And Just Like That … ’T Was Opnieuw Koers
“’T was opnieuw koers” “The race was on again”
Last week, I lamented how the two most dominant riders sucked the excitement of the race. I was wrong. The final 40km of the Amstel Gold race was anything but boring.
- Attack Julian Alaphilippe, followed by Pogacar.
- Pogacar dropped Alaphilippe and sets up for a solo last 40 kilometers. It seemed like another boring ending. … but …
- Van Wilder pulls a large second group and keeps them within 30 seconds of Pogacar.
- Counter attack Mattias Skjelmose.
- Counter attack Remco Evenepoel, who picks up Skjelmose, and together they go after Pogacar. 23 seconds. 15 seconds. 24 seconds. 10 seconds.
- Final climb of the Cauberg with 3 strong riders.
- A sprint for the win between Pogacar, Evenepoel, and Skjelmose. Skjelmose wins!
Final conclusions:
- Pogacar is not invincible. He’ll start to think twice before taking of for a long solo. He also is need for some important rest, even though Liege-Bastogne-Liege is around the corner.
- Remco returned to racing with a vengeance. He is strong. He won the Brabantse Pijl. He could have won today, had he not crashed earlier in the race.
- Van Aert rode a great race and had a strong sprint finish for the 4th place.
De koers is back, signed Mattias and Remco.