Antón shines on the Mur

Igor Antón showed glimpses of his undoubted talent by finishing eighth in the Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday.

The outcome of the Belgian WorldTour classic is almost without exception decided on the brutally steep Mur de Huy, and this year's edition proved no different.

Katusha's Daniel Moreno showed why he's considered one of the very best domestiques in the business by jumping clear just at the right time to win the race in dominating fashion. Coming in second was Sky's Sergio Henao, just ahead of the vigilant Carlos Betancur of Ag2r who'd lit the blue touch paper right at the base of the climb.

Euskaltel did their best to shepherd team captain Antón into the best possible position when the climbing started, and the native of Galdakano, Biscay, showed he was worthy of his position as team leader by following the likes of Philippe Gilbert and Joaquím Rodríguez en route to eighth at the top of the famous climb.

His eighth place follows his fourth in 2010 and fifth in 2011, and hands Antón his first WorldTour points of the season. His strong showing on Wednesday will no doubt boost his morale ahead of Sunday's Monument, the Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Results:

• (1, Daniel Moreno (Katusha), 4:52:33)
• 8, Igor Antón, 0:08
• 66, Gorka Izagirre, 1:51
• 67, Ion Izagirre, s.t.
• 92, Mikel Astarloza, 4:59
• 136, Romain Sicard, 10:06

Photo: Orbea