Remco Evenepoel added an Amstel Gold Race to his two Liège-Bastogne-Liège titles as Ardennes Week kicked off with the 60th Amstel Gold Race Sunday in the Limburg region of the Netherlands. Having been defeated by Mattias Skjelmose in 2025, Evenepoel took his revenge, condemning the Dane to the runner-up spot.
Preliminaries
Last year Skjelmose outfoxed Tadej Pogačar and Evenepoel in a sprint to take a big win. Skjelmose was back, as were Evenepoel and 2024 runner up Marc Hirschi.
The Canadian contingent was Hugo Houle, Michael Leonard and Pier-André Côté.
The Course
The 2026 Amstel Gold Race featured 33 climbs along a twisting 257-km route, including three ascents of the Cauberg, the first at the 80-km mark. There was a 63-km finishing circuit and then a 20-km lap, the famed Cauberg returning to the final lap and cresting a kilometre from the line in Berg en Terblijt. At times the route was wet.
A breakaway of nine bounced away and had a 4:10 lead by the eighth climb. The peloton wouldn’t start chipping away at the gap until the route’s second half, where time shifted on the Plettenberg, Eyserweg and Schanternelsweg. Red Bull was prominent at the front.
By Cauberg I the escape still had 1:15. It was here that the nontet finally cracked into pieces. Two fugitives carried on in the lead. Movement on Loorberg created a group containing Evenepoel, Matteo Jorgenson, Skjelmose and a few others. Almost immediately, Kévin Vauquelin crashed in a corner, taking down Jorgenson. Evenepoel, Skjelmose and Romain Grégoire carried on, catching the last remaining breakaway chap with 36 km to go.
Behind, an 11-rider chase containing Jon Izagirre and Pello Bilbao tried to get organized. When Cauberg II kicked up, Evenepoel’s acceleration dislodged Grégoire. With the bell ringing and 20 km remaining, Grégoire hadn’t given up and the closest pursuit group was still 37 seconds in arrears.
Geulhemmerberg and Bemelerberg did nothing for the chase but put it farther behind. It wouldn’t come down to Cauberg III; instead, a two-up sprint would determine the 60th edition. The Dane led out and the Belgian put it to bed by eight bike lengths.
The 90th La Flèche Wallonne is on Wednesday.
60th Amstel Gold Race
1) Remco Evenepoel (Belgium/Red Bull) 5:59:40
2) Mattias Skjelmose…
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