Held in the week leading up the Tour of Flanders, the Three Days of De Panne - or Driedaagse De Panne as its known locally - will give riders one last chance to recon some of the lesser-known parts of the famous Flanders region.

While some Classics riders opt to spend the week away from competition in a bid to preserve their energies for the second Monument of the season, others prefer to keep active in this prestigious stage race.

The Team Sky line-up reflects this mix, with regular Classics riders Bernhard Eisel, Andy Fenn, Christian Knees, Chris Sutton and Bradley Wiggins being joined by Nathan Earle, Danny Pate and Elia Viviani in Belgium.

The event is known to be unforgiving, with four stages crammed into three hard days racing, culminating in a time trial blast along the De Panne sea front which will see Bradley make his final Team Sky appearance in the iconic rainbow jersey.

The race is often turned on its head by the weather, with crosswinds and rain commonly tearing the peloton to pieces.

This year is the only the second time Team Sky have taken part in the race,