2018 Amstel Gold Race (World Tour), Sunday, April 15 (original) (raw)
53rd edition: Sunday, April 15, 2018
Amstel Gold Race podium history | 2017 edition | 2019 edition | Course map | Race photos | Pre-race photos | Route notes | Start list
Maastricht - Valkenberg, 263 km, The Netherlands
Michael Valgren wins the Amstel Gold race ahead of Roman Kreuziger & Enrico Gasparotto. Sirotti photo
Weather at Maastricht at 2:50 PM, local time: 18C (65F), Partly cloudy with the wind from the SSW at 16 km/hr (10 MPH). No rain is forecast.
The race: Here's the report from second-place Roman Kreuziger's Mitchelton-Scott team.
2013 Amstel Gold Race winner Roman Kreuziger came close to taking a second victory today in the 53rd edition of the lengthy 262kilometre Ardennes classic, after breaking away from a lead group of favourites in the final three kilometres.
In the end it came down to a head-to-head sprint after six and a half hours of racing, with Michael Valgren (Astana) pushing ahead in the closing moment to claim the 2018 victory with Kreuziger taking second for Mitchelton-SCOTT.
Nine make the breakaway
With warm, welcoming conditions at the start line in Maastricht, the scene was set for a long day out in the saddle. In the opening kilometres a group of nine riders formed the day’s breakaway and with distance on their side, the peloton allowed the escapees to gain a maximum advantage of 15minutes and 30seconds after 55kilometres was completed.
Team Movistar and Quickstep-Floors did the initial chasing at the head of the peloton as the riders slowly ticked off each of the 35climbs one-by-one, and the breakaway’s advantage began to gradually decrease.
Kreuziger shows he means business
With 30kilometres to go the breakaway reduced in size and their advantage hovered just one minute ahead. The pace began to increase and Kreuiziger lifted the tempo on one of the final few climbs as the peloton drastically shrunk in size.
A flurry of attacks came on the Keutenberg and Kreuziger made a strong move with Enrico Gasparotto (Bahrain Merida) following his tracks.
The final decisive move
The final time up the Cauberg climb, Kreuziger and Garparotto worked together to successfully stay away and make it across to the remaining breakaway riders, but as they passed the finish line, the chasing group of favourites was in hot pursuit.
Finally, the bridge was made with 13kilometres to go and the front of the race swelled to nine, with race favourites such as Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Julian Alaphilippe (Quickstep-Floors), Jakob Fugslang (Astana) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) present.
Kreuziger waited patiently as the tension rose and after a strong attack by Valgren in the last three kilometres, Kreuziger was the only rider to react. The pair remained ahead with the 31-year-old taking a well fought second place for Mitchelton-SCOTT to kick off their Ardennes campaign.
Roman Kreuziger - Second place
“It was a long final 40kilometres and I spent some extra energy off the front with Enrico Gasparotto and maybe Michael Valgren had something more in the final, but our goal was to be on the podium and we achieved that.
“It’s a pity to lose, because it’s a big classic and I would like to win again after five years since the last time. We knew the guys behind were closing pretty quick and there were some fast guys in there, but chapeau to Michael he showed his class today.
“If I arrived to the sprint with Sagan or Alaphilippe I would be fifth or sixth and that was not our goal we wanted to show our jersey and do our race and I think we did in the best way that we could . I am happy with second place, of course I wanted to win the race again but if you think about it how normally I can sprint then it is a big victory today.
“I had really good information from the team car, so I knew what the gap was and didn’t look over my shoulder until we had crossed the line. This race was one of my goals for the season and it is really good to start the Ardennes Classics week with a podium.”
Matt White - Sport director
“It has always been a happy hunting group for us here at this race, with this being our fifth podium finish in seven years, so it is our most consistent classics race.”
“Roman has won this race before on this same course, so he is no stranger to this sort of final and he showed today he was one of the strongest guys, forcing the move in a crucial section and having the legs to go again when the other guys got across to him, it shows he is in great shape.”
Complete Results:
263 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.438 km/hr
| 1 | VALGREN Michael | Astana | 6hr 40min 7sec |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | KREUZIGER Roman | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 3 | GASPAROTTO Enrico | Bahrain-Merida | @ 2sec |
| 4 | SAGAN Peter | Bora-hansgrohe | 0:19 |
| 5 | VALVERDE Alejandro | Movistar | s.t. |
| 6 | WELLENS Tim | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 7 | ALAPHILIPPE Julian | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
| 8 | FUGLSANG Jakob | Astana | 0:23 |
| 9 | CRADDOCK Lawson | EF Education First-Drapac | 0:30 |
| 10 | VANENDERT Jelle | Lotto-Soudal | 0:36 |
| 11 | IMPEY Daryl | Mitchelton-Scott | 0:53 |
| 12 | VAN HECKE Preben | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 13 | GILBERT Philippe | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
| 14 | VAN AVERMAET Greg | BMC | s.t. |
| 15 | MOLARD Rudy | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 16 | DE TIER Floris | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 17 | BONO Matteo | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 18 | HENAO Sergio Luis | Sky | s.t. |
| 19 | IZAGIRRE Ion | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 20 | WOODS Michael | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 21 | RIESEBEEK Oscar | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | 0:56 |
| 22 | IZAGIRRE Gorka | Bahrain-Merida | 1:19 |
| 23 | GRMAY Tsgabu | Trek-Segafredo | 1:51 |
| 24 | MATTHEWS Michael | Team Sunweb | 2:11 |
| 25 | TEUNS Dylan | BMC | s.t. |
| 26 | PAUWELS Serge | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 27 | COSTA Rui | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 28 | GESINK Robert | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 29 | VUILLERMOZ Alexis | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 30 | PACHER Quentin | Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 31 | KWIATKOWSKI Michal | Sky | s.t. |
| 32 | NIBALI Vincenzo | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 33 | JUNGELS Bob | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
| 34 | DE MARCHI Alessandro | BMC | s.t. |
| 35 | MOLLEMA Bauke | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
| 36 | LANDA Mikel | Movistar | s.t. |
| 37 | KUZNETSOV Viacheslav | Katusha-Alpecin | 3:15 |
| 38 | BAUGNIES Jerome | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | 3:26 |
| 39 | SBARAGLI Kristian | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 40 | SKUJIŅŠ Toms | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
| 41 | LIGTHART Pim | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 42 | ROUX Anthony | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 43 | DEVRIENDT Tom | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 44 | FRAILE Omar | Astana | s.t. |
| 45 | LINDEMAN Bert-Jan | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 46 | VAN GESTEL Dries | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 47 | PASQUALON Andrea | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 48 | COSNEFROY Benoit | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 49 | BURGHARDT Marcus | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 50 | ULISSI Diego | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 51 | SPRENGERS Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 52 | BOIVIN Guillaume | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 53 | DOMONT Axel | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 54 | DILLIER Silvan | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 55 | GUERREIRO Ruben | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
| 56 | PONZI Simone | Nippo-Vini Fantini | s.t. |
| 57 | CANOLA Marco | Nippo-Vini Fantini | s.t. |
| 58 | WARBASSE Larry | Aqua Blue Sport | s.t. |
| 59 | MORI Manuele | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 60 | SMITH Dion | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 61 | KING Benjamin | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 62 | BOLE Grega | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 63 | MADOUAS Valentin | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 64 | LAMMERTINK Maurits | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 65 | HOWES Alex | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 66 | BAKELANTS Jan | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 67 | ROJAS José Joaquín | Movistar | s.t. |
| 68 | GRIVKO Andrei | Astana | s.t. |
| 69 | GASTAUER Ben | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 70 | KONRAD Patrick | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 71 | MINNAARD Marco | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 72 | JUUL-JENSEN Christopher | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 73 | COLBRELLI Sonny | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 74 | JENSEN August | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 75 | SLAGTER Tom-Jelte | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 76 | URAN Rigoberto | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 77 | SERRY Pieter | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
| 78 | GERRANS Simon | BMC | s.t. |
| 79 | RIABUSHENKO Alexandr | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 80 | GOLAS Michal | Sky | s.t. |
| 81 | DUNBAR Edward | Aqua Blue Sport | s.t. |
| 82 | MARCZYNSKI Tomasz | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 83 | VAUGRENARD Benoit | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 84 | VERONA Carlos | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 85 | WEENING Pieter | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 86 | MARTENS Paul | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 87 | GESCHKE Simon | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
| 88 | BETANCUR Carlos | Movistar | s.t. |
| 89 | ANACONA Winner | Movistar | s.t. |
| 90 | VANMARCKE Sep | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
| 91 | MÜHLBERGER Gregor | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 92 | NAESEN Oliver | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 93 | TEN DAM Laurens | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
| 94 | TANKINK Bram | LottoNL-Jumbo | 3:35 |
| 95 | CARUSO Damiano | BMC | 4:50 |
| 96 | DAVIES Scott | Dimension Data | s.t. |
2018 Amstel Gold Race map:
Race day photos by Fororeporter Sirotti:
Team BMC is presented during the starting ceremonies.
Alejandro Valverde waits for the race to start.
The obligatory Amstel Gold Race windmill photo.
Eddie Dunbar & Tsgabu Grmay on the Keutenberg
Simon Geschke on the Keutenberg ascent.
Carlos Betancur
Michael Woods on the Gulperberg
Bram Tankink
On the Loorberg
Michael Valgren wins 2018 Amtel Gold Race.
Enrico Gasparotto finishes third.
Peter Sagan was fourth, ahead of Alejandro Valverde (obscured) and Tim Wellens.
Michael Valgren just after the race.
The podium, from left: Roman Kreuziger (2nd), Michael Valgren & Enrico Gasparotto (3rd)
Pre-race photos (April 14, 2018) by Fotoreporter Sirotti:
Sirotti caught lots of riders out training on the course.
Mitchelton-Scott along with several regular riders ascend the Cauberg.
Team Quick-Step is led up the Cauberg by Bob Jungels.
Marcus Burghardt and Peter Sagan and Bora-hansgrohe teammates.
Israel Cycling Academy
EF Education First-Drapac
An Astana rider seems to have spotted our photographer.
Lotto-Soudal, and others....
Greg van Avermaet and a teammate, perhaps
The route: The organizer had this to say about the 2018 route.
The organization of the Amstel Gold Race has decided to make another change in the route of the Amstel Gold Race this year again. After the start on the ‘Markt’ in Maastricht, the riders will ride three big laps through the Southern Limburg hills, just like the last year, including three climbs of the Cauberg and three passages of the finishline in Vilt-Valkenburg. Just like in 2017, when the organisation changed the route, this year only the climbs of the Geulhemmerberg and the Bemelerberg are including in the final lap. So the Cauberg will be avoided in the last kilometers again
In the final lap of 16 kilometers, course director Leo van Vliet makes a change in 2018. “With this change in the final of the Amstel Gold Race we search for more narrow roads to make it harder to control the race for the bunch”; according to Van Vliet. After the climb of the Geulhemmerberg the bunch will not longer descend on the wide road of the Rasberg towards Maastricht, but the descend of the Kuitenbergweg that is parallel to the Rasberg towards the district Amby (Maastricht). Once the riders are down the descend, the riders will ride via the Molenweg and the Peutgensweg to cross the Rasberg towards Bemelen. After the climb of the Bemelerberg the riders will not cycle straight on, passing the famous windmill of Wolfshuis, but take a left turn in the village Gasthuis towards Terblijt. In Terblijt the route continues via the Rijnsbergerweg to end up at the Sibberweg again for the last kilometre.
“In 2017 we saw that a simple change in the route led to a more attractive race. With this new change the contenders for the victory have to find a good position before they enter the final or already left the bunch for an attack”, says Leo van Vliet.
The Amstel Gold Race starts on Sunday, April 15th at 10:30 am at the ‘Markt’ in Maastricht and finishes around 17:00 hrs. in Vilt-Valkenburg. This year’s Amstel Gold Race covers 260 km and contains 35 climbs.
Start list with back numbers, April 14, 2018:
| | QUICK-STEP FLOORS | | | ------------------------------- | -------------------------- | | DS: Wilfried Peeters | | | 1 | GILBERT Philippe | | 2 | ALAPHILIPPE Julian | | 3 | JUNGELS Bob | | 4 | TERPSTRA Niki | | 5 | SERRY Pieter | | 6 | MAS NICOLAU Enric | | 7 | MARTINELLI Davide | | MITCHELTON-SCOTT | | | DS: Laurenzo Lapage | | | 11 | ALBASINI Michael | | 12 | DURBRIDGE Luke | | 13 | HEPBURN Michael | | 14 | IMPEY Daryl | | 15 | JUUL JENSEN Christopher | | 16 | KREUZIGER Roman | | 17 | VERONA Carlos | | SKY | | | DS: Servais Knaven | | | 21 | KWIATKOWSKI Michal | | 22 | POELS Wouter | | 23 | GEOGHEGAN HART Tao | | 24 | HENAO Sergio | | 25 | KIRYIENKA Vasil | | 26 | GOLAS Michal | | 27 | WISNIOWSKI Lukasz | | MOVISTAR | | | DS: Jose Luis Arrieta | | | 31 | VALVERDE Alejandro | | 32 | ANACONA Winner Anrew | | 33 | BETANCUR Carlos Alberto | | 34 | AMADOR Andrey | | 35 | ROJAS Jose Joaquin | | 36 | ERVITI Imanol | | 37 | LANDA Mikel | | TEAM SUNWEB | | | DS: Arthur Van Dongen | | | 41 | MATTHEWS Michael | | 42 | THEUNS Edward | | 43 | FROHLINGER Johannes | | 44 | GESCHKE Simon | | 45 | TEUNISSEN Mike | | 46 | TEN DAM Laurens | | 47 | KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren | | LOTTO-SOUDAL | | | DS: Mario Aerts | | | 51 | WELLENS Tim | | 52 | BENOOT Tiesj | | 53 | SIEBERG Marcel | | 54 | MARCZYNSKI Tomasz | | 55 | VAN DER SANDE Tosh | | 56 | VANENDERT Jelle | | 57 | MAES Nikolas | | BMC | | | DS: Valerio Piva | | | 61 | VAN AVERMAET Greg | | 62 | SCHÄR Michael | | 63 | CARUSO Damiano | | 64 | GERRANS Simon | | 65 | TEUNS Dylan | | 66 | BETTIOL Alberto | | 67 | DE MARCHI Alessandro | | LOTTO NL-JUMBO | | | DS: Frans Maassen | | | 71 | DE TIER Floris | | 72 | GESINK Robert | | 73 | LINDEMAN Bertjan | | 74 | MARTENS Paul | | 75 | VAN POPPEL Danny | | 76 | TANKINK Bram | | 77 | WYNANTS Maarten | | BORA-HANSGROHE | | | DS: Enrico Poitschke | | | 81 | SAGAN Peter | | 82 | BURGHARDT Marcus | | 83 | ACKERMANN Pascal | | 84 | KONRAD Patrick | | 85 | MCCARTHY Jay | | 86 | MUHLBERGER Gregor | | 87 | BENEDETTI Cesare | | TREK-SEGAFREDO | | | DS: Kim Andersen | | | 91 | MOLLEMA Bauke | | 92 | DE KORT Koen | | 93 | STUYVEN Jasper | | 94 | GUERREIRO Ruben | | 95 | GOGL Michael | | 96 | GRMAY Tsgabu | | 97 | SKUJINS Toms | | ASTANA | | | DS: Bruno Cenghialta | | | 101 | CATALDO Dario | | 102 | DE VREESE Laurens | | 103 | FRAILE Omar | | 104 | FUGLSANG Jakob | | 105 | GATTO Oscar | | 106 | GRIVKO Andriy | | 107 | VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael | | KATUSHA-ALPECIN | | | DS: Guennadi Mikhailov | | | 111 | LAMMERTINK Maurits | | 112 | HAAS Nathan | | 113 | KUZNETSOV Vyacheslav | | 114 | CRAS Steff | | 115 | PLANCKAERT Baptiste | | 116 | BIERMANS Jenthe | | 117 | SMIT Willie | | AG2R LA MONDIALE | | | DS: Julien Jurdie | | | 121 | BAKELANTS Jan | | 122 | DOMONT Axel | | 123 | GASTAUER Ben | | 124 | NAESEN Oliver | | 125 | VUILLERMOZ Alexis | | 126 | COSNEFROY Benoit | | 127 | DILLIER Silvan | | GROUPAMA-FDJ | | | DS: Martial Gayant | | | 131 | SINKELDAM Ramon | | 132 | MADOUAS Valentin | | 133 | MOLARD Rudy | | 134 | ROUX Anthony | | 135 | SEIGLE Romain | | 136 | VAUGRENARD Benoît | | 137 | CIMOLAI Davide | | UAE-TEAM EMIRATES | | | DS: Jose Fernandez | | | 141 | FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto | | 142 | BONO Matteo | | 143 | MARTIN Daniel | | 144 | MORI Manuele | | 145 | RIABUSHENKO Aliaksandr | | 146 | SUTHERLAND Rory | | 147 | ULISSI Diego | | EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC | | | DS: Juan Manuel Garate | | | 151 | VANMARCKE Sep | | 152 | CRADDOCK Lawson | | 153 | WOODS Michael | | 154 | HOWES Alex | | 155 | BRESCHEL Matti | | 156 | OWEN Logan | | 157 | URAN Rigoberto | | DIMENSION DATA | | | DS: Jean-Pierre Heynderickx | | | 161 | SLAGTER Tom Jelte | | 162 | DAVIES Scott | | 163 | GEBREIGZABHIER Amanuel | | 164 | VAN ZYL Johann | | 165 | KING Benjamin | | 166 | PAUWELS Serge | | 167 | VENTER Jacobus | | BAHRAIN-MERIDA | | | DS: Tristan Hoffman | | | 171 | NIBALI Vincenzo | | 172 | BOLE Grega | | 173 | COLBRELLI Sonny | | 174 | IZAGUIRRE Gorka | | 175 | IZAGUIRRE Jon | | 176 | GASPAROTTO Enrico | | 177 | PELLIZOTTI Franco | | ROOMPOT-NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ | | | DS: Michael Boogerd | | | 181 | WEENING Pieter | | 182 | REINDERS Elmar | | 183 | LIGTHART Pim | | 184 | MEIJERS Jeroen | | 185 | RIESEBEEK Oscar | | 186 | GERTS Floris | | 187 | VAN DER LIJKE Nick | | ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY | | | DS: Kjell Carolstrom | | | 191 | GOLDSTEIN Roy | | 192 | JENSEN August | | 193 | NEILANDS Krists | | 194 | BOIVIN Guillaume | | 195 | SBARAGLI Kristian | | 196 | PERRY Benjamin | | 197 | WILLIAMS Tyler | | AQUA BLUE SPORT | | | DS: Robert Decnodder | | | 201 | CHRISTIAN Mark | | 202 | GATE Aaron | | 203 | DUNBAR Eddie | | 204 | HANSEN Lasse Norman | | 205 | WATSON Calvin | | 206 | PEDERSEN Casper Phillip | | 207 | WARBASSE Larry | | SPORT VLAANDEREN-BALOISE | | | DS: Hans De Clercq | | | 211 | PLANCKAERT Edward | | 212 | VERWILST Aaron | | 213 | DELTOMBE Kevin | | 214 | SPRENGERS Thomas | | 215 | VAN GESTEL Dries | | 216 | VAN HECKE Preben | | 217 | WARLOP Jordi | | WANTY–GROUPE GOBERT | | | DS: Hilaire Van der Schueren | | | 221 | BAUGNIES Jérôme | | 222 | MINNAARD Marco | | 223 | DEVRIENDT Tom | | 224 | PASQUALON Andrea | | 225 | SMITH Dion | | 226 | ANTONINI Simone | | 227 | MCNALLY Mark | | VITAL CONCEPT | | | DS: Gilles Pauchard | | | 231 | COQUARD Bryan | | 232 | BAGOT Yohan | | 233 | TURGIS Tanguy | | 234 | MOTTIER Justin | | 235 | MÜLLER Patrick | | 236 | PACHER Quentin | | 237 | REZA Kévin | | NIPPO-VINI FANTINI | | | DS: Mario Manzoni | | | 241 | CUNEGO Damiano | | 242 | TIZZA Marco | | 243 | CANOLA Marco | | 244 | GROSU Eduard Michael | | 245 | KOBAYASHI Marino | | 246 | LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose | | 247 | PONZI Simone |