Amstel Gold Race 2026, April 19

[buddy buddy buddy]

others have previously misrepresented where it stemmed from , so i learned to add the context some are ignorant of

and it takes no bookmark to make an advanced search : https://forum.cyclingnews.com/search/

edit : if people also tended to misrepresent where blobloblo stemmed from , id tend to link to where mas says it

the most valbyenglish post, congratulations

 

[RedheadDane]

Is 5 monuments not enough? Why do we need a sixth? If we had a consensus across the sport that there are six, would we be arguing over which should be the seventh?

Don't you know? The ideal number of Monuments can be found using this simple formula:

M = m+1

With 'M' being the ideal number and 'm' being the factual number.

 

[Sciatic]

Amstel gold race is still bigger than Strade
Strade has no history
Its still the same high calibre of riders that win Amstel

Strade also doesn’t get the fields it once did—it used to be a nice early season mix of the top classics guys and climbers. Now it’s most the latter and lately only Pig of the elite GC guys.

 

[search]

its usually hit in the opening weekend

yeah, could be. Just checked Jorgenson's Ompoop-quotes from last year, and back then he said "I've just come back from altitude and I have a good feeling straightaway like I normally do. But always in the first race it's good to put the doubts away and know that you're one of the strongest in the race. So that was good on a personal note.” So he seems to adapt well to it.

 

[KoopaCycling]

yeah, could be. Just checked Jorgenson's Ompoop-quotes from last year, and back then he said "I've just come back from altitude and I have a good feeling straightaway like I normally do. But always in the first race it's good to put the doubts away and know that you're one of the strongest in the race. So that was good on a personal note.” So he seems to adapt well to it.

Not a fan of Jorgenson myself. Not enough agressive riding for someone who tends to talk big. I am more than okay with a rider talking big, if you also have the courage to just go. It's fine if you crash and burn. Meanwhile Jorgenson tends to get his result by sneaky attacks or wheelsucking.

 

[Sciatic]

Yes, it was. But I can't find one person here saying SB is the 6th monument let alone a Pogacar fan.
AGR has clearly this status of 6th monument because of history and not due to the quality of winners.

If you go back through prior SB threads back to say 2018, you will find folks saying “”6th”. You will also find them in Insta & Facebook comments about Strade.

 

[Sciatic]

yeah, could be. Just checked Jorgenson's Ompoop-quotes from last year, and back then he said "I've just come back from altitude and I have a good feeling straightaway like I normally do. But always in the first race it's good to put the doubts away and know that you're one of the strongest in the race. So that was good on a personal note.” So he seems to adapt well to it.

1st to be clear: this is not a doping comment! In the 1st week after altitude training a rider’s HCT is still higher than it would be normally, before that blood level returns to baseline within +\- 2 weeks. That is the natural impact from hypoxia at significant altitude.

 

[Sciatic]

Is 5 monuments not enough? Why do we need a sixth? If we had a consensus across the sport that there are six, would we be arguing over which should be the seventh?

Love it!

 

[Sciatic]

The argument used to justify AGR being the 6th monument was that it had a high calibre of riders winning this race.
So following the same logic, I showed all winners of SB. If you look to the last 10 winners, you don't find a race (except the Tour) with better pedigree.
Wout, Ala, Pogacar, MVP, Pidcock, Kwia. These are/were world class riders in their prime. Only Benoot is a lesser rider.

I get what you’re saying but you have both recency bias and small sample size. It would be hard to find any race to match the Amstel winners list since that race started, which includes:
Tom Pidcock
Tadej Pogačar
Michał Kwiatkowski
Wout van Aert
Mathieu van der Poel
Philippe Gilbert
Damiano Cunego
Fränk Schleck
Danilo Di Luca
Davide Rebellin
Alexandre Vinokourov
Michele Bartoli
Erik Dekker
Erik Zabel
Michael Boogerd
Bjarne Riis
Johan Museeuw
Adri van der Poel
Zoop Zoetemelk
Phil Anderson
Jan Raas
Bernard Hinault
Freddy Maertens
Eddy Merckx

 

[danielzu]

Someone knows why Scaroni isn't starting? Focus on fleche and LBL or is he hurt/ill?

 

[Pantani_lives]

The greatest AGR winner is obviously the one from 1995.

 

[ingsve]

THJ would probably have gotten a star (or three) if he was on the startlist, but so far he is not. He only mentioned Fleche and Liege as upcoming goals himself as well, so I don't think he is/was planed to race.

He was on the initial start list on PCS I believe but he was removed some time ago.

AGR has not really been as good for him as FW and LBL. He's been 20, 15, 6 in FW and 24, 25 in LBL but only 76, 70 in AGR.

I believe that the climbs in AGR are too short for THJ. There are too many puncheurs to compete with who are good at those types of climbs. In FW the climbs are also not extremely long by much steeper than in AGR. And LBL has even longer climbs that are at least 3km so that leaves out a certain amount of puncheurs and gives climbers a better chance to compete.

 

[ingsve]

Is 5 monuments not enough? Why do we need a sixth? If we had a consensus across the sport that there are six, would we be arguing over which should be the seventh?

Personally I wouldn't mind if they brought back the World Cup. That elevated the next tier of one-day races beyond the monuments. It was also a competition that at least some riders cared about winning as opposed to the overall World Tour which hasn't really had the same type of hype.

 

[Netserk]

the most valbyenglish post, congratulations

its ok im low iq so i only check if the denotation fits

 

[canina82]

If you go back through prior SB threads back to say 2018, you will find folks saying “”6th”. You will also find them in Insta & Facebook comments about Strade.

Exactly what I said. This talk about 6th monument didn't start with Pogacar fans.

 

[canina82]

I get what you’re saying but you have both recency bias and small sample size. It would be hard to find any race to match the Amstel winners list since that race started, which includes:
Tom Pidcock
Tadej Pogačar
Michał Kwiatkowski
Wout van Aert
Mathieu van der Poel
Philippe Gilbert
Damiano Cunego
Fränk Schleck
Danilo Di Luca
Davide Rebellin
Alexandre Vinokourov
Michele Bartoli
Erik Dekker
Erik Zabel
Michael Boogerd
Bjarne Riis
Johan Museeuw
Adri van der Poel
Zoop Zoetemelk
Phil Anderson
Jan Raas
Bernard Hinault
Freddy Maertens
Eddy Merckx

We agree but let's not pretend the list of winners in SB or even FW is less impressive. It isn't.
I already said multiple times, AGR is the 6th monument, at least since 2000.

 

[Sciatic]

We agree but let's not pretend the list of winners in SB or even FW is less impressive. It isn't.
I already said multiple times, AGR is the 6th monument, at least since 2000.

Yes, and I don’t need any additional monuments anyways!

 

[topcat]

The greatest AGR winner is obviously the one from 1995.

Gianetti like Pog only won the 6th monument once. So the greatest AGR winner is Jan Raas followed by Monsieur Cauberg.

 

[Boehmand]

For those who like Emil Axelgaard's stars, without reading the entire pre-race novel:

*****Evenepoel
****Jorgenson, Skjelmose
***Gregoire, Cosnefroy, Vauquelin, Lapeira, Tulett
**Vendrame, Baudin, Simmons, Schmid, Champoussin, Aranburu, Lauarance, Kron, Labrosse, Izagirre, Del Grosso, Withen Philipsen
*Godon, L'Hote, Bilbao, Vansevenant, Kamp, Hermans, Velasco, Madouas, Charmig, Tesfatsion, Johannessen, Gilmore

 

[Boehmand]

From interviews today, it has seemed like Skjelmose and Philipsen are the protected riders on Lidl.

That surprises me, as Simmons should be a good candidate - but it might be his plan is to hit an early break, few does that better than him, and it allows protected riders to just surf wheels behind.

 

[MJR]

Put me in the "if Remco is in shape, it's his race to lose" camp.

He should be a clear level above anybody else on that start line. I hope I'm wrong so we get a more interesting race!

 

[RealKwaremonster]

Put me in the "if Remco is in shape, it's his race to lose" camp.

He should be a clear level above anybody else on that start line. I hope I'm wrong so we get a more interesting race!

Same. Best scenario would be if he somehow ends up chasing, like last year. But this time without bad luck I don't see that happening.