After winning E3 Saxo Classic, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, Mathieu van der Poel he aspired to an extraordinary poker of successes with the Amstel Gold Race, a race already won by the World Champion with a crazy comeback in 2019. This time, however, it is not the same VDP, perhaps even a little tired after his recent exploits. L’Alpecin Deceuninck he does his best to keep the advantage of the fugitives from worrying but, when it comes down to it, the Dutchman doesn’t respond presently. He only shows up on the accelerations of Kwiatkowski and Carapaz, not real attacks, but he can do nothing on the action of Benoot and Pidcock who move even before the Keutenberg. We weren’t even on the wall when van der Poel broke away, with the Alpecin standard-bearer then breaking away definitively on that very bump. After several movements, a quartet is formed consisting of Pidcock, Benoot, Hirschi And Vansevenant. They are the real protagonists of the day, with Pidcock beating everyone in the sprint despite the final thrill, with the small group behind them who had returned to -400. Finally Pidcock, one might say, lost this race by a matter of millimeters with van Aert in 2021. The Ineos Grenadiers which has been anything but brilliant in this first part of the season. And the Briton doesn’t end here, because he will look for the hat-trick of the Ardennes with Freccia Vallone and Liège, something achieved in history only by Davide Rebellin (2004) and Philippe Gilbert (2011). For Pidcock it is the third Classic won in his career after the Brabant Arrow in 2021 and the White Roads in 2023.
Tags: Van der Poel human breaks Keutenberg Pidcock wins Amstel super sprint Hirschi Benoot
