If there is a bike race that is allowed to be watched on television with a fresh beer next to it – although alcohol and sports are not recommended – it is the Amstel Gold Race, named after the Dutch beer company. It has sponsored the race since its inception in 1966. great dutch raceWith this test, he wants to claim the slopes are hard climbs, even though he doesn’t have the weight for the legs of runners that require facing a climb in his region, the hills of the Alps or the Pyrenees.
It was always held, as tradition dictates, on the third Sunday of April and served to mark the beginning of the named race trio. Ardennes, although some purists do not find the name very appropriate. It was the first of three before the Walloon Fleche (always on Wednesday) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which closed the division in terms of spring classics. This year, however, Amstel and Paris-Roubaix have swapped roles to break up the Ardennes family unit, putting it between the cobblestones of the Ardennes and grand history. ‘Hell of the North’ French.
Amstel has always been a stick change race. The runners, who tried their luck with the Flanders and Roubaix stones, forgot the Wallonia walls and took a few days off. And it was also the race that the sprinters allowed themselves. hold on to the handlebars and to the saddle, if they wanted to, to show that if the prize was to win a classic, they could climb thirty Dutch climbs, many of which were repeated, with some agility and, if unmarked, proceed on a course. would be a real labyrinth for runners.
Cauberg’s height
this Amstel Gold Race (AGR) is also a test of height. caubergmost famously, who made Philippe Gilbert (also winner of AGR) world champion after Switzerland in 2012 Oscar Camenzind 1998 is the black year of the Tour due to doping. rises three times; the final route of the descent to the finish line and where a race was decided where Alejandro Valverde and Purito Rodríguez were the Spanish riders with the best data in the Dutch event with two second places.
But cyclists don’t get the beer prize until they take the podium to get the trophy that always accompanies the blonde drink. And now, above all, the career of Mathieu van der Poel, who came as a favorite after winning the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, because he was there before the pandemic in 2019 and was crowned champion here. Put yourself before the cycling universe as a runner who serves to win more than the mud, dirt and sand of cyclocross. There is no memory of a wild, exaggerated and gigantic sprint as played by his son. Adrie (Winner of AGR in 1990) and Raymond Poulidor’s grandson start to win the race and be admired by the whole world.
The duel between this Sunday (Teledeporte and Eurosport) will always be sad. Van der Poel and last year’s winner Wout van Aert, as the Belgian champion is still recovering from covid that prevented him from setting a crane for Flanders. And in memory there will always be two victories of Eddy Merckx (1973 and 1975). Bernard Hinault 1981 or Joop ZoetemelkOn his way to retirement in 1987 as the final triumph of a legendary rider in the Dutch cycling history.
This Sunday, he’s been allowed to open a bottle or can of beer once to cheer and applaud the passing of cyclists at a race since 2001. women’s section with the victory Marianne Vos, one of the biggest in the Dutch pedal, last year. The local runners won five times, seven times women’s runners (there were a few years since 2001 when only men competed); no doubt, best of international concert.