Kessler "pleasantly surprised"

Astana's Matthias Kessler wasn't unhappy with finishing "only" fourth in the Amstel Gold Race -- quite the contrary. "Since I've been fighting a cold the last few weeks, I was not disappointed but rather pleasantly surprised."

"In the end, the last little bit of strength was missing," he wrote on his website, matthiaskessler.com. "I decided to attack again out of the group, since I didn't want to wait for the final sprint."

After eventual winner Stefan Schumacher took off on his ultimately successful break, Kessler went after him in search of second place. At the last second, though, Davide Rebellin and Danilo Di Luca passed him, knocking him off the podium.

"Being overtaken so close to the finish line is naturally very irritating at the moment, but there are still two more races this week [Fleche and Liege - ed.], in which I figure I will have good chances," he concluded.