Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the E3 Harelbeke one-day race, where the big classics riders will look to put down a marker ahead of next weekend's Tour of Flanders.

After around 70km of racing, the lead is up to 2:20 for our six escapees. One familar face in the break is Wouter Mol, who was part of the break in Wednesday's Dwars door Vlaanderen race. The towering Belgian's best career result was victory in the 2010 Tour of Qatar. He hasn't taken a stage or one-day win since 2008, however.

We're onto the cobbled section of Paddestraat as the first rain drops start to come down. This will make it interesting. The six leaders have 1:15 over the peloton.

The six leaders have just under a minute's gap over the peloton, which is being led by the Omega boys of Tom Boonen, the reigning E3 champion. We have about a 35km gap until the next climb. Then, they will come thick and fast.

The six leaders hit the Leberg with a 40-second advantage over the peloton. It's a short 850m climb with an average gradient of 4% and a maximum slope of 15%.

The break has hit the cobblestones of the Hague crossroads with the Leberg climb looming.

No change as the six leaders hold just under half a minute as they approach the first climb of the day, the Leberg.

The six leaders have 30 seconds over the peloton. They are: Eloy Teruel (Movistar), Anders Lund (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff), Ruslan Tleubayev (Astana), Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil-DCM), Koen Barbe (Crelan) and Stefan van Dijk (Accent Jobs).

ATTACK: Eloy Teruel of Movistar pings off the front. The Spanish track specialist has about 15 seconds over the pack. His move sparks a counter attack by five other riders, who join Teruel out ahead.

The riders have just gone over the first cobble section on Beaucarne Street in Oudenaarde.

The peloton is not issuing any favours and the six-man break is swallowed back up.

ATTACK: Johan Vansummeren (Garmin), Stijn Neyrinck (Topsport), Reto Hollenstein (IAM) and Damien Gaudin (Europcar) ping off the front. They are soon joined by Davide Appollonio (Ag2R) and Gert Joeaar (Cofidis).

Still no more attacks from the peloton. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Merida) punctured but changed his wheel without any ado and is back in the pack.

Belgian national champion Tom Boonen indeed holds the record for the most amount of wins in E3. The Omega Pharma-Quick Step powerhouse has five to his name, with Rik van Looy in second place with four victories all in the 60s.

Previous winners of the race over the past decade: 2003 Steven de Jongh, 2004-2007 Tom Boonen, 2008 Kurt Asle Arvesen, 2009 Filippo Pozzato, 2010-11 Fabian Cancellara, 2012 Tom Boonen.

The first of 15 climbs, the Leberg, comes after 55km of the race today. Expect a break to have formed by then - but sill nothing to report on as the peloton rides along as one.

A few non-starters to report today: Tony Gallopin (RadioShack) did not take to the start, while Bjorn Thurau (Eurosport), Lloyd Mondory (Ag2R-La Mondiale) and Egidijus Juodvalkis (Crelan-Euphony) did not sign in.

The first attack of the day comes from Lithuanian rider Gediminas Bagdonas of Ag2R-La Mondiale. The 27-year-old is swept back by the peloton.

It's a sunny but cold day in Flanders with temperatures at 6 degrees celsius currently - but because of the wind chill, the riders will feel the cold much more. Luckily for the peloton, it is forecast to be a tailwind for the final 80km of the race.

The 55th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke is under way!

Let's take a look at some of the big names starting today: Boonen & Chavanel (Omega), Gilbert, Phinney & Hushovd (BMC), Cancellara & Devolder (RadioShack), Boasson Hagen, Hayman, Stannard & Thomas (Sky), Iglinskiy (Astana), Boom & Vanmarcke (Blanco), Sagan (Cannondale), Vansummeren (Garmin), Keukeleire (GreenEdge), Degenkolb (Argos), Bennati & Breschel (Saxo), Flecha (Vacansoleil), Haussler (IAM), Turgot (Europcar), Paolini (Katusha). Pozzato (Lampre), Amador, Rojas, Ventoso & Visconti (MOV).

For those not in the know, E3 Harelbeke is a 211km semi-classic race in Belgium that features numerous cobbled sectors and 15 bergs, or climbs. Most of the famous bergs will come into play in next Sunday's Ronde van Vlaanderen so it's usually a good indicator of who could feature highly in the second Monument of the season. Last year, for instance, Tom Boonen won E3 ahead of his glorious Flanders-Roubaix double.