The Ardennes Classics are upon us and, even if Amstel Gold Race doesn’t technically take place in the Ardennes, it still represents the first instalment of the so-called ‘hilly classics’ of the Spring.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the major prize next Sunday, with La Flèche Wallonne a punchy mid-week offering, but the Amstel Gold Race stands as a historic event, the only one-day Classic in the Netherlands and so a major prize of the Spring swing.
As such, there a host of big names on the start list, none bigger than the Tour of Flanders champion Tadej Pogačar, who starts as the favourite.
There’s no Wout van Aert and no Mathieu van der Poel, both former winners of the Dutch race, but there are still plenty of threats to the two-time Tour de France champion.
Here, we take a look at the major contenders for the title, and also at a few lesser-known names who could have an impact on Sunday.
The top favourites
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)
Tadej Pogačar is such an outstanding favourite for the Amstel Gold Race that all other riders should probably be classed as outsiders.
The two-time Tour de France champion has won 10 times in 16 days of racing so far in 2023, dominating Paris-Nice before bolstering his Classics repertoire with victory on his second appearance at the Tour of Flanders.
That performance in Flanders was one of the standout rides in modern cycling, with two-time winner Mathieu van der Poel producing what was arguably his best Ronde ride but falling way short of the new mark.
It emphasised the point that, this year Tadej Pogačar can seemingly do what he wants, when he wants. At Amstel Gold Race, he’ll find a course more amenable to his climbing strengths, with the Dutch race positioned somewhere in between Flanders and next weekend’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which he won in 2021.
With Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel absent, there’s no realistic challenger that Pogačar would truly fear in a sprint situation, and it may not come to that. The way things have been looking, the 24-year-old can ride away at will.
It has already been a busy and intense first part of the season for Pogačar, who still has the Tour de France as his major season target but he has found the energy and motivation to race all three Ardennes Classics after also doing the cobbles.
His rivals will be hoping that energy and hunger will be waning at this late point in the Spring,…
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