Michael Matthews will lead Jayco Aroura into Sunday's Amstel Gold Race for the Ardennes Classic.

The Australian has been a consistent favorite throughout the spring and has five top-10 finishes in the Amstel Gold Race, including a third-place finish in 2015.

After a recent 8th place finish in Brabantspaille, Matthews is determined to take the next step after being relegated from the podium in the Tour of Flanders.

A ruling by the race commissaire dropped him from third to 11th place.

This spring he finished second in Milan-San Remo, a personal best, and in January he won the Ruta de la Ceramica in Valencia, Spain.

After Flanders, Matthews returned to the saddle at Brabantse Pijl after a nine-day race hiatus and now heads to Jayco Alura for another attempt at the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The first of three consecutive Ardennes races will feature Luke Durbridge, Lawson Craddock, Anders Foldager, Jan Maas, Felix Engelhardt, and Mauro Schmid.

"Michael Matthews will be our leader," said team director Sportif Pieter Weening, who has competed in the Amstel Gold Race 10 times.

"He finished his Cobbled Classics campaign in really good shape.

"We also know that this is always a difficult race and positioning is always important. Getting Matthews in the right position, that's the only goal for the other riders."

Lawson Craddock said he and his team are expecting a longer "final" and expect the action to start far from the finish.

"Over the last few years, the racing has changed a lot, and the finals are starting farther from the finish.

"I think we can expect the same for the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday. The course will be challenging all day long and everyone will have to be on the front foot all day if there is any chance of success.

[26] "We are going with Michael Matthews, and he has had some great results recently. I am confident he will run well for us. I think we will aim to run our own race aggressively all day instead of racing someone else."