photo credits @ WTFK
Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) claimed victory on his home soil today, after the Dutch rider won the Amstel Gold Race in a thrilling sprint finale.
Indeed, van der Poel held-off Simon Clarke (EF Education First) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Pro Team) during the closing few hundred meters to seize the race honors, after leading a small chase group across to the leaders who were clinging to a one minute gap.
Race Highlights
Van der Poel launched an attack with 43 kilometers to go, who was quickly joined by Astana’s Gorka Izagirre. However, the duo was soon caught after only being out front for a brief period.
Deceuninck-Quick-Step’s Julian Alaphilippe was the next rider to try his luck with 36 kilometers remaining, but was soon joined by Fuglsang.
Mitchelton-Scott’s Matteo Trentin later tried to bridge his way to the two leaders, taking Team Sky’s Michal Kwiatkowski and EF Education First’s Michael Woods along with him.
With just over a kilometer to go, Kwiatkowski took to the front. But, the pace was not high enough to remain outside the clutches of van der Poel et al.
From there, the Dutch champion timed his sprint to perfection during the last 300 meters that proved unassailable for Clarke and Fuglsang.
Van der Poel’s victory comes just days after winning the Brabantse Pijl, along with triumphing in the Dwars door Vlaanderen earlier this month.
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