Welcome to live updates from the 76th edition of Fleche-Wallonne, the first of two Belgian Ardennes classics this week.

Katusha have caught the breakaway riders and we are all back together but Jurgen Van De Walle (Lotto-Bellisol) has abandoned after a crash.

The 29-year-old, who claimed all three Ardennes Classics in 2011, has been short on form since joining BMC but shown a sign of improvement, chasing Freire up the finishing climb of the Cauberg before fading. And he is feeling more confident about his condition. "I'm satisfied, having had a respectable result is good for the morale and helps me recover a little faster," he said. "I knew my condition would be back one day and it's nice to be better."

Philippe Gilbert thinks Katusha are the team to watch in the 76th edition of Fleche-Wallonne on Wednesday. The defending champion produced a season-best, sixth-place finish at Amstel Gold on Sunday but thinks the Russian team will be dangerous. "They have several cards to play with guys like Oscar Freire and Joaquin Rodriguez. They have a very strong team here. For me they are the favorites, especially with this type of finish."

Ratto punctures so Christensen leads alone. Preben Van Hecke (TopSport) and Sjef De Wilde (Accent Jobs) are now trying to jump across with a lead of around 30 seconds on the peloton. Speed for the opening hour was a rapid 47 km/h.

It is a wet and windy day in Belgium and there has been a crash in the peloton which has forced Slovenian Jure Kocjan (Team Type 1) to abandon.

Daniele Ratto (Liquigas) and Mads Christiensen (Saxo Bank) have a 20 second advantage on the bunch. An attempt by Oleg Chuzda (Accent Jobs) to reach them has been foiled as was earlier breakaway attempts from Kurt Hovelynck (Landbouwkrediet) and Gregoy Habeux (Accent Jobs) and the first effort of the day from Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen) was shortlived.

The final run-in is harder, thanks to the Cote de Villers-le-Bouillet climb. and Jean-Michel Monin, who designed the new route, said: "The battle to be in the right position will be much more intense. They will have to race through the town of Amay to get to the Côte d’Amay which will make the bunch nervous. And whilst that climb is reached on a fairly wide road, they then tackle the Côte de Villers on a much narrower road. And the first 500m is particularly steep with gradients of 13%"

A second ascent of the Mur comes with 31km remaining before the Cote d’Amay (14km remaining) and the Cote de Villers-le-Bouillet which is just 9km out from the finish. That may whittle down the main group but the race is always decided on the final ascent of the Huy, the 1.3km 'wall' which has average gradient of 9.3% but with ramps of 19%.

After that first trip across the finish, line the peloton take on a southern loop of 92 kilometres and tackle five climbs - Côte de Peu d'Eau (with 82km left), the Côte de Haut-Bois (78km), the Côte de Groynne (53km), Côte de Bohisseau (47km) and Côte de Bousalle (44km) - before looping back around to Andenne.

The riders have just rolled out of Charleroi and are heading for what is a largely flat start to the race before the first of the nine climbs after 70km and that is the infamous 'Mur de Huy' that is likely to decide the race.

198 riders have just rolled out of the official start in Compiègne to take on the 194km route. All 18 ProTour teams are in attendance plus wildcards Colombia - Coldeportes, Saur–Sojasun, Landbouwkrediet - Euphony, Type 1 - Sanofi, Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator, Argos-Shimano and Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda’s.