The opener to the Ardennes Classics.
Amstel Gold has a long heritage stretching back to 1966, with it's instantly recognisable windmills and (thanks to the title sponsors) infamously huge beers on the podium. As always this year sees a brutal 255km course, covering 3,265m of climbing across the hilly southern region of Limburg. Despite it's pedigree Amstel Gold is still the youngest of the Classics, and the only one-day race to be held within the Netherlands. But that didn't stop it from joining the ranks of the UCI Pro Tour in 2011, and with it becoming the most important Dutch cycling event of the year. With a typically impressive line up in 2024, it doesn't look as though that will change any time soon.
Introduction to the Spring Classics
The annual cycling programme can be a little complicated, but don't worry if you are new to the sport - because the 'Spring Classics' is a great place to start! It's a series of 10 individual one-day bike races held through March & April, and they are generally seen as the start to the season. For the fans it's also our first chance to see the form of our favourite riders! The Classics are broken down into three groups:
3x Italian Classics come first, then
4x Cobbled Classics (in Belgium), closing off with
3x Ardennes Classics (across the bottom SW corner of the Netherlands, and across into Belgium).
Amstel Gold is the first of the 3x Ardennes Classic races, so heading towards the end of the series. With +3,000 vertical metres of ascent it's the first race of the series to really favour the climbing specialists, so we expect to see a change of key players & tactics. Typically it's an event where Grand Tour specialists and experienced climbers take the wins.
What you need to know
When is the Amstel Gold Race?
The Classics are organised on a fixed schedule - within which Amstel falls on the the first Sunday after the cobbled classic Paris–Roubaix has finished. Amstel Gold is then swiftly followed by the Ardennes classic Flèche Wallonne on the subsequent Wednesday.
Did you know?..
The race calendar hasn't ALWAYS been quite the same. Amstel Gold was originally held a week later, but in 2004 it swapped places with Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Nobody seems able to confirm why this happened, but rumour has it that it was something to do with a previous winner, a debt, a bet, and 5 barrels of Amstel beer (!?).
Where is it held?
Although the Netherlands are known for their flat roads & high winds, the Amstel Gold Race takes place in the southern region of Limburg which is remarkably hilly. Known as the 'The Dutch Hills' it's a region formed by the foothills between the Ardennes & Eifel mountain ranges and have come to define the character of the race. Short, sharp, and never ending.
Did you know?..
Whilst the race is part of the Ardennes Classics, it is not actually within the Ardennes region.
The course history
Amstel Gold Race always had a flat finish, and was often won by riders excelling in the flatter Cobbled Classics... Until 2002 when the organisers made a huge change to stand out in the calendar - shifting the focus towards hills. A lot of hills!
And so 2003 saw the signature Cauberg climb designated as the new finishing point, which stayed until in 2017 when the finish was extended a further 19km (apparently 236km was not enough!?). Ofcourse in a race famous for it's quick-fire climbs this could be no ordinary extension, and so it takes in the Geulhemmerberg (14km from the finish) and the Bemelerberg (7km).
The course today
The present course features more than 30 short climbs in quick succession - on average one every 6.6km. This means riders have hardly any time to recover, and since the climbs also get closer together as the race progresses you can expect to see a lot of contenders 'blow' in the the final 50km. For 2024 the riders will actually ride the Cauberg twice (6.5% average, max 12.8%) and will cross the finish line twice (with 79.2km & 16km to go). The steepest climbs are the Cauberg, Keutenberg and Eyserbosweg, with top gradients up to 22% (Keutenberg).
What's it like to ride?
If you imagine the hardest spin session you've ever done, stretched out for 250km... then you're starting to get the idea!
The Womens Race
We had an Elite Women's edition of the Amstel Gold Race as part of the UCI Women's World Cup from 2001 to 2003. It was 114km with 9 climbs but sadly it only survived for a few years. At the time organisers cited challenges hosting the two races on the same day, but presumably this has been resolved as after a 14-year hiatus the women's race returned in 2017! Again was held on the same day as the mens, but it had become considerably harder with 17x categorised climbs including 4x ascents of the famous Cauberg.
Where Pogacar got the idea...
In the 2017 edition the Olympic road race champion Anna van der Breggen won the race with a solo attack 8 km from the finish. Poggi has ofcourse picked up a similar approach to dominating races!
Recent Men Winners:
2019 Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon–Circus / Netherlands)
Won on his event debut!
2020 No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo–Visma / Belgium)
Photo finish sprint against Tom Pidcock
2022 Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers / Poland)
Photo finish with Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroen)
2023 Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates / Slovenia)
Solo victory after dropping Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) on the Keutenberg, with 29km to go.
Recent Women Winners:
2023 Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx
2022 Marta Cavalli (Ita) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
2021 Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
2020 No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019 Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM
2018 Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Ned) Boels Dolmans
2017 Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans
2003 Nicole Cooke (GBr) Ausra Gruodis-Safi
2002 Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel (Ned) Team Farm Frites-Hartol
2001 Debby Mansveld (Ned) Vlaanderen-T-Interim
Wins by country:
18 wins = Netherlands
14 wins = Belgium
7 wins = Italy
3 wins = Germany & Switzerland
2 wins = Denmark, France & Poland
1x win = Australia, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Russia & Slovenia
Taking part in Amstel Gold
Great news - now you really can come and race the Amstel Gold! Well sort of... you can take part in a sportive the day before the race that's open to everybody! There are distances of 60, 100, 125, 150, 200 or 240km and they all finish at the top of Cauberg. Spaces are limited to 12,000 which might sound like a lot, but they sell out in just 38 mins so choppy choppy.
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Things to look out for:
Favourites to win: Undoubtedly reigning champions!
Demi Vollering (SD Worx-ProTime) beat Lotto Kapecky by 8 seconds last year, and with solid resultssuch as 3rd at Strade Bianche she's certainly bringing some form.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) remain firmly at the top of the list for the men. The rainbow jersey clad Dutchman won the event in 2019, and is just out from emphatic wins at Flanders and Paris Roubaix.
Some Big Hitters looking to dethrone MVDP:
Marc Hirschi with UAE Team Emirates has a killer team to back him up. Former Flèche Wallonne winner, Brandon McNulty in the form of his life, João Almeida Juan Ayuso who the Basque Country.
Wout Van Aert with Visma-Lease A Bike would be a clear favourite if he hadn't suffered a devastating crash at the Tour of Flanders. Luckily he is on the mend, but he's already had to clear his diary right up to and including the Giro d'Italia. All the best Wout!!!
Tom Pidcock and the Ineos Grenadiers could do with a win, and having come painfully close with 2nd (2021) and 3rd (2023) Tom Pidcock will be looking to close in on the top spot. Tough and technical terrain like this is where he excells, and with 2x winner Kwiatkowski backing him up he just might be able to pull it off. Matteo Jorgenson, Tiesj Benoot and Dylan Van Baarle will all be very capable of stepping up to the plate and bringing it home for the angry bees.
If you've ridden the Amstel Gold route yourself, or you're planning to right now (!)
let us know your questions / feedback in the comments below:
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