The Ardennes classics mark the first big objectives for the Schleck brothers but it was a day to forget at today's Amstel Gold Race. While Andy crashed out of the race with knee pain, Frank was badly positioned at the bottom of the Cauberg and finished outside the top 20.

The Amstel Gold Race is well known to be a race of attrition, a result from crashes on treacherous roads and countless climbs, and this year was no different. Many pre-race favorites were eliminated in the numerous crashes, and Trek Factory Racing lost both Haimar Zubeldia and Andy Schleck in separate incidents.

“I was in the crash with Niki Sorensen,” explained a dejected Andy Schleck after he was forced to stop with knee pain. “He got something caught in his wheel, it was uphill with a 25km speed, and I tried hard to avoid the crash but I ended up hitting something wooden on side of the road with my knee and went down. I tried to continue, but it began to hurt more and more, especially on the flat parts, and I had to stop. 

"It’s frustrating because I worked hard to be ready, and also it’s the first time that my son Teo is at the race.  I have to wait to see what is the diagnosis, but I hope I can participate in the Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday.”

If you were lucky to avoid a crash on the narrow, serpentine roads with traffic islands, roundabouts, and other “road furniture” the Netherlands famously - and numerously - boasts, you had to get over the 34 hellingen included in the 251.4-kilometer race. It was a leg-zapping course, and by the end the peloton was down to 40 riders as it furiously attacked the Cauberg climb for the fourth, and final time, with only four kilometers to go.

When Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) gritted his teeth and pounced away on the final slope no one could match his pace. He held his slight advantage over the top and to the line to take the win, as Jelle Vanendert (Lotto Belisol) sprinted to second place from Simon Gerrans (Orica GreenEdge), in third. The remaining peloton came across the finish in splintered groups. Fränk Schleck rolled across in 24th (+23”) and Fabio Felline and Bob Jungels finished with a group a few moments later (+36”).

“At the end I thought about trying something, but the speed was so high, and controlled, that it was pretty much impossible,” said Fränk Schleck. “No one really could attack, and it came to what I was afraid of – to the last climb.

"There was a tricky downhill leading into it and you had to be very well placed here. In front of me some riders gapped off and so I arrived in the second group. This should not happen, but it did.

"Feelings-wise, I was good. The next races are better for me, especially Liege where it is not so much a tactical race.”

The day began with 10 riders escaping early on and they quickly gained a huge lead of nearly 14 minutes. Most of the race was a slow, drawing back of the breakaway, as a few big crashes, and some smaller ones, marred the chasing peloton.  Ahead the leaders lost numbers over the undulating parcours, until only two remained with slightly over 10 kilometers to go. Despite attacks from dangerous riders, a few who would bridge to the remaining breakaway pair, all was back together with seven kilometers left. From here it was a full-on gallop to the bottom of the last ascent, the infamous Cauberg, and a final test of just who had any legs left after almost 250 kilometers and 33 climbs.

“It’s not what we hoped for, of course we wanted more; it would have been better to have one guy in the breakaway as this was a good group,” explained director Kim Andersen. “In the end, with a big bunch at the bottom of the Cauberg, I did not expect much anymore. Our chance would have been to be part of the breakaway.

"We talked about this in the pre-race meeting, but the break went away at a selective moment and we missed it - that's how it is sometimes. We look forward to the next two races, which are on more ‘normal’ roads, and I think are better for us. I am looking forward to that.”