2012 winner Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) again proved that he is an excellent rider for the Ardennes classics when he came out of anonymity to take another top 10 finish in the Dutch classic. The Italian praised his strong team for their showing that had seen them dominate most of the race.

Enrico Gasparotto rarely shows much conditon in the early part of the season but it is almost a guarantee that the Italian is firing on all cylinders by the time the Ardennes classics start. The pattern has repeated itsel in 2014 after he finished 8th in today's edition of the Amstel Gold Race.

Gasparotto was the designated leader of a fabulous Astana team that also included 2012 Liege-Bastogne-Liege champion Maxim Iglinskiy in a protected position while Vincenzo Nibali, Jakob Fuglsang and Lieuwe Westra were free to attack in the finale. The team played a prominent role throughout the race, with Alexey Lutsenko being part of the early break and Jakob Fuglsang making it into a very strong move in the finale.

When it all came down to a final dash up the Cauberg, it was left to 2012 winner Gasparotto to defend the team's colours and he produced another splendid performance. Even though he was unable to match the very best he did well to finish in the second chase group and crossed the line in 8th for his fourth top 10 finish in five editions of the race.

Throughout the race, Gasparotto was always seen near the front of the peloton on the wheel of teammate Borut Bozic who had swapped his leader's role on the cobbles for a domestique job in the first Ardennes race. The Italian leader had lots of praise for his strong teammate.

“There was a really strong wind today, and you had to concentrate all six and a half hours of the race," he said. “I have to say a big thanks to Borut Bozic for the work he did today. I don’t know if you saw it on TV but all day he made it much easier for me to have good legs in the finale."