Vanendert surge on Saint-Nicolas too little, too late

After several strong performances in the races preceding ‘la Doyenne’ Jelle Vanendert (Lotto Belisol) had high hopes of going for the win in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Vanendert was second in the Amstel Gold Race last week and finished fourth in the Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday. He concluded his first spring classics season as team leader with three top ten results and the knowledge that he can mix in for the win at any of the three races in the Ardennes classics week.