert and Mollema quickly mark the Colombian's wheel, while we also see Kwiatek in a brilliant position.
Uran's attack doesn't really get him anywhere, but it does at least give him the lead position as the sprint is opened with 1500m remaining.
His team mate and Amstel protagonist Tiernan-Locke is also among the first riders, whilst GreenEDGE somewhat retains their front positions.
Already under the kilometer kite, Uran starts to fade as Purito shoots into the lead with impressive strength.
Moreno is attempting to hold his wheel, but struggles to do so.
Purito's effort also turns out to be far too premature as Kreuziger storms past him with well over 700m remaining.
Kreuziger has also mistimed his push though, which allows Alexander Kolobnev (Katusha) to overhaul him with 400m to the finish.
And look at Kwiatek!
A surprisingly strong Kolobnev actually starts to look like today's winner when a slight gap emerges behind him, but out of nowhere comes Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil) charging up alongside.
Right behind him is Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel), who is also going very well.
It's been all about timing today, and Sanchez has mastered that with a devastating final acceleration 50m from the line. Victory for Euskaltel!
2nd place is also a bit of a surprise, as former Cyclocross world champion Stybar comes up with great speed in the finale to bump Kolobnev into 3rd.
De Gendt is 4th, which is a major improvement from a weak Amstel. The top 5 is completed by perhaps the biggest shock of all: Angel Madrazo (Movistar)
Pre-race favourite Rodriguez can't do better than 6th, after launching far too early. He was still very strong and even returned in the end to come past Kreuziger again. Palini, Uran and Betancur fill the final top 10 slots.
And biggest positive surprise of all: Kwiatek crosses the line as 12th!
@ Freitas - He's fairly good in the real world as well. But yeah, he did develop with rocketspeed during last season.
Liège - Bastogne - Liège
All good things must come to an end at some point. That includes our visit in the big races, as LBL concludes a few weeks of wildcard participations. There's no point in sitting around being sad about that though, as we still get to enjoy La Doyenne before returning to the small scene again. Not to mention that we intend to apply for more wildcards later in the season.
With it's many tough climbs, this is obviously the most prestigious of the Ardennes classics. La Redoute and Roche-aux-Faucons will sort out the selection before the race gets decided on Saint-Nicolas and the uphill finish.
The startlist is quite similar to those we've seen in Amstel and Flèche. Worth noting is that Sagan returns from the absence on Wednesday.
Much like Wednesday's race, the opening kilometers are ridden at berserk speed. Break after break is brought back due to new attacks coming out of the main field. We do, like usual, see a group succeeding at last, however.
Their time at the front of the race is cut short though, as Katusha makes a push over the steep, narrow Côte de Saint-Roch and the peloton splits.
All our important riders make the cut, while many favourites miss out. That includes both Amstel winner Palini, Fleche dito Sánchez and a so far consistently strong Rodriguez. Instead, the biggest names are Moreno and Mollema.
Both Blanco and Katusha are therefore happy to set a high pace in the group. The rest of the peloton is meanwhile clocked over two minutes back.
Regardless of the fact that various high class helpers are burying themselves to bring the peloton back into contention, the gap just continues to increase over the next few kilometers.
This forces the big leaders to take over themselves, with Voeckler leading the charges. Along with him, 13 others:
Contador and Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff)
Tiernan-Locke and Boasson Hagen (Sky)
Sagan and Moser (Cannondale)
Cancellara (Radioshack)
Palini (Lampre-Merida)
Costa (Movistar)
Albasini (GreenEDGE)
Pozzovivo (AG2R)
Kolobnev (Katusha)
This huge powerhouse quickly reduces the gap enough to catch the leading group within sight. The last few seconds prove difficult to close however, and the Redoute is now approaching rapidly.
They catch back right at the foot of la Redoute, but the narrow road makes the task of quickly improving the position very difficult.
At the front, Blanco continue piling on. Kwiatek also has a brilliant position, thanks to assistance from Clement and Pierreluc.
He even digs in with a little acceleration as the road pans out over the top of la Redoute. Mollema and Moreno are both marking closely.
The purpose of the attack isn't to get a gap though, but to cause a split a bit further back in the group.
And it does just that! Contador, Vanendert, Stybar, Pellizotti, Martin, Anton, Tiernan-Locke and, most notably, Sagan are all shed out the back!
Shortly afterwards, we reach the Roche-aux-Faucons. Surprisingly, the attacks are still nowhere to be seen and 25 riders remain in contention.
A short descent later, it's time for Saint-Nicolas. Last chance for the weaker sprinters in the group to shake some of the quicker guys.
A continually impressive Kwiatek leads the group as the road steepens.
No big attacks on the worst gradient, but Costa tries something near the summit.
Kreuziger, Moreno, Voeckler and Poels all counter immediately.
The Portuguese Movistar rider fails to create a gap though, and there are still 22 riders with a shout of the win as we come down into Liège again.
The group is led by Mollema, who has been sitting in good position all day. Cancellara, Kolobnev, De Gendt and Kwiatek are also well placed.
Just a kilometer left to run, and Mollema now launches the sprint!
Cancellara swiftly jumps out of the Dutch champion's slipstream, whereas Kwiatek is struggling to respond to this acceleration.
The two starts to open a gap on the rest, so Kolobnev sets off in pursuit with 700m remaining. Kwiatek is still in fourth position, but the others are coming from behind with Palini leading.
It might be too late for those who failed with the positioning however, as Mollema and Cancellara are pulling clear through the final turn with Kolobnev still trying to jump back into contention.
After 25 years of waiting for a successor to Adri van der Poel, Bauke Mollema ignites the Dutch fans with the biggest win of his career!
So close yet so far for Cancellara, who has to settle for second.
Third goes to Kolobnev, who didn't have enough in the tank to really challenge today's top two. Palini rounds up a successful week with 4th place.
The top 5 is completed by Sergio Henao (Sky), who was more or less invisible today, but clearly played his cards brilliantly.
But look behind him! Is that...? It is! Kwiatek hangs on for an insane 6th!
Kreuziger, Albasini, Costa and Poels follow after him. You know just by looking at the names that Kwiatek has done something special today!
You might wonder where Phil and Purito went, though? They were never even seen at the front of the race. Well, they got caught VERY far back on Saint-Roch and never managed to make it back. Both finish outside the top 30.
Even worse for Sánchez, Valverde and some other outsiders, who finish over ten minutes behind Mollema. Piti will have to do something special in the GTs if he wants to save this season, that's for sure.
Kwiatek really well! Great campaign in the Ardennes. And yeah, I know that Palini has done some fairly interesting results in the hilly terrain (Tre Vali Varesine), but I always thought he would develop to be a sprinter that can overcome the hills!
@ Ian: To be honest, I think he's a better puncheur than people give him credit for, but he never really shows it since he always focuses on the cobbled classics just before the Ardennes. The 2009 worlds in Mendrisio is a good example of what he's capable of in hard, hilly races.
His hill stat is 76 or 77, currently. I don't remember exactly. I'm guessing the game assigns bib #1 to him because of his allround strength and possibly also great form coming from Roubaix.
Tour de Bretagne
Overcast weather and tricky circuits are perhaps the two main characteristics for this long, category 2.2 race in the French region of Brittany. There are stages for sprinters, puncheurs and possibly even northern classics specialists, although the most decisive ones are surely those on the hills.
Young South African Reinardt Janse van Rensburg is the defending champion, although his current team Argos aren't invited to this year's edition. Stage 4 to Mur de Bretagne was the key stage then, just like it's expected to be this year. Keep an eye on the penultimate stage as well.
Kind of an important race, yeah. Then again, so are all the French races - which are 95% of all races we participate in.
Stage 1
One of the positive things about returning to the smaller races is that we can actually take a bit of responsibility in the peloton. That's exactly what we're doing today, and our train is leading as the early break is caught with 6 km left.
De Rijke, with the race's best sprinter Dylan Groenewegen, try to challenge us when the finish comes closer, which leads to a 3 vs. 3 battle with 2,5 km to go.
To make up for lacking a bit of speed compared to Groenewegen, Evaldas launches first under the kite to build up a slight advantage. The young Dutchman is both quick and clever though, and immediately hits the gas too.
Clement is meanwhile trying to steal a few bonus seconds if possible, by sitting in Evaldas' slipstream.
We don't really have the strength today, unfortunately. Evaldas can't keep up with the other sprinters in the final few hundred meters and fades to 8th.
The win surprisingly goes to Jonathan Thiré (Dalkia). Groenewegen looked certain of victory with 500m to go, but got overhauled in the end.
Things can only get better from here onwards.
Stage
1
Jonathan Thiré
Roubaix Lille Métropole
3h58'48
2
Dylan Groenewegen
Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks
s.t.
3
Jean-Marc Bideau
Bretagne - Seché Environnement
s.t.
4
Jasper Bovenhuis
Rabobank Development Team
s.t.
5
Cyril Lemoine
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
6
Robin Stenuit
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
7
Tony Hurel
Team Europcar
s.t.
8
Evaldas Siskevicius
La Pomme - Bouygues
s.t.
9
Patrick Clausen
Cult Energy
s.t.
10
Stéphane Poulhiès
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
GC
1
Jonathan Thiré
Roubaix Lille Métropole
3h58'28
2
Matthias Friedemann
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
+ 6
3
Dylan Groenewegen
Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks
+ 8
4
Christophe Laborie
Team Sojasun
+ 10
5
Jean-Marc Bideau
Bretagne - Seché Environnement
+ 12
Spoiler
Stage 2
The scenario is more or less a carbon copy of yesterday's. Together with De Rijke, we control the peloton towards the end. We also set up a little train, but just as a decoy for other sprinters while Evaldas has taken place behind Groenewegen.
Our little train works impressively well however, and Toms is actually the first to kick off the sprint with just over 2 km remaining. Clement is following him, while De Rijke are leading Groenewegen behind.
Clement tries to profit from the good position by opening the sprint early, but inside the final kilometer he runs out of steam and the actual sprinters jump over the top of him.
It's Groenewegen leading, with race leader Thiré and Evaldas tagged on.
The youngster shows inexperience once again, as he has clearly launched too early today as well and starts to lose speed with 500m to the finish.
The fight therefore seems to be between Evaldas and Thiré, who are side by side in the last few hundred metres.
With a perfectly timed kick, Evaldas strikes back from yesterday's failure!
2nd place is enough for Thiré to retain the leader's jersey, with home team Bretagne's Armindo Fonseca taking the final podium place.
Stage
1
Evaldas Siskevicius
La Pomme - Bouygues
3h48'12
2
Jonathan Thiré
Roubaix Lille Métropole
s.t.
3
Armindo Fonseca
Bretagne - Seché Environnement
s.t.
4
Eugenio Alafaci
Leopard Continental Cycling
s.t.
5
Jasper Bovenhuis
Rabobank Development Team
s.t.
6
Dylan Groenewegen
Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks
s.t.
7
Patrick Clausen
Cult Energy
s.t.
8
Stéphane Poulhiès
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
9
Romain Matheou
Veranda Rideau - Super U
s.t.
10
Robin Stenuit
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
GC
1
Jonathan Thiré
Roubaix Lille Métropole
7h46'28
2
Evaldas Siskevicius
La Pomme - Bouygues
+ 12
3
Benoit Jarrier
Veranda Rideau - Super U
+ 14
4
Matthias Friedemann
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
+ 18
5
Dylan Groenewegen
Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks
+ 20
Stage 3
Third consecutive sprinter stage, and De Rijke look set to continue the trend we've seen on the two opening days. We felt like messing things up for them though, and Benjamin does just that with an attack 8 km out.
His season has been plagued by injuries and bad form so far, but things now seem to be changing as he opens a gap of 40 seconds with less than 5km left to race.
It's far from over though, as De Rijke are pushing hard behind.
Groenewegen is forced to go for a long sprint as Benjamin is still 25 seconds ahead with just over a kilometer to go. It's a good gap, but his legs are rapidly running out of power.
Alafaci, Fonseca, Evaldas and Clement are sitting behind Groenewegen.
Fonseca leaves the line of sprinter inside the final kilometer and closes on Benjamin extremely fast, but the stage is a few metres too short and the stage win goes to us for the second day in a row!
Evaldas could easily have jumped past Fonseca in the end, but chose to play a good team mate and not spoil Benjamin's day instead. Clement somehow hangs on to finish 4th just behind. Looks promising for the hills.
Thiré will surely be thankful of Fonseca tonight, as he saves the jersey due to Evaldas missing the big bonifications.
La Flèche Wallonne
Kwiatek. Alak comes here to speak about how good he is. And he's right. 
Great campaign in the Ardennes. 
And yeah, I know that Palini has done some fairly interesting results in the hilly terrain (Tre Vali Varesine), but I always thought he would develop to be a sprinter that can overcome the hills!
Tour de Bretagne
