Amstel Gold Race 2016 [LAST 10 KM]

April 17, 2016

Amstel Gold Race 2016 – Maastricht – Valkenburg – 251,8 km

The Amstel Gold Race is an annual road bicycle race in the province of Limburg, the Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classics riders as the favourites.

Enrico Gasparotto (Wanty – Groupe Gobert) rolled back the years to win Amstel Gold Race on Sunday. The Italian attacked on the final ascent of the Cauberg and was quickly joined by Michael Valgren Andersen (Tinkoff Team). The pair traded turns on the front before Gasparotto’s experience and faster finish shone through with the 2012 winner of the race taking the victory in a two-man sprint. Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani – CSF) led the peloton home in third place with pre-race favourite Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEDGE) finishing in fifth.

Gasparotto, 34, came into the race as one of the underdogs but he and Valgren were the only riders either capable or willing to attack on the final ascent of the race. The Italian first had to catch Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal), who had attacked with less than 10 kilometres to go and built up a lead close to 20 seconds before the foot of the final climb.

When Gasparotto attacked only Valgren could answer with the Tinkoff rider bridging up just as the road began to plateau. Lotto Soudal launched a desperate late chase but Valgren effectively sealed the race’s fate by taking a long, crucial pull on the front with 800 meters to go. That effectively ended the hopes of those behind but allowed Gasparotto almost an armchair ride to the line. With the win in sight the Italian came around the Dane’s wheel.

The win was an emotional one for Gasparotto and his Wanty teammates for several reasons after Antoine Demoitie lost his life in a crash during Gent-Wevelgem.

“When I won in 2012, I did most of the Cauberg with the 39 instead of 53, and I decided to do the same today. I almost crashed at the corner at the bottom and then I moved up to the front. Nobody was attacking so I went with the 39 and then I switched to the 53 when I came to the old finish,” Gasparotto said at the finish.

“I was lucky that Valgren came with me, I wouldn’t have won if I’d been alone because there was a super strong headwind over the top. I was maybe lucky that it wasn’t Roman Kreuziger too, because we would have played a bit before the sprint. Instead Valgren was happy to pull to make sure he came second at least, and I was able to wait and wait for the sprint.”

How it unfolded

Amstel Gold Race’s reputation as one of the most fraught events on the calendar precedes it, and the peloton hadn’t even left the neutralised zone in Maastricht before the day’s first crash, with Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo) forced to abandon with a facial injury after he came down before passing the city limits.

Once the flag dropped, there was a typically brisk start to proceedings, and the high speed lasted for much of the opening hour, as it took some time for the day’s early break to form, with both Astana and BMC quick to close down some of the initial moves. The searing pace was enough, meanwhile, to convince an ill Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) to bring the curtain down on his ill-starred Classics campaign.

After 35 kilometres, on the approach to the day’s fourth climb, the Bergsweg, a breakaway attempt finally gained some traction, with Laurens de Vreese (Astana), Tom Devriendt (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Laurent Didier (Trek), Alex Howes (Cannondale), Matteo Montaguti (AG2R-La Mondiale), Matteo Bono (Lampre-Merida), Kevin Reza (FDJ), Larry Warbasse (IAM Cycling), Josef Cerny (CCC-Sprandi), Fabien Grellier (Direct Energy) and Giacomo Berlato (Nippo-Vini Fantini) forging clear.

The 11-man move had already built up a lead in excess of five minutes by the time they crossed the finish line for the first time with 192 kilometres remaining, after the first of four ascents of the Cauberg. As the climbs and kilometres ticked down thereafter, the break’s lead was slowly pegged back by a peloton, where Team Sky – with defending champion Michal Kwiatkowski in mind – were particularly active, and the gap was down to 3:30 by the time the 11 leaders came over the Cauberg for the second time with 86 kilometres remaining.

A crash for Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) gave a timely reminder of the dangers the tight Dutch roads offered but up front the race began to take shape with a four-man move comprising of Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal), Niccolò Bonifazio (Trek Segafredo), Gianni Meersman (Etixx QuickStep) and Björn Thurau (Wanty) skipped clear.

The Trek rider was merely a passenger but the intent from the remaining three was enough to distance the peloton and swallow up a number of the early break once cracks began to show in the leading group.

Team Sky was still a presence on the front of the peloton, with the race entering the final 40 kilometres. The break still had a two-minute lead but the peloton were becoming restless and Michael Albasini (Orica) launched clear.

The Swiss rider’s antics merely inflamed the situation with Sky chasing him down before the foot of the Fromberg. LottoNL and BMC Racing duelled on the front and the increased pace saw the Van der Sande group caught at the summit.

Any rider with convictions of winning the race needed to be near the front so it was a major surprise to see Gilbert distanced with still 25km and two more ascents of the Cauberg to go.

Up ahead the remnants of the break – they were down to just five – crested the penultimate race to the top of the Cauberg with 15 seconds as Bob Jungels (Etixx QuickStep) and Enrico Battaglin (Lotto NL) spearheaded yet another counter attack. One would assume that Team Sky would take control but within a blink of an eye their leader and the defending champion, Kwiatkowski, had been dropped. Instead Orica, still with Mat Hayman and Albasini, drove the peloton on.

The break was eventually caught with 14km to go but it wasn’t until Roman Kreuziger attacked did the race spark into life again. Like Gasparotto, the Tinkoff rider was once a champion in this race and his move with 8km to race had a certain plausibility to it. However Wellens made Kreuziger look like he was standing still as he powered clear.

The Belgian had timed his move well and as hesitation crept in the quickly established a 20 second lead. He needed at least that in order to give himself a chance as he took the left hand turn onto the Cauberg for the final time but one last pull from Albasini ended his chances on the lower slopes.

Gasparotto, meanwhile, was lurking near the front of the peloton. His attack only created a few meters but it was enough and when Valgren made contact the pair had all they needed to make it to the line.

Results :

1 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 6:18:02
2 Michael Valgren (Den) Tinkoff Team
3 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:00:04
4 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie
5 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
6 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step
7 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – Merida
8 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team
9 Loic Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
10 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
11 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
12 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team
13 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
14 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
15 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin
16 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
17 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida
18 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
19 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ
20 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
21 Floris De Tier (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
22 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team
23 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
24 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team
25 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
26 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
27 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
28 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Team Sky
29 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky
30 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
31 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:08
32 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:00:34
33 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
34 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
35 Oliver Naesen (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:00:41
36 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
37 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
38 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Alpecin
39 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge
40 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre – Merida
41 Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky
42 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
43 Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx – Quick-Step
44 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling
45 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Astana Pro Team
46 Pieter Weening (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
47 Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling
48 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:01:01
49 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
50 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
51 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
52 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky
53 Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:36
54 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
55 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:02:05
56 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:02:07
57 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge 0:02:12
58 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:03:20
59 Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:03:37
60 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:04:18
61 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:04:33
62 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data
63 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
64 Mario Jorge Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida
65 Aleksei Tcatevich (Rus) Team Katusha
66 Huub Duyn (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
67 Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale Pro Cycling
68 Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre – Merida
69 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff Team
70 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Team Katusha
71 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
72 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
73 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
74 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team
75 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – Merida
76 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) IAM Cycling
77 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
78 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
79 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ
80 Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
81 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
82 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha
83 David Tanner (Aus) IAM Cycling
84 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
85 Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha
86 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
87 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
88 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
89 Michel Kreder (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
90 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Team Katusha
91 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
92 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
93 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge
94 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ
95 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:05:39
96 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:05:56
97 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Team Katusha 0:06:19
98 Bjorn Thurau (Ger) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:07:35
99 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Lampre – Merida 0:08:03
100 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
101 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Team Katusha 0:08:49
102 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
103 Benjamin King (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
104 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling
105 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
106 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
107 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
108 Berden De Vries (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
109 Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre – Merida
110 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie
111 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team
112 Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff Team
113 Daniele Colli (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
114 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
115 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
116 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Tinkoff Team
117 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:09:11
118 Chad Haga (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:11:24
119 Marinus Cornelis Minnaard (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:15:49
120 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:17:16
DNF Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
DNF Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
DNF Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step
DNF Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
DNF Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
DNF Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Fredrik Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal
DNF Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
DNF Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
DNF Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
DNF Jay Mccarthy (Aus) Tinkoff Team
DNF Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Team
DNF Yury Trofimov (Rus) Tinkoff Team
DNF Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team
DNF Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha
DNF Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ
DNF Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ
DNF Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ
DNF Kévin Reza (Fra) FDJ
DNF William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ
DNF Jerome Coppel (Fra) IAM Cycling
DNF Stef Clement (Ned) IAM Cycling
DNF Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) IAM Cycling
DNF Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling
DNF Nathan Brown (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Dimension Data
DNF Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data
DNF Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data
DNF Youcef Reguigui (Alg) Dimension Data
DNF Sander Helven (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Jens Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
DNF Sjoerd Van Ginneken (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
DNF Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Kenny De Haes (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Marco Marcato (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Tony Hurel (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Ryan Anderson (Can) Direct Energie
DNF Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
DNF Adrian Kurek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
DNF Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
DNF Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
DNF Simone Ponzi (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
DNF Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Grega Bole (Slo) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Yuma Koishi (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Kazushige Kuboki (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Luca Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF