pics by Fororeporter Sirotti

Three years on from his historic Ardennes treble of Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Davide Rebellin pulled off a repeat win at the Fleche with a superbly-timed jump on the fearsome final pitch of the fabled Mur de Huy, leading home 2006 winner Alejandro Valverde and 2005 victor Danilo di Luca by a clear margin.

The race was run in glorious warm weather, and was marked by numerous attacks on the testing terrain, which increased in number and intensity as it neared the finale. However, despite solo breaks by riders such as Serguei Ivanov, Philippe Gilbert and Kim Kirchen, the race came together for the traditional mass sprint up the 1.4km Mur, with in-form Rebellin prevailing after his second place at Amstel last weekend.

1 Davide Rebellin, Gerolsteiner
2 Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d’Epargne
3 Danilo Di Luca, Liquigas
4 Matthias Kessler, Astana
5 Riccardo Ricco, Saunier Duval-Prodir
6 Rinaldo Nocentini, Ag2r Prévoyance
7 Frank Schleck, Team CSC
8 John Gadret, Ag2r Prévoyance
9 Robert Gesink, Rabobank
10 Tadej Valjavec, Lampre-Fondital