Giant crowds, 34 climbs and a brewery as race sponsor, what’s not to like about the Amstel Gold Race?
This is a very different race to the ones we’ve seen in recent weeks. Born in 1966 it is the newest of the spring classics and defined by suburban roads instead of medieval farm tracks. It marks a change in the season where stage race specialists compete alongside one day specialists.
Here’s the preview with the riders, the route, the TV timings, beer, weather and more.
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Is Philippe Gilbert back? He won the Brabantse Pijl yesterday by beating Michael Matthews in the sprint but only minutes before he was making a big solo effort off the front of the bunch. It’s only his second win since the world championship title in 2012 and his first win in a BMC jersey in his home country. We’ll know more about his form and confidence this Sunday with the Amstel.
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The Brabantse Pijl takes place today and marks the transition from the cobbled classics to a season of hillier races stretching from the Ardennes to the Alps and beyond. Before the peloton collectively heads for hills, time for a short look back in order to look forward to 2015.
This year’s Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix were vintage editions with excitement and action. They took place with note of history-in-the-making as Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara each had a chance to engrave their name alongside past champions like Roger De Vlaeminck and Alberic “Briek” Schotte. But what of the future? Certainly Boonen and Cancellara have a chance to win again next year but there’s a whole new generation of riders coming through who want to win and they’ll be making plans to return with a bang in 2015.
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