Team Bahrain Victorious is set to take on the three one day races that make up the Ardennes Classics, running through the Dutch Limburg region and Belgian Ardennes.
These classics differ from the cobbled classics due to their hilly profile making them suited to climbers.
Marking the start of the Ardennes Classics is today’s Amstel Gold Race. After being cancelled last year, the race will run its 56th edition, with an altered route due to the pandemic.
Traditionally this race runs over 260km but has been shortened this year to 216km consisting of 12 local 16.9km laps of Valkenburg and a slightly different 15.9km final lap.
The second of the Ardennes Classics is La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday. The 194km route starts in Charleroi and ends up the iconic finish, Mur de Hoy, the 1.3km climb averaging at 9.7pc.
The final and most prestigious of the Ardennes Classics is Liège-Bastogne-Liège on April 25. The only monument of the Ardennes known as ‘La Doyenne’ (The Old Lady), is in its 107th edition of the race that starts and ends in Liege.
The 260km route is made up of plenty of short climbs that see riders ascending over 4,200m.