David Tanner has had a bad start to his IAM Cycling career, after a crash in Milan-Sanremo left him in a rut for a few weeks, but he showed he was back on form in Brabantse Pijl where he instigated the winning move with Ben Hermans before his condition failed him and he was dropped. Now he is ready to support his teammates in the Ardennes Classics.

"For Brabantse Pijl my role was to move with the attacks in the final, it's a race and parcours that's perfect for me so I was motivated, but unsure of my condition," Tanner said to Cyclingnews, whose previous race was the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco.  "I'd been in a bit of a hole since crashing out of Milan-San Remo and had struggled for a few weeks, but I surprised myself.”

"I attacked with 40km to go but no one followed so after a few km on my own I sat up, on the next climb is when Hermans and myself got our gap," he said of Brabantse Pijl. "It wasn't until four or so kilometres to go that it was clear we had a chance but just after that he dropped me!"

Now he hopes that his performance in Brabantse Pijl can give him confidence and he can show what he is worth in the Ardennes and help his teammates to a big result.

"Before San Remo everything was going well, but after my crash there I really struggled for two-three weeks. I think the mistake was going to Corsica when I needed a bit of time to let the body recover. After the race [Brabantse Pijl] I have more confidence in myself but still not 100% yet. Hopefully the hit out in Brabantse Pijl will lift me a bit."

He says he would rather help a teammate get a top result than finish in a less than noteworthy position himself.

"This year I think will be like most years here for me," he said of his role for the week of racing ahead. "I will need to be active and moving in the last 50-60 km, and looking after our leader whoever that might be! Each year you gather experience in these races, which is always important. But to be honest, it makes more sense for me to be a part of a big team result than doing my own thing and trying for a top-20 or something!”

But he says Amstel is his favourite race of the year and he may just try and repeat his move in Amstel to try and win the race.

"You never know though, like yesterday some times things can pan out different than the normal script."