Including many of the climbs from Amstel Gold Race, the 198 km warm-up race Volta Limburg Classic was on the agenda today and ended with a convincing win for 24-year-old Rudiger Selig (Katusha) who distanced Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox) samt Paul Martens (Blanco Procycling).

The opening phases of the race were marked by several breakaway attempts of which none was successful until an 18-man group finally broke clear. The peloton made sure they never strayed too far, though, and with 75 km still to go, they were duly brought back.

Inside the final 10 km Katusha dictated the pace and prevented fortune seekers from making a breakaway. Despite having four riders in the front group, Blanco were unable to break the Katusha dominance and when Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM) tried his luck, he was swiftly reeled back in.

Selig opened the sprint from far out and won very comfortably.

Result:
1 Rudiger Selig - Katusha
2 Sonny Colbrelli - Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox
3 Paul Martens - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
4 Davide Rebellin - CCC Polsat Polkowice
5 Pim Ligthart - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
6 Sander Armee - Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0.03
7 Mike Terpstra - Team 3M
8 Marc De Maar - UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
9 Luc Hagenaars - Metec-TKH Continental Cyclingteam
10 Sébastien Delfosse - Crelan-Euphony