Liege Bastogne Liege Power Poll

Liege Bastogne Liege is cycling's oldest classic. This year's race takes place Sunday and airs in the US on tape delay Sunday night on NBC Sports Network. Those who are brave can navigate the world of streaming video from Europe and watch live. steephill.tv has many options if that is your preferred method.

Ranking of the most likely to win cycling's oldest classic. Simple and easy. If only that was so. Counting down from 10 to 1.

10 Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) – Has shown well with top 10-15 finishes here in the past and earlier this week. His best chance is to attack from a distance and make it stick (like Andy Schleck did in 2009) as he won't be able to climb explosively with the top guys at the end.

9 Roman Kreuziger (Astana) – Kreuziger has skipped the other Ardennes races in favor of Giro d'Italia prep at the Giro del Trentino. That said, he is on the startlist for Sunday's race and has had good results here in the past. I expect him to be in the final selection, just not to win.

8 Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) – With Peter Sagan not here, Nibali is the unquestioned captain here for once. Of course, other than being a great all-around rider, he has one great skill: descending. And that skill doesn't win races like this without some sort of finishing sprint. And Nibali has no sprint.

7 Damiano Cunego (Lampre) – Cunego is also at the Giro del Trentino, but he has won the similar fall classic Giro di Lombardia three times and seems to be on good form as his stage win over Kreuziger earlier today would suggest.

6 Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan-Trek) – The Schelcks always target this race. That said, Andy has looked like he doesn't care about anything except the tour since winning this in 2009 and Frank has some form (12^th at Amstel) meaning the Schleck double punch plus Chris Horner could get one of them to the top step. I expect Frank is the most likely of the three (though don't discount Horner).

5 Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol) – Great form thus far in the Ardennes with a runner up finish at Amstel and a 4^th place today at Fleche Wallonne. He is certainly a threat to win, but, in his first season as a leader, he still had a bit to learn before he can win these type races. I expect him to win Liege in the future, just not this year.

4 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) – Former two-time winner has not had great form thus far, but cannot be written off. I suspect he will be at the front of the field and if this turns into a 100m sprint and he's there, its over.

3 Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) – It certainly appears as though Mollema has displaced Robert Gesink as Rabobank's new hope. With top ten finishes in both Amstel and Fleche Wallonne and a deep team of climbers, Mollema should have a good chance in this race. The question is if he is explosive enough to finish off a race like this. He hasn't been at Amstel or Fleche Wallonne.

2 Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) – The winner today at Fleche Wallonne. That said, his results in this race have been surprisingly average given his two previous runner up finishes at Fleche Wallonne and a previous top 10 at Amstel. Seems to be in great form, only his lack of past success here keeps him from the number one spot.

1 Philippe Gilbert (BMC) – Defending champion of the entire Ardennes season, this year has not been great compared to last year. Gilbert has yet to win, but he seems to be rounding into form after a 3^rd place finish at Fleche Wallonne. I suspect his form is getting back to where it needs to be meaning he will be the overwhelming favorite on Sunday, especially if Rodriguez can't find his form once again.

Ronde Van Vlaanderen Race Review

Race winner: Tom Boonen (Omega-Pharma Quick-Step) won the race in a three man sprint to tie the all-time record of three wins in this race after some great team tactics with both Sylvain Chavanel and Nikki Terpstra attacking and splitting the field to set up their leader.

Other podium finishers: Pippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini) had some of his best form ever making the final breakaway but being unable to beat Boonen in the sprint while former world champion and Ronde van Vlaanderen winner Alessandro Ballan (BMC) was beaten badly in the sprint (as expected), finishing 3^rd , his first podium in this race since winning in 2007.

Story of the day (non-winner category): Pre-race co-favorite Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan-Trek) crashed out in a feeding zone and was taken to the hospital. Sadly, this also means he will miss Paris-Roubaix next Sunday where he and Boonen were expected to do battle again. Hopefully he is back by Tour de France and Olympic time to resume his time trialing rivalry with Tony Martin (Qmega-Pharma Quick-Step).

US tv coverage review: For the first time NBC Sports Network carried live coverage of the race. Excellent. That said, they need to get the commercial timing down better before Paris-Roubaix next week and then next season. The timing in classics is a bit different than in the Tour de France and while I know the number of commercials that some found excessive was necessary, the timing was awful. On a regular basis we came back from commercial in the middle of a big move or one of the important climbs. It's something that needs to be corrected going forward. Other than that, a good first effort from the network as long as Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen are tolerable to you as commentators (I find them endearing if a little strange).

Other odds and ends: Given the new course, I think this was a good race. Was it as good as it has been? No way (though that may be the sadness over the Cancellara crash speaking moreso than anything else). That will come with time and knowledge of how the new course will work. Now that it has been raced once, I expect next year to be back to the incredible race we used to get... The future was on display for part of the race. 22 year old Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) finished fifth and 21 year old Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin-Barracuda) was in the leading breakaway group before fading at the end. These two are likely the future of the cobbled classics once Boonen and Cancellara start to age and fade a little bit... Omega-Pharma Quick-Step looks like the HTC-Columbia superteam. They have won nearly everything in the cobbled season (Boonen won all the classics except the Omloop in February where he was beaten in a sprint by Vanmarcke and the two cobbled stage races were won by Terpstra and Chavanel). In addition, they absorbed quite a few of HTC's prolific winners (notably Tony Martin) and Levi Leipheimer. The team should be a threat all season instead of just in April like past Quick-Step teams.

What's next: To Paris-Roubaix. With Cancellara out injured, Boonen is the sole and overwhelming favorite. That said, Thor Hushovd (BMC) has coveted this race for a long time and he is a possible winner next week, especially without Cancellara in the field. For others who avoid the cobblestones, the Tour of the Basque Country gets underway tomorrow in Northern Spain.