Amstel Gold Race 2021 [FULL RACE]

April 18, 2021

Amstel Gold Race 2021 – Valkenburg – Berg en Terblijt : 218,6 km

After a one-year hiatus Amstel Gold is back and ready to kick off what promises to be one of the most unpredictable Ardennes Classics periods in recent memory. The labyrinthine route around Limburg may have been altered this year, but all of the race’s iconic hallmarks, like the super-steep Cauberg and death-defying descent into Valkenburg, remain. Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe, Greg Van Avermaet, Tom Pidcock and Primož Roglič are just some of the riders readying themselves for war this Sunday. Amstel Gold is notorious for having one of the most convoluted routes of any one-day race on the Spring calendar. As a result of current COVID-19 restrictions in the Netherlands however, the 2021 route has been scaled back and wholly contained within a 17km-long circuit around Valkenburg. This simplified route has removed a lot of the iconic climbs that have made up previous editions of the race, like the Eyserbosweg and Keutenberg. The three that often fall near the finish and have catalysed many of the most recent races however – the Geulhemmerberg (1.4km at 4.6%), the Bemelerberg (800m at 5.2%) and the Cauberg (800m at 7.4%) – all remain. And because this circuit will be tackled no less than 12 times, each climb will adopt a new level of importance, particularly on the final couple of laps where each one will be used as a launchpad for a Hail Mary move.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) claimed victory in Amstel Gold Race after a photo finish sprint against Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers). Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished third after the trio broke clear inside the final 15km of the race and held off a frantic chase from the remnants of the peloton.

The winning break formed after a series of aggressive attacks from the main contenders, and with Ineos Grenadiers briefly posting three riders in a key move before Pidcock attacked and was quickly joined by Schachmann and Van Aert. The trio worked well together but eased up with 1,000 metres to go with Van Aert opening the sprint with 200m remaining.

It looked as though the Belgian was beginning to fade as Pidcock came around his cycle-cross rival inside the final 75m but Van Aert found an extra gear just when he needed it most to take a narrow victory. Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) won the sprint for fourth.

A decisive moment came with 18km to go as the race hit the foot of the Cauberg for the final time with Nicola Conci (Trek-Segafredo) making an initial move off the front of the bunch. Van Aert was the first to respond but at the exact moment the Belgian rider lost a valuable teammate in Primož Roglič. Until that point Roglič had marked almost every major move but when Van Aert went over the top of Conci he found Pidcock, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) and Schachmann on his wheel. The group split just before the top with Kwiatkowski attacking as Alaphilippe began to struggle and a chase group formed that contained Pidcock, Van Aert, Schachmann, Matthews and Richard Carapaz.

Kwiatkowski was caught in on the slopes of the Geulhemmerberg after a desperate chase lead my Schachmann before Pidcock quickly countered. This time only Van Aert and the Bora rider could follow, and the trio quickly opened up a gap of 20 seconds on a fragmented chase that included Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana-Premier Tech).

With 5km to go the leaders’ advantage appeared to be slipping but a lack of cooperation gave them all the time they needed and as they slowed into the final kilometer. It looked as though Pidcock had the best position as he stalked Van Aert’s rear wheel. When the Belgian opened up his sprint for the line it looked as though he had gone too soon, with Pidcock quickly establishing some momentum on the Jumbo rider’s right-hand side. But just when it looked like Pidcock would take the biggest win of his career, Van Aert gave one final serge to take the win by just a few millimeters.

How it unfolded

After the 2020 cancellation, Amstel Gold Race was back on the calendar with a new circuit course and 38 climbs littered over 217km of racing.

The break of the day formed on the first lap with 10 riders Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo), Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo), Stan Dewulf (AG2R-Citroën), Sébastien Grignard (Lotto Soudal), Maurits Lammertink (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert ), Loïc Vliegen (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Chad Haga (Team DSM), Ryan Gibbons (UAE Team Emirates), Kenny Molly (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces-WB) and Anders Skaarseth (Uno-X Pro Cycling) pushing clear and establishing a five-minute advantage over the main field. Jumbo-Visma, riding on home turf and with Van Aert and Roglič in their ranks, set about making the early pace but they had help from Movistar, so with 109km to go the break’s lead dropped to just over four minutes.

The race situation remained stable until Robert Power (Qhubeka Assos) accelerated out of the peloton on the Bemeleberg. He was quickly joined by Oscar Riesebeek (Alpecin-Fenix) and although the move was futile, it certainly indicated that teams were starting to think about the next wave of attacks and building groups that could form ahead of the main favourites.

It wasn’t long before a nine-man move went clear with Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Peter Serry (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Jan Tratinki (Bahrain Victorious), Jan Bakelants (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), and Krists Neilands (Israel Start-Up Nation) included in their numbers. Ineos brought that move back before a series of accelerations lead to an 11-rider group forming with Florian Sénéchal and Trantik joined by Alex Howes (EF Education-Nippo), Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) among the riders aboard.

A crash between Schachmann, Mauri Vansevenant (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Bob Jungels (AG2R Citroën) saw the latter drop away from contention before the peloton reformed. Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers), Senechal, Simon Clarke (Qhubeka Assos), Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), Tosh Van Der Sande (Lotto Soudal) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) generated the next split.

With 49km to go and three laps remaining the early break held a slender one-minute advantage before Roglič almost singlehandedly brought back the Sénéchal group on the ascent of the Geulhemmerberg. With 35km to go to the two leading groups merged at the foot of the Cauberg with Roglič again coming to the fore.

Over the top of the climb and only Vliegen remained out in front before Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe), who had already been prominent at the front of the bunch, attacked with 25km to go.

With 18km to go Conci made his move, and although he wasn’t able to gain any clear distance on the leading pack, the Italian set up what would eventually form into the winning move.

Results :
1 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 5:03:29
2 Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0
3 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:00:03
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
6 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
7 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
8 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
9 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
10 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
11 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
12 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
13 HUNDAHL Michael Valgren
14 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
15 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Team DSM
16 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
17 Ben Tulett (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
18 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
19 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
20 Quinten Hermans (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
21 Daryl Impey (RSA) Israel Start-up Nation
22 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
23 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
24 Sergio Higuita Garcia (Col) EF Education-Nippo
25 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
26 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
27 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
28 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers
29 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
30 Sergio Henao Montoya (Col) Team Qhubeka Assos
31 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
32 Michael Woods (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
33 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
34 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
35 Marc Hirschi (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
36 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-up Nation 0:00:08
37 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:09
38 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:10
39 Magnus Cort (Den) EF Education-Nippo 0:02:12
40 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
41 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal
42 Simon Geschke (Ger) Cofidis
43 Fernando Barceló Aragon (Spa) Cofidis
44 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
45 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
46 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
47 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
48 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
49 Dion Smith (NZl) Team BikeExchange
50 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
51 Michael Gogl (Aut) Team Qhubeka Assos
52 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
53 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
54 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
55 Simon Clarke (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
56 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
57 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
58 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious
59 Simon Carr (GBr) EF Education-Nippo
60 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
61 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis
62 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers
63 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
64 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:17
65 Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Team BikeExchange 0:02:19
66 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
67 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:29
68 Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:03:44
69 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma
70 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
71 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) UAE Team Emirates
72 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
73 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Team DSM
74 Stan Dewulf (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
75 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
76 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
77 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
78 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
79 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:59
80 Ruben Apers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:06:17
81 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo
82 Jack Bauer (NZl) Team BikeExchange
83 Michael Schär (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team
84 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
85 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
86 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
87 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education-Nippo
88 Jonas Iversby Hvideberg (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
89 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Qhubeka Assos
90 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
91 Sam Oomen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
92 Robert Stannard (Aus) Team BikeExchange
93 Robert Gesink (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
94 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM
95 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Movistar Team
96 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
97 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team BikeExchange
98 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
99 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix
100 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
101 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
102 Syver Wærsted (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
103 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
104 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
105 Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto Soudal
106 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
107 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic
108 Michal Golas (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
109 Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Ineos Grenadiers
110 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation
111 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
112 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
113 Kenny Molly (Bel) Bingoal WB
114 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
115 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma
116 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
117 Stephen Williams (GBr) Bahrain Victorious
118 Rune Herregodts (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:14:24
119 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
120 Martin Bugge Urianstad (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
121 Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den) Team BikeExchange
122 Rob Power (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
123 Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
124 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
125 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
DNF Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNF Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
DNF Paul Martens (Ger) Jumbo-Visma
DNF Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Bob Jungels (Lux) AG2R Citroën Team
DNF Sander Armée (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
DNF Sean Bennett (USA) Team Qhubeka Assos
DNF Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
DNF Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
DNF Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-up Nation
DNF Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
DNF William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Sylvain Moniquet (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
DNF Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
DNF Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education-Nippo
DNF Daniel Arroyave Cañas (Col) EF Education-Nippo
DNF Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Hugo Houle (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
DNF Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
DNF Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana-Premier Tech
DNF Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis
DNF Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis
DNF Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis
DNF Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team
DNF Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Chad Haga (USA) Team DSM
DNF Nico Denz (Ger) Team DSM
DNF Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM
DNF Ivo Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Amaury Capiot (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Julian Mertens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Boris Vallee (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
DNF Petr Rikunov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
DNF Iver Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team