Having been in the top 10 in all of the Ardennes classics last year and in the recent Amstel Gold Race and Fleche Wallonne, Bauke Mollema (Blanco) has plenty of confidence ahead of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Once again he is the captain of his Dutch team in the classic that suits him the most.

If there was a prize for the most consistent Ardennes performer, Bauke Mollema would surely be in contention. Last year he had a hugely successful debut in the hilly one-races as he took a 10th, 7th and 6th in the Amstel Gold Race, Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege respectively, and having recognized his own potential, he returned this year with the firm of objective of improving on those performances.

He has been off to a good start with 10th and 9th places but he left both races somewhat disappointed. In Amstel Gold Race he was disadvantaged by the new finish to the race while he was badly positioned at the bottom of the Mur de Huy in the Fleche Wallonne.

He gets his final chance to make amends in Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege where he will once again line up as the Blanco captain. Despite his disappointments he has had good sensations and is confident ahead of the classic which suits him the most.

 "I noticed during the Amstel and Fléche that I did not relent like last year," he said. "The results were actually quite good but I still have the feeling it could have been better. It’s a question of waiting for a spike and there’s no reason that won’t come in Liége. The climbs there are a bit longer and that suits me better than the very explosive climbs of the last races."

Blanco has been one of the most aggressive teams in the first of the Ardennes classics. In their home race last Sunday both Lars Petter Nordhaug and David Tanner were on the offensive while Laurens Ten Dam enjoyed a long stint off the front in Wednesday's event. The signs have been encouraging and sports director Frans Maasen is optimistic ahead of the last of the three challenges.

 "I’ve seen good things over the last couple of weeks," he said "Bauke will be the lead man in Liége but as I have said before, we have a lot of depth in the team. We are going to try to continue the momentum we’ve build up in the past week.’

Besides Mollema, the team hopes to see good performances from Tom-Jelte Slagter, Paul Martens (who were both in the top 20 in the Fleche Wallonne), Nordhaug and Ten Dam. Tanner, Bram Tankink and young talent Marco Goos will offer support to the leaders.