It’s time for the Ardennes Classics.  Will any Pro Tour guys be riding HED Ardennes this weekend?  I don’t think so, but they should be.  Speaking of Pro’s wheels and tires, I read this cool article by Velonews writer Caley Fretz.  It detailed the Pro Team’s wheel, tire, and pressure for Paris Roubaix.  Wonder what that artilce would look like for Sunday’s race?

Enough tech talk….here are my top 5 dark horses for Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race:

– Tom Slagter – Blanco.  Bauke Mollema and him are listed as co-leaders, so the team knows he’s legit but does the rest of the peleton.  In the last couple years if there is a punchy finish Slagter is there or there abouts.  Maybe not in the grand tours, but for sure in races like Oman, Tirreno, ect.  He won the Tour down Under this year.

-Michal Kwiatkowski – Omega.  This guy is un-believable.  At Tirreno he was climbing with big boys and then followed it up with a breakaway ride in Flanders.  I don’t know if he has the finishing punch for Amstel, but he’s an all around rider and is not scared of anything.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in an early break, shredding opposition.

-Simon Geschke – Argos.  He was able to follow the acceleration from Van Avermaet, Gilbert, and Sagan at Brabantse.  He does not have a top ten at any of the Ardennes, but he could be the breakout rider who hits the form just right.

-Mirko Selvaggi – Vacansoleil.  He hasn’t shown in a while, but he featured in breakaways at Dwars door Vlaanderen and Flanders.  He’s a huge wild card for the win, but he’s riding aggressively and could be in it till the end.

-Rory Sutherland – Saxo.  We’ve seen enough of him in the states to know he’s deadly on parcours like this.  I actually think Saxo is going to give him a bit of freedom if he’s there in the end.  A top ten is not out of the relm for Rory.