Amstel Gold Race 2021 [LAST 20 KM] (ladies)

April 18, 2021

Amstel Gold Race 2021 WE – Valkenburg – Berg en Terblijt : 116,3 km

From the cobblestones of Flanders to the hills of Limburg, the peloton will head to the Netherlands this Sunday to kickstart the Ardennes Classics with the 7th edition of Amstel Gold. No less than 20 climbs will make up the back-breaking route around Valkenburg, each one serving as a battleground upon which the likes of Annemiek van Vleuten, Kasia Niewiadoma, Elisa Longo Borghini and Marianne Vos will wage war upon. It has been almost two years since we last saw the Women’s Amstel Gold play out on our television screens, when Canyon SRAM’s Kasia Niewiadoma held off home favourite Annemiek van Vleuten by just two bike lengths to take the 2019 edition. The 2020 edition was then cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving fans to ponder just who’d have taken the crown had the race gone ahead. The race is back this year however and while the route has undergone some dramatic changes it still promises to be as action-packed as ever. All of the main players from the Spring Classics we’ve seen so far are set to line up, from the 2021 Gent-Wevelgem winner and veteran Classics specialist Marianne Vos, to the 2021 Oxyclean Classic winner and relative one-day racing newbie Grace Brown. Amstel Gold is notorious for having one of the most convoluted routes of any one-day race on the Spring calendar, a labyrinthine course that zig zags its way around the hilly province of Limburg. This year’s route is a lot easier to describe as it has been scaled back to abide by the current COVID-19 regulations in the Netherlands. The new route is made up of seven laps around a 17km-long circuit that features three recognisable climbs: the Geulhemmerberg (1.4km at 4.6%), the Bemelerberg (800m at 5.2%) and the Cauberg (800m at 7.4%).

Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma) has won the Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition. The 33-year-old was part of a group that could not quite follow Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) on the final ascent of the Cauberg but reeled in the two frontrunners on the final kilometre.

In the sprint, Vos quickly took the lead and raised her arms to celebrate. Despite a late surge, Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) was still a wheel’s length behind at the finish line, with Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) taking third place.

“I expected a hard race, but it was even harder than I expected,” said Vos after the finish. “It is always very attractive with a circuit, and there were attacks right from the gun. We did a really hard pace all race. On the final lap, Grace Brown had a good go, then the two were in front on the final time up the Cauberg, but when there was a final sprint, you have that little bit of energy left for the last few hundred metres. Demi came really close in the end, but I still had a little advantage.”

It was Vos’ first victory in the Amstel Gold Race, but not her first victory in Valkenburg as she had won the 2012 World Championships on a similar course. “Racing up the Cauberg and here along the finish line brings back memories, but during the race itself, I was mostly focused on that. It is good to be back, and even better with a victory,” Vos said.

How it unfolded

The women had to race 116.3km, seven laps of a circuit around Valkenburg with the climbs of the Geulhemmerberg, Bemelerberg, and Cauberg, with the summit of the final climb coming two kilometres from the finish.

The race was on from the start with attacks flying left and right. Quinty Ton (GT Krush Tunap) and Kathrin Hammes (Ceratizit-WNT) were the first to get away, but they were caught by a large group on the second lap. Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx) and Grace Brown (Team BikeExchange) bridged to this group while Van Vleuten and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) had been caught behind the peloton and had to chase hard to get back on.

Eventually, the peloton caught up with the front group, and the pace settled down for a while. There were lots of unsuccessful attacks on the fourth lap until Lucy Kennedy (Team BikeExchange), Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM), Marta Bastianelli (Alé BTC Ljubljana), and Tayler Wiles (Trek-Segafredo) got a gap, but they were reeled in by Van Vleuten on the Cauberg.

Again, there were many attempts to get away from the peloton, but none of them stuck. Van Vleuten countered an attack by Pauliena Rooijakkers on the Cauberg with 36 km to go and quickly had most of the favourites on her wheel, though Van der Breggen was notably absent. This acceleration by Van Vleuten tore the race apart, and Van der Breggen would not return to the front of the race again.

Onto the Geulhemmerberg and Bemelerberg, there were many attacks again, and finally Brown and Rooijakkers got away. They built an advantage of half a minute, but this went down to less than 20 seconds on the Cauberg as first Van Vleuten, then Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Team SD Worx) pushed the pace in the chasing group.

Brown dropped Rooijakkers on the descent into the Geulhemmerberg and continued on her own, holding a gap that fluctuated between 20 and 30 seconds as Team SD Worx and Trek-Segafredo were doing most of the chase work in the group behind.

On the run-in to the final ascent of the Cauberg, Brown lost ground, and she was caught at the bottom of the hill as Van Vleuten made her move. Niewiadoma, Vos, and Vollering closed the gap, and Niewiadoma counterattacked, dropping Vos. Coming from behind, Longo Borghini bridged to Niewiadoma near the top of the climb. The Italian put in a counterattack herself, but Niewiadoma eventually closed the gap.

In the final kilometres, Longo Borghini did not take any turns, and this meant that the following group of Vollering, Mavi García (Alé BTC Ljubljana), Vos, Moolman-Pasio, Van Vleuten, Uttrup Ludwig, Soraya Paladin (Liv Racing), and Amanda Spratt (Team BikeExchange) got on their wheels with 300 metres to go.

Longo Borghini then opened the sprint but was quickly passed by Vos who raised her arms to celebrate 20 metres from the line. Vollering had the higher speed and closed in on Vos, but the Dutch veteran held on to the line.

With the victory, Vos also takes the lead in the UCI Women’s WorldTour ranking.

Results :
1 Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team 3:00:20
2 Demi Vollering (Ned) Team SD Worx 0
3 Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Movistar Team Women 0
4 Amanda Spratt (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0
5 Soraya Paladin (Ita) Liv Racing 0
6 Mavi Garcia (Spa) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
7 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope 0:00:01
8 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
9 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) Team SD Worx
10 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:00:02
11 Katrine Aalerud (Nor) Movistar Team Women 0:00:09
12 Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) Team SD Worx
13 Mariia Novolodskaia (Rus) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team 0:00:10
14 Erica Magnaldi (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
15 Kristen Faulkner (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:00:16
16 Juliette Labous (Fra) Team DSM 0:00:18
17 Anna Shackley (GBr) Team SD Worx 0:00:19
18 Lucy Kennedy (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:00:26
19 Grace Brown (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:00:55
20 Ruth Winder (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:00
21 Leah Thomas (USA) Movistar Team Women
22 Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) Liv Racing
23 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
24 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Canyon-SRAM Racing 0:05:08
25 Julia van Bokhoven (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg 0:05:35
26 Coryn Rivera (USA) Team DSM 0:08:11
27 Marta Lach (Pol) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
28 Anouska Koster (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
29 Floortje Mackaij (Ned) Team DSM
30 Marlen Reusser (Swi) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
31 Lauretta Hanson (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
32 Sara Martin Martin (Spa) Movistar Team Women 0:08:12
33 Elise Chabbey (Swi) Canyon-SRAM Racing
34 Katia Ragusa (Ita) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
35 Marta Bastianelli (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
36 Ane Santesteban Gonzalez (Spa) Team BikeExchange
37 Jeanne Korevaar (Ned) Liv Racing
38 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire
39 Teuntje Beekhuis (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
40 Amelia Sharpe (GBr) NXTG Racing
41 Sabrina Stultiens (Ned) Liv Racing
42 Kathrin Hammes (Ger) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
43 Quinty Ton (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
44 Brodie Chapman (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
45 Tayler Wiles (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:13
46 Arlenis Sierra Canadilla (Cub) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team 0:08:15
47 Mikayla Harvey (NZl) Canyon-SRAM Racing
48 Alena Amialiusik (Blr) Canyon-SRAM Racing
49 Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
50 Leah Kirchmann (Can) Team DSM 0:08:45
51 Federica Piergiovanni (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
52 Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Ned) Team SD Worx 0:08:46
53 Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Team SD Worx
54 Jelena Eric (Ser) Movistar Team Women 0:08:47
55 Alison Jackson (Can) Liv Racing 0:09:43
56 Mischa Bredewold (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
57 Lauren Stephens (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
58 Lizbeth Yareli Salazar Vazquez (Mex) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
59 Emilia Fahlin (Swe) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
60 Nathalie Eklund (Swe) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
61 Stine Borgli (Nor) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
62 Abby-Mae Parkinson (GBr) Lotto Soudal Ladies
63 Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Nor) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
64 Valerie Demey (Bel) Liv Racing
65 Lara Vieceli (Ita) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
66 Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team 0:09:44
67 Riejanne Markus (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
68 Hanna Nilsson (Swe) Lotto Soudal Ladies
69 Marit Raaijmakers (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
70 Janneke Ensing (Ned) Team BikeExchange
71 Paula Patiño Bedoya (Col) Movistar Team Women
72 Franziska Koch (Ger) Team DSM
73 Anastasiia Chursina (Rus) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
74 Nina Buijsman (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
75 Georgia Williams (NZl) Team BikeExchange
76 Julie Van De Velde (Bel) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
77 Eider Merino Cortazar (Spa) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team 0:09:45
78 Evita Muzic (Fra) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
79 Sarah Gigante (Aus) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
80 Vittoria Guazzini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service 0:09:46
81 Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
82 Barbara Malcotti (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
83 Marta Cavalli (Ita) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
DNF Alexis Ryan (USA) Canyon-SRAM Racing
DNF Lorena Wiebes (Ned) Team DSM
DNF Audrey Cordon Ragot (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Alessia Patuelli (Ita) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana
DNF Belle de Gast (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
DNF Pien Limpens (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg
DNF Lone Meertens (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
DNF Anna Plichta (Pol) Lotto Soudal Ladies
DNF Alana Castrique (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
DNF Elise Vander Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal Ladies
DNF Marissa Baks (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
DNF Inez Beijer (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
DNF Nienke Wasmus (Ned) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
DNF Clara Lundmark (Swe) GT Krush Tunap Pro Cycling
DNF Minke Bakker (Ned) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
DNF Olha Kulynych (Ukr) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
DNF Amber Aernouts (Bel) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
DNF Noa Jaansen (Ned) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
DNF Barbara Sniezynska (Pol) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
DNF Bryony van Velzen (Ned) Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus Continental Team
DNF Rozemarijn Ammerlaan (Ned) NXTG Racing
DNF Julia Borgström (Swe) NXTG Racing
DNF Ilse Pluimers (Ned) NXTG Racing
DNF Catalina Anais Soto Campos (Chi) NXTG Racing
DNF Marijke De Smedt (Bel) Multum Accountants Ladies Cycling Team
DNF Megan Panton (GBr) Multum Accountants Ladies Cycling Team
DNF Ann-Sophie Duyck (Bel) Multum Accountants Ladies Cycling Team
DNF Rosalie van der Wolf (Ned) Multum Accountants Ladies Cycling Team
DNF Céline van Houtum (Ned) Multum Accountants Ladies Cycling Team
DNF Kylie Waterreus (Ned) Multum Accountants Ladies Cycling Team
DNF Jessica Finney (GBr) CAMS-Tifosi
DNF Jennifer Powell (GBr) CAMS-Tifosi
DNF Katie Scott (GBr) CAMS-Tifosi
DNF Hayley Simmonds (GBr) CAMS-Tifosi
DNF Jo Tindley (GBr) CAMS-Tifosi
DNF Emma Edwards (USA) CAMS-Tifosi
DNF Demi De Jong (Ned) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire
DNF Justine Ghekiere (Bel) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire
DNF Natalie van Gogh (Ned) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire
DNF Rozanne Slik (Ned) Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire
DNF Laura Asencio (Fra) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
DNF Julie Leth (Den) Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team
DNF Nina Kessler (Ned) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
DNF Emily Newsom (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
DNF Eri Yonamine (Jpn) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
DNF Alice Maria Arzuffi (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
DNF Silvia Pollicini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service
DNF Maria Vittoria Sperotto (Ita) A.R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling Team
DNF Stella Nightingale (NZl) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
DNF Georgia Danford (NZl) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
DNF Rylee McMullen (NZl) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
DNF Lisa Müllenberg (Ned) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
DNF Carolin Schiff (Ger) Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
DNF Hannah Buch (Ger) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
DNF Olga Zabelinskaya (Uzb) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
DNF Iuliia Galimullina (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
DNF Aigul Gareeva (Rus) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
DNF Petra Stiasny (Swi) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team
DNF Thalea Mäder (Ger) Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling Team