Kjell Carlström insists Team Sky will learn from a difficult day at De Brabantse Pijl and is confident everyone will be firing on full cylinders once again at the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday.

Despite their best efforts, the squad were among 119 of the 170 starters who opted to make an early exit from Wednesday's race after it became clear breakaway trio Thomas De Gendt, Jurgen Van De Walle and eventual winner Sebastien Rosseler would not be caught in the final lap of Overijse.

The team had worked tirelessly in support of Simon Gerrans during the early part of the race but when the Australian realised he would be unable to affect the outcome of the race the decision was made to save their energies for the first of the three Ardennes Classics.

Carlström said: "We had hoped that Simon would have a good ride, but it turned out he did not have good legs after all and sometimes that is just the way it goes.

"The front three put in a really strong performance and built a big gap early on which was not easy for us to pull back.

"I think next year though teams like ourselves won't let any similar escape have so much time. We will remember what happened this time around."

Upbeat

Carlström has endured his fair share of bad luck this year with illnesses and accidents hampering his progress, but the big Finn remains upbeat and insists a good Ardennes Classics campaign will help banish those early-season blues.

He added: "I have had it tough so far and have encountered problems in pretty much every race I have entered.

"In my first one at the Vuelta a Andalucia I got ill, at Paris-Nice I crashed, and then at the País Vasco I was suffering with allergies. It is time to turn all that around at the Ardennes.

"I was with Simon at País Vasco and I know he can do well in each of the next three races, even if they are all tough.

"I think that Amstel or Liège will suit him the best, but he has to be on a really good day and everything has to be working perfectly."

Carlström is no stranger to Amstel Gold Race and will be one of the road captains in southern Holland. The 33-year-old is delighted to take on such a role and is keen to share his experience with his team-mates before they line up in Maastricht.

"I have done Amstel quite a few times and I raced the Valkenburg at the World Championships in 1998, so the route is very familiar for me. Sure, it has been a while, but I still remember.

"On Thursday and Friday I will head out with the other guys to see the climbs and help them prepare for Sunday."