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46th Amstel Gold Race (The maze) - Sunday April 17, 2011

Mar 8, 2010
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46th Amstel Gold Race
Sunday April 17, 2011
amstel-gold-race.jpg


Start: Maastricht
Finish: Valkenburg (Cauberg)
Starttime: 10:15
Finish: around 16.45

Homepage
http://www.amstelgoldrace.nl/
(Parental Advisory: Beer is bad, even Amstel!)

prov startlist:
http://cyclingstartlists.com/2011/04Apr2011/04AGR2011.htm


Map:
Map-AGR-2011_aangepast160211.jpg


Profile:
profile.gif




Results 2010:
1 Philippe Gilbert (BEL; OmegaPharma - Lotto) 259 km in 6:22:54
2 Ryder Hesjedal (CAN; Garmin-Transitions) + 0:02
3 Enrico Gasparotto (ITA; Astana)
4 Bert de Waele (BEL; Landbouwkrediet) + 0:05
5 Roman Kreuziger (ITA; Liquigas)
6 Damian Cunego (ITA; Lampre)
7 Frank Schleck (LUX; Saxo Bank) + 0:07
8 Marco Marcato (ITA; Vacansoleil) + 0:09
9 Karsten Kroon (NED; BMC Racing) + 0:11
10 Chris Horner (USA; RadioShack)

gilbert_dpa_51.jpg


Some good editions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw3_qLwYpHM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9AoUSzpCpw



My "home" race next to LBL and FW.
So, I likely won't be here - meaning behave, even when I am not here ! ;-)
My favorite is Russian champion Alexander Wiktorowitsch Kolobnew.
Katusha brings a hell of a squad.
 
this is always an amazing race. much better then the sprint up the muur a few days later :p

since i don't want any dutchies or belgians on the podium my prediction is

il principe, kolobnev and frank getting to cauberg alone and spriting btw the 3 of them for the win :eek:
 
May 13, 2009
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The new race.

ETA: So, checking Wikipedia just to remind myself when the first edition was raced (1966), I found that apparently, for the last 30 years, there have been 29 distinct winners. So, that should count against a Gilbert win.
 
Last year, Kroon was captain for BMC (untill he crashed of course). Is it possible that Evans will be a helper this year again for Avermaet or is Evans ready to compete on Cauberg?
 
Favourite Gilbert. After strong showings in northen classics should win.

Challengers:
Kadri. Suprise who might go well with an aggressive atttack/ Elmiger?
Evans. Might be off the peak performance. Shall be racing it for training for F-W
Anton. Great explosive climber.
Degenkolb? if Htc can keep intact and bring him up the climbs
Cunego. Prepared for these races and has won in training for Ardenees.
Rodriguez. Think Kolebnev will have to work for him
One Schleck.
Sagan? FTW in his only viable classic option until Lombardy.
Kiryienka. Great classy rider with experience and attacking instincts. Hope he wins.
VINNNNNNNNNO. Needs no explanation.
Chavanel/Devenyns/ Terpstra. Should try salvage something after Roubaix.
Gesink. Great climber and Rabobank desperate for a win.
Nuyens? better on punchy climbs. Shall also have N. Sorensen? Want to see how Majka can go too.
EBH FTW. Most likely team to challenge Gilbert. Look foward to aggressive racing from them.
Hesjedal or anyone if they put their mind to it.
Want to see Hermans go all the way. A suprise package who seems suited to steep inclines. Have a few options and Chris Horner too.
Devolder and Leukemans= desperate for a win
Taaramae. Hit a rich vein of form. Should have Moncoutie there.
Visconti?
Docker. They have a suprisingly good roster for this race.

Sorry for not saying teams. Should be an interesting race.
 
theyoungest said:
History doesn't agree with you. Only one guy managed to win this race more than once.

History will agree with what i tell it to agree (with).

So to put it another way, its been done before.

Moreover a statement like " Only x number of climbers have won Paris Tours" can be used to assess somebodies chances at a race. Somebodies physical abilities count as a variable.

Something like " Only x ammount of riders who have won Vuelta a Pais Vasco own a dog/ were born with blonde hair/ were named John", not so much.

Saying that only so many riders have been able to repeat it does not take away from Gilberts chances. his chances are the same as they would be had he not won last year. Had the Icelandic volcano prevented him from making it to Holland, or for that matter had said volcano failed to prevent Pitis owner (trying to link my points) from making it his chances would be exactly the same as they are now.

Gilberts victory last year was very dominant. If he comes to this edition significantly weaker and fails to take home the victory, it will not be because of any Amstel curse which discriminates against former winners.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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Winning it twice only having happened once does have a correlation, it means you're marked more and in races like AGR that could be crucial because of how much competition there is for the win compared to other races.
 
Jun 16, 2009
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Damiano said:
Last year, Kroon was captain for BMC (untill he crashed of course). Is it possible that Evans will be a helper this year again for Avermaet or is Evans ready to compete on Cauberg?

He's said he'll be working for the team in Amstel which means for Greg. I have a feeling he will also ride LBL so he will be the leader in that race and obviously FW.
 
Mar 26, 2011
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Gilbert skipped Paris Roubaix, he's going through an epic training montage at the moment, eye of the tiger, etc etc. I bet he's gonna take the win again. Wouldn't be sad if Hesjedal stole it though, woo!
 
Jun 22, 2009
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very difficult race to predict.
Gilbert should win if it comes to an uphill sprint.

Hesj. looked ok in basque. Not a huge fan of him tho.
Cunego has looked good this year.

I am interested in what Poels can do. Tho he probably looked better a few weeks ago.
Gesink has this as a goal, But it will take an epic good ride to win here.
 
Gilbert is the obvious one. Cunego, Di Luca and also someone from BMC. BMC are edging closer to a classics win this year. If Evans is on a good day, you never know. Most think that the Fleche is the target for him again over the next two weeks. Probably the one that suits him best.
 
Jun 9, 2010
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As I said before...

1. Van Avermaet
2. Gilbert
3. Nuyens

BTW... Looks like Il Principe is back to his 2008 form... He must be highly motivated after his win agaisnt 4 Andronis ;)
 

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