Maxim Van Gils is a notable absentee from the Ardennes Classics this week, the Belgian puncheur still recovering from a fractured pelvis and shoulder sustained in a crash at the Clásica Jaén in February.

Van Gils was one of the stars of the spring two years ago, taking podiums at Strade Bianche and La Flèche Wallonne , plus a fourth place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and seventh at Milan-San Remo.

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"It's going well, but I'm still way behind. I had to go without a bike for a good five weeks – that’s like starting to cycle again in November," he said.

"If I train for longer than four hours now, I’m completely exhausted. But it is getting better step by step. My pelvis doesn’t really bother me anymore.…