The Ardennes are here! And the first one is the Amstel Gold Race. Today we have in the menu 252 km of pure Ardennes racing, starting in Maastricht and ending in Valkenburg after count-less hills in the road
Last season, two of the main 4 hilly classics in PT were won by breakaway riders, and the teams of the favourites remember this. This has made that only after 80 km of racing finally a group was allowed to breakaway
Still 120 km to go, although we have already raced more than half of the total kms. The seven riders in the front have 7 minutes over the bunch, led by Strava, Moser, Gazelle and Hugo Boss; the favourites today
70 km left and the breakaway is climbing Cauberg by the second time today. There’s only one pass left, the one in the finish, but this is likely the last time all these riders are climbing it in the head of the race, as their advantage as been reduced to only 4 minutes.
Meanwhile, in the bunch there was a little crash, involving only Andriafenomananiaina, but the Madagascan rider is ok
50 km left, a 2-minute gap. The breakaway stand no chance now, but surely they’ll fight until the very end. And it’s good to remind that Spilak has a team-mate in the breakaway, something that has made Festina riders not to work at all today.
In the next 10 kms we have three climbs. Hopefully some outsider will give it a go there
Still no attacks, neither in the front or in the bunch, but the race is about to reach Kruisberg. It’s not the hardest climb left at all, but with only 30 km left, and a 1’40 gap to the breakaway, either there will be an insane rhythm or attacks
Said and done! Former winner Trofimov is the first to attack in Kruisberg, with Sagan, Bakelants, De Bie, Flügel and Gastauer following him
But the move didn’t stick, thanks to Siskevicius work, who didn’t let them create a gap to the bunch. But in the breakaway we also have some moves, with Oelerich testing his rivals
Big news!! Two-times reigning winner Simone Ponzi has retired from the race! Without any previous notice, the Italian has withdrawn. It’s true that we actually never saw Ponzi in the first half of the group during the race, but we’ll try to find out what happened to the Italian, as no crash has been reported.
20 km left and the race is on Fromberg. The breakaway still has 1 minute on the bunch, led by several Gazelle riders. The race has got calmer now, and Ponzi’s retirement might have something to do, but i don’t think so
And in the top of Fromberg, both Sagan and Bakelants attack! It might not be the smartest move yet, with over 100 riders left in the bunch, so lots of domestiques left
15 km left, and we are about to start Keutenberg, the final climb before Cauberg today. The six remaining riders in the breakaway (all but Carpenter) are going to be caught by Sagan/Bakelants duo. In the bunch, Zakarin is giving all for his leader, so these two riders can’t get a bigger gap
But all groups are now together in the foot of Keutenberg. 13 km left and 110 riders in the first group. Sagan and Bakelants might have wasted his chance to win today with that move, so now it’s time for riders like Skujins, Spilak, Ginanni or Lutsenko to make their moves
Funnily, both Zakarin and Sagan attack from both sides of the road. Well, Zakarin’s looks more like a counter-attack to Sagan’s, but the timing was identical
Sagan is opening a gap! Koretzky and Bakelants are trying to bridge the gap, but Sagan is going way quicker than them at the moment. The Slovak looks to be the strongest today, and wants to win from “long” range.
23 seconds is the gap in the top of Keutenberg for Sagan. In the bunch Koretzky, Zakarin and Formolo keep working for their leaders, but it’s useless right now. This was a move for the favourites to cover, not the domestiques.
Sagan now has 8 km, all of them in descent or favorable, never fall or uphill, before starting Cauberg
Only 3 km left to start Cauberg for Sagan, and the gap keeps rising. 32 seconds to a 25-rider group where all the pre-race favourites are present
Sagan is starting now Cauberg. 3,7 km left in the race and he has a 40-second gap. What a performance by the Slovak if he can finish this off
Trofimov goes from the base of the Cauberg. It’s his only option to win the race. No one seems to be able to join his move, although some of the favourites aren’t exactly perfectly placed
Sagan is struggling now! Only half-way through the Cauberg, and his advantage has decreased to only 15 seconds
Skujins is having troubles to follow Trofimov, so Gastauer and Bakelants are trying to overtake him to not lose Trofimov’s wheels. Spilak is a few seconds behind that group, but he has a big gap to the bunch, where Puma is working for Kelderman
Sagan is finally caught by Trofimov with 2 km left. Now we have a five-men group in the front, with Bakelants, Gastauer and Skujins in it also, although the two latters are struggling a lot now. Behind them, Spilak has 20 seconds to gain to reach the top5, and he has another 20 seconds to have his 6th place save
Under the Flamme Rouge! Skujins is definitely dropped, while Trofimov seems to be leading-out Bakelants and Sagan. In the back-ground, Flugel is coming really quick to threaten Spilak or even Skujins
700 metres to go, and all 4 have started their sprints. Trofimov in the center, Bakelants in the right and Sagan in the left. And the Slovak is way quicker than his rivals...
300 metres left and Sagan is already first. Bakelants and Gastauer has no chance to win and will fight for third
I can’t believe it! Sagan has exploded with 150 metres to go! Golden chance for Trofimov to win this now
Lutsenko has the edge on the fight for seventh place now, with Borges close to him, but what people wants to see is the fight for the win. So, who is the winner of the race?
Peter Sagan wins Amstel Gold Race! It’s obviously the biggest win of his career, but the way he’s done it... Wow! Chapeau to the Slovak!
Trofimov takes the second place. Despite missing out on the win, it’s a really great performance for the Russian. His mistake was to let Sagan go in Keutenberg instead of going with him.
And Bakelants rounds up the podium, beating Gastauer in the line. Bakelants might have hoped for more, but this wasn’t clearly his day, while Gastauer must be really happy with his place
Skujins takes fifth ahead of Spilak. Both riders got what they could expect in this field
Lutsenko finish seventh, beating Borges in the sprint for that place
Felline beats Flugel for the two last top10 places, with Bobridge and Ginanni just missing out on a top10 finish
We got confirmation from some images not shown in the “Live” that Ponzi just pulled off the race, without crashing. We’ve talked to Hugo Boss’ manager and he has told us that the Italian was feeling bad and wanted to vomit, so he was forced to retire from the race
Another win in a hilly classic for Sagan this season. Despite not being in paper one of the top puncheurs yet, he has won all hilly classic this season in PT (Badaling and Grand-Duche)
