Luck may often play its part, but the Classics are no lottery. A rider with ambitions of winning on the cobbles instead needs to build a portfolio of results before reaping a dividend, and Luke Durbridge (Orica-Scott) continued his steady accumulation of experience by placing fourth at Dwars door Vlaanderen. A year ago at the same race, Durbridge gave notice of his potential on this kind of terrain with a pugnacious display on the cobbles and hills between Roeslaere and Waregem. Twelve months on, he showed his progress with a visibly more assured performance. Durbridge was a confident presence throughout Wednesday´s race, marking Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) when he forced the first major selection on the Berendries with 80 kilometres remaining, and matching the Belgian champion once again when he attacked on the Paterberg ahead of the finale. It proved to be the decisive move, and Durbridge had the misfortune of finding himself outnumbered in the four-man break that formed over the top, as Gilbert had his teammate Yves Lampaert for company. On the run-in to the finish at Waregem, the two Quick-Step riders took it in turns to attack, and eventually Lampaert forged clear. Durbridge gave forlorn chase, but was eventually squeezed off the podium when he was out-kicked by Gilbert and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) in the sprint for second place.ADVERTISEMENT `You can always try to avoid getting worked over, but when you think about it we got completely worked over,` Durbridge told Cyclingnews just past the finish line. `Quick-Step rode really smart. I felt like I was strong and I was covering Phil but then Yves countered and I couldn´t do anything in the sprint. It´s not my strength, the sprint, but it is what it is. I´m happy with my condition and I´m happy with how I tried to race. Maybe I was a bit pinned towards the end. Maybe I should have tried to do a few attacks near the end but I couldn´t do it.` By the time Mat Hayman pulled up alongside him and slun ...
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