An endless carousel of slides through a very uncomfortable route of 218 kilometers solved with the
photo finish
.
The cycling VAR decided that the Belgian
Wout Van Aert
won the Amstel Gold Race by the millimeter against the British
Thomas Pidcock.
Tremendous end for the revenge of the versatile Jumbo runner, who this week had been beaten by the Ineos kid.
A precious classic for the show off of two champions trained in the mud of cyclocross.
Two colossi were challenged by the presence of the German
Max Schachmann
in an anthological arrival, with a platoon stalking the trio that escaped in the final plot of a new circuit of the classic beer. In a long sprint, the Belgian took the lead, pressing his head into the handlebars, with the Briton in his wake. With 50 meters to go, Pidcock
opened on the right
and equaled the Jumbo leader, who arrived at the finish line exhausted. In a final push, the Ineos sprinter caught up with his adversary and both ended up crossing evenly, side by side. Resolution impossible for the human eye. Only state-of-the-art technology was able to determine that Van Aert was the winner of the Limburg race.
Van Aert and Pidcock were the heroes of a test in which the platoon, broken into pieces, wound its way through the Valkenburg hills. An endless series of ascents and descents (38 heights) in a journey of 218 kilometers. This Sunday's edition was a strange test due to the restrictions caused by the Covid, since the usual route was replaced by a route through the interior of
Valkenburg
, with 3,000 kilometers of unevenness. The test took place on a 16.9 kilometer circuit that they did 12 laps and which consisted of three climbs: Geulhemmerberg (one kilometer at 5%), Bemelerberg (900 meters at 4.5%) and Cauberg (800 meters at 6%). ,5%).
The race began to break down with two laps to go, when
Roglic
poked his head in and everyone
freaked
out. Belgian
Mauri Vansevenant
challenged the group of the best, with
Valverde
,
Alaphlippe
on the
lookout
. On the last climb to the Cauberg, 17 from the finish line, Roglic suffered a mechanical breakdown and all the wolves jumped on the prowl. After several attacks, Van Aert, Pidcock and Schachmann left the group to sign one of the most splendid finishes in the history of the Dutch classic. Great finishing touch for the first date with the
triptych of the Ardennes
(the Walloon Arrow is disputed on Tuesday and the Liege-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday).
The Amstel Gold Race, the race born 55 years ago, has always been hostile to the interests of Spanish cyclists: no one has been able to conquer it, a deficit shared by Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.
Valverde (second in 2013 and 2015) and
Purito Rodríguez
(second in 2011) are the only ones who came close to victory.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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