Third last season, the Polish world champion proved his form with victory in the Amstel Gold Race.

Though admitting he suffered on the penultimate lap, the Etixx-QuickStep man recovered perfectly to unleash his powerful sprint.

His latest appearance in the rainbow bands will see him among the favourites again, particularly after third place last year and fifth the year before.

The penultimate climb may not be to his liking, but it is not the short ascents he has traditionally struggled on – it is the long Grand Tour ones where the out-and-out climbers have the beating of him.

With Etixx-QuickStep often happy to send men up the road late on, his chances could come down to whether or not he has any chasing to do in the finale – not having to at the Amstel Gold Race meant he was in great condition to take the final sprint.

Last year’s third-place was another reminder of what he could too – a position he also finished at Liege-Bastogne-Liege just days later.

The pressure of delivering victory in the rainbow jersey is off him now too, which all bodes well for a second win in four days.