With the cobbled classics done for another year, cycling's attention turns to the festival of the puncheurs, the Ardennes, with the first of the trilogy of one-day spectaculars, Amstel Gold Race this Sunday.
The 48th edition of Amstel Gold Race features a brand new, but familiar finish to the parcours with the 251 kilometres ending with the finale taking place in the same place as last year's UCI Road World Championships, 1.8km on from the Cauberg in Valkenberg.
Wearing the No.1 dossard will be 2012's victor, Enrico Gasparotto (Astana). The Italian's win set off a hot run of form in 2012 with an 11th place at La Flèche Wallonne and then third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He's arguably had a better start to the season than last including a top-five finish and a top-20 finish at Milan-San Remo but will not be the focus in the lead-up to Sunday, with all eyes instead on last year's third-place-getter, Peter Sagan (Cannondale).
