Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) made it two wins from two races, as he followed up Wednesday’s victory in De Brabantse Pijl with a more impressive win in the Amstel Gold Race. It was the second year with the new finish, and while Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo) won the 2013 edition after a long range attack, Gilbert sealed his victory on the slopes of the Cauberg.
The peloton was altogether when the race hit the Cauberg for the final time, and almost immediately Gilbert’s team mate Samuel Sanchez raised the pace, stretching the peloton out and drawing Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Simon Gerrans (Orica GreenEDGE) after him. Sanchez pulled over and none of the chasing trio seemed willing to seize the initiative; as a result when Gilbert launched his sensational attack, they were left floundering in his wake. Gilbert crested the Cauberg with a considerable gap and drove home for a terrific victory.
Sanchez’s attack and stall manoeuvre provided a terrific springboard for Gilbert. A fact acknowledged by Gilbert on the BMC website “During the briefing, it was planned for Samuel to do an attack at the foot of the Cauberg. It was not a surprise for me, but I think it was one for my adversaries. I only had to wait for the best moment to attack. And I did that when it was most difficult and hurting for everyone."
Although the gap behind was significant, it was not insurmountable. Gerrans gave chase with Valverde on his wheel, but frustrated at Valverde's unwillingness to work, Gerrans eased up and tried to shake Valverde from his wheel. Kwiatkowski rejoined them then kicked on, which finally prompted Valverde to do some work, all the while the riders behind were gaining on them. Jelle Vanendert (Lotto Belisol) bridged across to them before attacking on his own, in a vain effort to catch Gilbert.
Vanendert did at least gain some consolation by finishing 2nd behind his former team mate, while Gerrans took 3rd. Had the chase been committed from the start, then Gilbert would probably have been reeled in, but no-one was willing to pull an uncooperative rival to the line just to hand them the victory, so Gilbert was costless to claim his 3rd Amstel Gold Race victory. Whether this return to form heralds another clean sweep of the Ardennes Classics remains to be seen, each race has it's own characteristics and the remaining two suit the climbers a little more.
A 10 rider break escaped early in the day, gaining up to 14 minutes on the peloton at one point. With around 40km to go, a number of strong riders attacked from the peloton and tried to bridge over to remaining breakaway riders, Christophe Riblon (AG2R), Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Nicola Boem (Bardiani-CSF). With riders such as Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) in that move, the peloton had little choice but to raise the pace behind.
As a result the breakaway saw its advantage swiftly eroded, and the chase group hung in no-man’s land between the break and the peloton. That made it a tempting target for riders with genuine ambitions and many made an effort to bridge over. However it all came to naught as all the attackers were swept up by the peloton before the race reached the Cauberg for the final time.
It was great to see Vanendert return to form and repeat his 2nd place finish from 2012. Since his 2012 campaign very little has gone right for the Belgian puncheur, his 2013 season was largely ruined by a parasitic infection and his 2014 results to date had been unremarkable. Having an in-form Vanendert back for the Ardennes Classics is a terrific boost for a Lotto Belisol squad that had been mired in misfortune.
There were also a couple of withdrawals that could have implications for the rest of the Ardennes Classics and potentially the Giro d’Italia as well. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) crashed out with a potential rib injury; while Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) withdrew as a precautionary measure, citing a sore knee.