Andy Schleck (Radioshack) approaches his first big season objective in Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege but yesterday he missed an opportunity to test his condition as a crashed forced him to abandon the Amstel Gold Race. Having escaped his tumble unscathed, the 2010 Tour de France winner remains optimistic ahead of his major goal.

Much has been said about Andy Schleck's many failed attempts to finish races this season and until now he has only managed to reach the finish line in the GP Camaiore and the Criterium International. Yesterday marked another missed opportunity to battle it out for the victory as the Luxembourger was brought down by a crash.

The major tumble happened near the front of the peloton and took down a number of strong riders. Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) were some of those but while the latter was forced to abandon with a suspected broken collarbone, Schleck was quickly back on his bike.

He was seen chasing with Gilbert for a number of kilometres but while the world champion returned to the bunch, the Radioshack rider never managed to get back to the main group.

“There was a cross-wind section at 80k to go as we entered the last part of the race," he explained. "It was really a nervous part of the race.  A crash occurred on my left and then came my way on the right.  I did quickly get back on the bike, but then I had to stop to change the wheel and the race went on ahead.  I never made it back again.  But it doesn’t change anything for my upcoming races.  I am sore in my ribs where the handlebars hit me and maybe a loss of some skin, but I’m ok.  I just lost too much time, but I’m not hurt."

Despite another missed opportunity, Schleck remains optimistic ahead of his first season target in Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

"I’m skinny right now and I have been doing a lot of training," he said. "It will show sooner or later and I hope it’s sooner.  Next is Flèche and then Liège.  This was a nervous Amstel, always a constant fight to stay in position.  I felt good.  It seems unusual to say I felt good and then not finish but all in all, I didn’t feel bad.”

Disappointing performance

The race turned out to be a big disappointment for the ambitious team who dominated the first part of the classics season through the performances of Fabian Cancellara. This time the team had planned to bring Tony Gallopin into the fight for the victory but the talented Frenchman was unable to follow the best on the final climb of the Cauberg and had to settle for 39th.

The team's most visible rider was Ben Hermans who attacked the main group inside the final 5km of the race. He was caught at the bottom of the climb and then lacked the strength to follow the best on the steep slopes.

 “I think we expected a little more today," sports director Kim Andersen said. "We thought Tony could be with the best on the Cauberg today but that didn’t happen.  Then we saw Ben Hermans make a good move, but it just needed to be a little bit earlier.  We had a little bit of bad luck to be behind some crashes with Max (Maxime Monfort, ed.) and Matthew (Busche, ed.).  They didn’t crash but it always costs energy to get back into the race.  Now we will analyze what we need to do for in the upcoming races.”

Hermans optimistic

Hermans was encouraged by his performance. Illness forced him to miss the Vuelta al Pais Vasco but today's effort comes just days after his strong work in the early breakaway in the Brabantse Pijl. He now targets a strong result in Wednesday's Fleche Wallonne.

“Normally I wouldn’t be in an attacking position like that, but right then it was a good moment for me on the Cauberg," he said. " It was a good plan but the big group came so fast.  I was caught on the Cauberg after 200m.  I needed more time before then as on the downhill the group could stop pedaling and give themselves a little rest before the climb, but I had to keep going as hard as I could.  But returning to racing after my sickness is good and I miss just a little bit so I hope to be better in Flèche.  It’s shorter so perhaps I can be better on Wednesday.”

Hermans was the team's best finisher in 29th.

On Wednesday you can follow all the action from the Fleche Wallonne on CyclingQuotes.com/live.