Amstel Gold Race 2026, April 19

[Unchained]

If you are that cooked by the end I don't think you that much margin to attack on the climbs. The other tactical possibility for Skjelmose/Gregoire was to not pull, and maybe be brought back by the group behind, were they both had a teammates, but also many opponents.

A third or forth scenario is that Remco was feeling snappy all day, legs were excellent, each time he took a pull noticed that guy falling on his wheel having slight difficulty keeping it.. Scenario plays out almost the same as with Skjelmose, but in another version, Remco attacks and displays another of his awesome tools, individual time trials to the victory. By Mattias not playing games with Remco, demanding the Belgian do all the work, he gave himself a shot at winning. It was just a few weeks ago that Remco forgot to hold on to handlebars and took a gravel nap, crashed himself.. Good bet from Danish number one wearing rider..

 

[Unchained]

The only part of Mattias's race that was inferior was last @30 meters.. Otherwise guy was golden

 

[red_flanders]

Anyone hear updates on Jorgenson and the other guys in that crash?

 

[gavia88]

And when said rider is all smiles after getting curbstomped in the sprint, it's not hard to understand why things went the way they did. Really poor race tactically by both Lidl and Groupama.

it seems smart tactical racing is dead. Peter Post would be turning in his grave if he knew race smartness these days.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Anyone hear updates on Jorgenson and the other guys in that crash?

Vauquelin and Artz both finished

 

[Unchained]

We must reduce the number of motorcycles in the race and establish rules based on scientific evidence.

• Zero motorcycles for guests, photographers, or radio personnel.
• Strict distance rules for television motorcycles: they must remain at least 15 meters behind or 40 meters in front of the riders at all times."
• Drones, static cameras and strict rules for motorcycles will be a solution.

Scientific wind tunnel tests show that:

• Following a motor: A rider positioned 2.5 meters behind a motorcycle experiences a 48% reduction in air resistance. Even at 30, 40 or 50 meters, there is still a measurable advantage. This means winning seconds per minute.
• Leading a motor: a motorcycle driving closely behind a rider can push them forward by reducing the low-pressure zone behind the cyclist, cutting drag by up to 9%.

This is exactly what will not happen, bike racing is well, far,far behind the technical curve of other sports.
Watch any major sport and you are served up a video playback, real time smorgasbord of camera angles and playback with computer analysis. Cycling fans want ( demand) better coverage not less. There are dozens of possibilities including bike mounted, rider mounted, helmet mounted cameras, drones to satisfy consumer demand for more not less coverage. Because cycling has it's reasons for not adopting or super, super snail pace adaptation to available technology, motorcycles are what they know and they are sticking with tried and true option for now. I don't know the setup strategy for smaller races but for a race like Amstel..it looked like organizer has a camera moto for scenarios of @6-7 different groups, plus helicopter shots. If you are watching TV and social media bicycle racing coverage has improved @1000% in 5 years and access, ability to watch bike racing is ever evolving. They are not perfect that's obvious but coverage is getting better, good with bad, part of the reason bike racing broadcasts are better are from motorcycle provided video..

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Quite a condemnation of group 2 that having left Cosnefroy to do all the work for so long that none of them could outsprint him for third.

 

[YavorD]

I have a very serious question, did Evenepoel drank his beer?

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

I had high expectations for a cyclist like Roger Adria after his last two years at BORA, and his season is proving to be truly disappointing.

 

[Sciatic]

I have a very serious question, did Evenepoel drank his beer?

Don't think so, not even a fake sip. Cosnefroy put him to shame -- Remco even had a slight smile (smirk?) watching his podium-mate chug it down

 

[YavorD]

Don't think so, not even a fake sip. Cosnefroy put him to shame -- Remco even had a slight smile (smirk?) watching his podium-mate chug it down

Shame. I expected something better.

 

[jmdirt]

a

 

[AlpRaid]

Not sure why anyone would compare with last year. Hindsight tells us Remco was already on a downward spiral from racing too much too soon. FW was then bad. And then LBL was a disaster. Very different build up this year.

I think he wants to race FW. He even said it would depend how much energy he had to spend today. I have never seen him check his power as much as today. I think he wanted to win without going into the red like a solo would have been. Thus he held for the sprint.

A theory anyway.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Nice sprint victory for Remco.
That's second time in a row (after Roubaix) i thought it was gonna be closer in the sprint.

 

[canina82]

Not sure why anyone would compare with last year. Hindsight tells us Remco was already on a downward spiral from racing too much too soon. FW was then bad. And then LBL was a disaster. Very different build up this year.

I think he wants to race FW. He even said it would depend how much energy he had to spend today. I have never seen him check his power as much as today. I think he wanted to win without going into the red like a solo would have been. Thus he held for the sprint.

A theory anyway.

It makes sense. It's very hard for me to believe he couldn't drop Skeljmose.

 

[Unchained]

Skjelmose didn't lose today from doing 20% of the pulls in the lead group.

He lost by less than a deep swimming pool length to the Olympic road race and TT gold medalist, He was beaten by a few meters by TDF stage winner, former World Champion, ex Belgian national champion, Grand Tour winner.. I hardly think that people throwing shade his way are justified! Guy can hold his head up, getting nipped by Remco at the line is an honor except for a tiny, tiny minority.
As Jono points out, he didn't lose sprint because of 20% over pulling, if that is even a thing. He lost by 3-4 calories he didn't have!!!!

 

[bah]

Not sure why anyone would compare with last year. Hindsight tells us Remco was already on a downward spiral from racing too much too soon. FW was then bad. And then LBL was a disaster. Very different build up this year.

I think he wants to race FW. He even said it would depend how much energy he had to spend today. I have never seen him check his power as much as today. I think he wanted to win without going into the red like a solo would have been. Thus he held for the sprint.

A theory anyway.

Could well be. He seemed to be riding within himself on the climbs and his sprint was pretty powerful so he was clearly confident about trusting that to win. I guess we can forget a little in this era that every win doesn't need to be a long solo. I think Peter Sagan said recently that he liked to ride smarter to not have to work so hard for every win.

 

[Red Rick]

Could well be. He seemed to be riding within himself on the climbs and his sprint was pretty powerful so he was clearly confident about trusting that to win. I guess we can forget a little in this era that every win doesn't need to be a long solo. I think Peter Sagan said recently that he liked to ride smarter to not have to work so hard for every win.

He was going full gas on the penultimate Cauberg trying to drop everyone.

 

[Unchained]

Remco has to turn in his Belgian card. Ridiculous display.

Lindemans used to sponsor bike racing!

 

[KZD]

Very good race as its often the case in Amstel.

Impressive sprint from Remco to take his first Amstel, I've always thought it was a race that suited him well and after being close last year, he takes the win now. Hopefully he races Flèche too and is strong enough to give Pogačar a fight in Liège.

Even though he didn't won this time, Skjelmose showed once again that this race suits him really well and he should be one of the favourites for Flèche.

Strong third place for Cosnefroy especially after pulling most of the time in G2. Another rider that always shines here. Gregoire also with a good race but just wasn't strong enough to resist Remco's pace.

Huge top5 for Verstrynge, since the cyclocross season that I thought that he would do well in the Ardennes classics but this was above my expectation.

Finally, nice to see Frigo get his gutsy ride rewarded with a top10.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Nice sprint victory for Remco.
That's second time in a row (after Roubaix) i thought it was gonna be closer in the sprint.

Both Pogi and Skjelmose had spaghetti legs.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Any word on jorgenson crash?. I'm no fan of hos racing style but i rather not see anyone crash. Hopefully it won't be anything too bad.

 

[bah]

He was going full gas on the penultimate Cauberg trying to drop everyone.

He went hard, I have no idea whether he was going "full gas"; clearly you are privy to more detailed information than I am.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

He went hard, I have no idea whether he was going "full gas"; clearly you are privy to more detailed information than I am.

Why wouldn't he want to drop the rest and go solo? He went at a hard and steady pace (instead of a short acceleration) hoping to drop Skjelmose but it wasn't enough. Obviously he didn't go as if the finish line was on the top of Cauberg (he needed to continue the effort) but his intention seemed clear: to tire his competition (and drop if possible).

 

[Danskebjerge]

Sometimes they are just behind, most of the time they are further. But as said, till 15m, they give an advantage.
And if there are more than one (I just saw 3 motors just behind the riders) the advantage is bigger.

So take away that advantage and give everyone the same conditions.

I totally agree with you about stricter rules - but if they just ban driving less than 3 seconds ahead of the riders, it will make a big difference. (The rule could be less strict on climbs with big crowds.)

A motorcycle right behind a rider isn't something you see that often, since the footage and the photos you get out of it (and the protection against crazy spectators and the likes) are of limited quality. And if they do it on a TT, it will be more or less even for all.