Amstel Gold Race 2026, April 19

[Netserk]

At this point the 6th monument is Amstel or SB. GW is not even close tbh.

even the wctt is greater than strade

 

[YavorD]

San Sebastián?

🤣😉

You don't compare San Sebastiàn (San Remco) to muniments.
You compare monuments to San Sebastiàn.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

You don't compare San Sebastiàn (San Remco) to muniments.
You compare monuments to San Sebastiàn.

From the next year the first monument of the season will be called San Remco.

 

[canina82]

even the wctt is greater than strade

Lol, no.

 

[YavorD]

From the next year the first monument of the season will be called San Remco.

But it will be a typo, no?

 

[ChasingPotatoes]

No idea why this topic is about the biggest race after the 5 monuments, but just going by normalized power, GW is pretty huge. It's like the sprinter's classic for those that can survive a decent cobbled climb without going too much over the limit.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

But it will be a typo, no?

No, they will change the town name when Remco wins it for the first time.

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

surprised no healy . thought he looked like he was finding form in itzulia at just the right time

I had the opposite feeling. Healy, and Soler, got into breakaways, but they were more willing than strong. Healy won last year's Itzulia stage with a long solo. In that year's breakaway, he wasn't even remotely close to that level.

 

[gavia88]

I agree, and outside the monuments the races change prestige a lot based on who the riders even are.

When there's a lot of very good hilly classics riders at a similar level (2010s), Amstel 'feels' more prestigious as more of the highly rated riders target it. When there are two hill riders who are way beyond anyone else, if they ride it then it's just another race; if one of them doesn't ride it, it becomes less important; if neither ride it, it becomes a B race. Strade Bianche is about to run into this issue, too.

Gent-Wevelgem feels more prestigious at the moment partly bc it feels like it has more depth as the non-alien contenders are more highly rated.

it makes a big difference that Gent-Wevelgem is on a Sunday nowadays. On Wednesday between RVV and PR the best riders didn't target it. So, a lot of times it was just a (reduced) bunch sprint or B riders fighting for the win. It was still a nice win, because of the history, but nothing targeted by the specialist. After moving to the Sunday it took awhile before getting more prestige again. But now it seems settled on Sunday, they added the steeper side of the Kemmel and plug streets and found the perfect niche between the other cobble races.

 

[Red Rick]

it makes a big difference that Gent-Wevelgem is on a Sunday nowadays. On Wednesday between RVV and PR the best riders didn't target it. So, a lot of times it was just a (reduced) bunch sprint or B riders fighting for the win. It was still a nice win, because of the history, but nothing targeted by the specialist. After moving to the Sunday it took awhile before getting more prestige again. But now it seems settled on Sunday, they added the steeper side of the Kemmel and plug streets and found the perfect niche between the other cobble races.

You literally have Van der Poel taking half assed turns because he's both kinda tired and using it as a glorified training ride. Not to mention that it was literally gifted by Van Aert not too long ago.

 

[Netserk]

You literally have Van der Poel taking half assed turns because he's both kinda tired and using it as a glorified training ride. Not to mention that it was literally gifted by Van Aert not too long ago.

vdp rode in service of his captain , the great philoctetes

just like in sanremo , another minor race

 

[Netserk]

and laporte gifted e3 to van aert a few years ago , is that then a little race

 

[Sciatic]

Apologies for inadvertently starting yet another “6th monument” (or if you prefer, the best non-monument classic) debate. All I was trying to say is that AGR seems to have lost some of its past luster or status. Me personally, I’m a traditionalist with things like this so 5 monuments fits nicely

 

[Netserk]

Apologies for inadvertently starting yet another “6th monument” (or if you prefer, the best non-monument classic) debate. All I was trying to say is that AGR seems to have lost some of its past luster or status. Me personally, I’m a traditionalist with things like this so 5 monuments fits nicely

i think that impression is purely down to pogi keeping it minimal and racing as little as possible before liege

pidcocks injury doesnt help , but pretty much all ardennes riders also target amstel

 

[Sciatic]

i think that impression is purely down to pogi keeping it minimal and racing as little as possible before liege

pidcocks injury doesnt help , but pretty much all ardennes riders also target amstel

That’s true, but I didn’t mean the field, since that always changes, it’s more the overall vibe about the race. Perhaps that is in a small way a result of the Dutch government’s threats to put more restrictions on the race? Or perhaps it just reflects that when I started following this forum the Dutch mafia were in their ascendancy and so there was more talk/anticipation here about AGR

 

[ice&fire]

No idea why this topic is about the biggest race after the 5 monuments, but just going by normalized power, GW is pretty huge. It's like the sprinter's classic for those that can survive a decent cobbled climb without going too much over the limit.

It's the sprinter's classic for those who can't win the sprinter's monument because they can't survive a couple of hills. it doesn't even deserve a Sunday spot in the calendar since it's not the best race of that weekend.

 

[Oldman]

No, they will change the town name when Remco wins it for the first time.

I like the guy from Idaho. Hope he's not underraced.

 

[Sciatic]

I like the guy from Idaho. Hope he's not underraced.

Hard to tell what his form is like since Jorgenson didn’t ride the cobbled classics this year, but in when in top shape this should be a good race for him.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Healy out of the entire Ardennes after a crash, Pid-Crocked, Roglic Awol/Old, Evenepoel probably still too fat, Seixas coming to the end of his form curve, Scaroni mysteriously removed from Amstel, Ayuso sick, Del Toro injured. Extremely asterisked races incoming, could be some total nobodies in the mix!!!

 

[canina82]

Odds for AGR:
Remco - 2.0
Skjelmose - 6.0
Vauquelin- 15.0

How the hell is Remco so high? This is easy money.

 

[Red Rick]

Odds for AGR:
Remco - 2.0
Skjelmose - 6.0
Vauquelin- 15.0

How the hell is Remco so high? This is easy money.

See the post above you.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

The 6th Monument is the WC. As for Strade, it became quite prestigious in a short time and absolutely the best one-day racers of the last two decades won it. Some (like Amstel) can have more prestige due to long history but Strade is among the best non-monuments already (due to the route and very strong line-ups) .

This. I am not a cycling historian, but the way I have always interpreted them from across the pond is:

1. World Championship RR

2. Paris-Roubaix

3. RVV

4. Milan San Remo
5. LBL
6. IL

7. SB
8. AGR
9. FW

10. GW
11. E3

Or something like that. I'm sure you guys will tell me I'm very wrong. I didn't even know one-day racing existing growing up as an American in the Lance era...

 

[canina82]

This. I am not a cycling historian, but the way I have always interpreted them from across the pond is:

1A. World Championship RR
1B. Paris-Roubaix

3A. RVV
3B. Milan San Remo

5A. LBL
5B. IL

6A. SB
6B. AGR
6C. FW

9A. GW
9B. E3

Or something like that. I'm sure you guys will tell me I'm very wrong. I didn't even know one-day racing existing growing up as an American in the Lance era...

You are not the only one to put MSR above LBL. This is so wrong...

 

[HashRouge]

This. I am not a cycling historian, but the way I have always interpreted them from across the pond is:

1A. World Championship RR
1B. Paris-Roubaix

3A. RVV
3B. Milan San Remo

5A. LBL
5B. IL

6A. SB
6B. AGR
6C. FW

9A. GW
9B. E3

Or something like that. I'm sure you guys will tell me I'm very wrong. I didn't even know one-day racing existing growing up as an American in the Lance era...

Wait, what is this numbering system? What happened to 2, 4, 7 and 8?

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Wait, what is this numbering system? What happened to 2, 4, 7 and 8?

I was putting them into tiers with each race tied with the other races in the tiers, but I screwed up the numbering anyways, so I'll force myself to take a stand and edit the list.