After his excellent ride at last year's GP Quebec and this year's Paris-Nice, it was an obvious choice for Arthur Vichot to target success in the Ardennes classics. Unfortunately, the French champion is out of the races due to knee pain, leaving FDJ to have a more opportunistic approach to the hilly classics.

By finishing second in last year's GP de Quebec and taking third in this year's Paris-Nice which almost consisted of eight consecutive classics, Arthur Vichot has proved that he has all the skills to perform in the hilly one-day races. The French champion has built the first part of his season around the Ardennes classics and was expected to lead FDJ.fr in those events.

Unfortunately, Vichot started to suffer from knee pain at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and since the situation hasn't improved, he won't be at the start of any of the three classics.

"We rely on Arthur Vichot for the rest of the season and he won't take any risks," sports director Franck Pineau said. "With our highly motivated riders, we will discuss a new tactic for the classics."

Instead, the team is now likely to play an opportunistic role at the Amstel Gold Race with riders like Arnold Jeannesson, Jeremy Roy, Anthony Roux and Benoit Vaugrenard who finished 12th in the 2008 edition of the Dutch and was 11th in Liege-Bastogne-Liege one year ago.

FDJ.fr for Amstel Gold Race

Benoit Vaugrenard, Matthieu Ladagnous, Murilo Fischer, Anthony Roux, Jeremy Roy, Arnold Jeannesson, Jussi Veikkanen and Arnaud Courteille