Amstel Gold Race

Garmin neo-pro and former U.S. under-23 champ plays protagonist twice in a week at Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race

Disappointing day for RadioShack-Nissan at Amstel Gold Race, but Fränk Schleck looked ahead to Liège with confidence

It's a matter of when, not if, the young Slovak earns his first classics win

Philippe Gilbert won’t be repeating his historic 2011 Ardennes treble, but he takes confidence out of his performance at Amstel Gold Race

Enrico Gasparotto started the Amstel Gold Race as a long shot, but took the win to prove his third-place finish in 2010 was no fluke.

Spaniard Óscar Freire figures all he needed was another 100 meters and he might have pulled the cat out of the Amstel Gold Race hat.

Freire escapes late, but Gasparotto pushes the favorites aside on the Cauberg to open Ardennes week

Evans is still hoping to be in top shape to defend his title at the Tour de Romandiedespite pulling out of Amstel Gold Race with a cold

1. Enrico GASPAROTTO, Astana in 6:32:35 2. Jelle VANENDERT, Lotto-Belisol, at s.t. 3. Peter SAGAN, Liquigas-Cannondale, at s.t.

Andrew Hood runs down the chances of the four Spanish favorites for the Ardennes classics

The two-time world champion Italian drove the 2012 worlds course and expects a four or five-man group to punch up a sprint for the rainbow stripes in September

Tour champ pledges allegiance to Belgian teammates for the hilly classics

Ardennes week is here. Get the rundown on the favorites, the route and the underlying stories for Sunday's Amstel Gold Race

In an exclusive video interview from BrakeThrough Media, Greg Van Avermaet talks about being pleased with his aggressive ride at Brabantse Pijl and one of his top goals for the year, Amstel Gold Race

Canadian levels on a quiet spring and being patient ahead of the hilly classics and a run at the Giro overall

Vanendert learning to race at the front; Nuyens out of Turkey; Rabo protects six in Ardennes; Kroon gunning for Amstel Gold

Three-time world champ hopes to cap strong spring campaign with a win atop the Cauberg on Sunday

Amstel, Liège are top goals for GreenEdge sensation

Defending champion says he doesn't expect to be in the front, but feels no pressure from BMC Racing brass

Two top favorites suffer hard crashes at Brabantse Pijl

Cobbled classics king will skip Ardennes opener with foot pain

Virus wiped out the early season for 2009 Liège winner

Vandendert: 'Without Gilbert, it's a world of difference'; Dutch police strike threatens Amstel Gold Race; Devolder eyes Tour classification

Preliminary startlist for the 2012 Amstel Gold Race

Previous winners of the Amstel Gold Race

Paris-Nice and Amstel Gold Race announced four additional teams for each race

Editor’s note: Every week through the 2011 road season, VeloNews editor-at-large John Wilcockson is writing about key features of the week’s racing. This 10th installment focuses on the career of rider of the week Philippe Gilbert.

Stuart O’Grady was probably watching Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race from the comfort of his couch, but he wasn’t surprised to see teammate Andy Schleck on the attack late in the race.

Philippe Gilbert won't say he's the best classic rider — but he will say he's the most complete one.

Quick Results

• 1. Philippe Gilbert (BEL), Omega Pharma-Lotto, 6:30:44
• 2. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (ESP), Katusha, at 0:02
• 3. Simon Gerrans (AUS), Sky, at 0:04
• 4. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN), Leopard Trek, at 0:05
• 5. Alexandr Kolobnev (RUS), Katusha, at 0:05

VILT, Netherlands (VN) — Philippe Gilbert left no doubt Sunday on the Cauberg, launching a violent attack midway up the climb to claim his second Amstel Gold Race in a row. The win was the third consecutive hilly classic for the Omega Pharma-Lotto rider, who cemented his position as king of the Ardennes.

VILT, Netherlands (VN) – Greg Van Avermaet carried the hopes of BMC Racing into the Amstel Gold Race Sunday.

VILT, Netherlands (VN) – Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) started the Amstel Gold Race Sunday with a big weight off his shoulders.

VILT, Netherlands (VN) – Last week big Swiss Grégory Rast earned the most important result of his career at Paris-Roubaix. On Sunday the RadioShack classics man was headed for a six-week vacation after stepping off the Amstel Gold Race course at the end of the first lap.

Check out Brian Holcombe's author page.

A quadricep injury will keep Cadel Evans from starting Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, but the former world champion said his recovery is going well and he remains on track to focus on the Tour de France, BMC reported on Thursday.

Philippe Gilbert is one of the smartest, strongest and nicest guys in today’s peloton. And those qualities were neatly reflected in the way he took the victory in Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race. He brilliantly exploited all the resources of his admittedly weak team then stamped his authority on the race.

Ryder Hesjedal takes confidence from his strong second-place finish at the Amstel Gold Race.

2010 Amstel Gold Race results

Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) shoots away from an elite group to win the Amstel Gold Race.

Start List: Amstel Gold Race, 2010

Carlos Sastre (Cervélo) and Bradley Wiggins (Sky) are among several riders to have pulled out of Sunday’s edition of the Amstel Gold Race after encountering problems getting flights to the Netherlands.

Amstel Gold Race: Previous winners

Of all the major classics, the Amstel Gold Race is the most difficult to predict — and one of the hardest to win. Only three riders have won the Dutch classic more than once: Eddy Merckx (of course), who took it twice in the 1970s, and the Dutchmen Gerrie Knetemann (1974 and 1985) and Jan Raas, who had five wins in six starts between 1977 and 1982. But all those successes happened long before the Amstel became a truly international classic.

Hot off second place at the Vuelta al País Vasco behind Chris Horner (RadioShack), Valverde says he’s in shape to have a good run through the Ardennes.

Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) has been one of the enigmas of the 2010 season.

Fabian Cancellara, winner of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, has pulled out of Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, saying he won't compete again until next month's Amgen Tour of California.

Horner, Valverde lead teams for Amstel

Roman Kreuziger and Vicenzo Nibali will lead Liquigas into the Ardennes classics, with Franco Pellizotti joining for Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

It’s another busy week in Europe, highlighted by the Vuelta a Castilla y León in northern Spain and the Amstel Gold Race in the Limburg region of Holland.

David Millar says he’ll leave Paris-Roubaix to the experts. The Garmin-Transitions captain got his first real taste of the Hell of the North, but made a mid-course revelation that he’s not cut out for the punishing march across the cobblestones.

Horner wins Basque Tour

Saxo Bank’s Frank Schleck did not start Thursday’s fourth stage at the Vuelta al País Vasco, but the former Amstel Gold Race champion is expected to race the Ardennes classics later this month.

A reader asks if it's really okay for a rider to raise a beer ... especially for a fee.

The spring classics could be in danger for Saxo Bank captain Frank Schleck, who crashed hard late in Wednesday’s stage at the Vuelta al País Vasco.

Luís León Sánchez (Caisse d’Epargne) came up first in the opening stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe on Tuesday in France.

Organizers of the Amstel Gold classic have announced the last of six wildcard teams invited to the April 18 event. Twenty four teams will participate. The new wildcard teams announced Monday by race director Leo van Vliet are Cervelo TestTeam, BMC Racing Team, Topsport Vlaanderen and Landbouwkrediet. Earlier, the Dutch pro continental teams Skil-Shimano and Vacansoleil received a wildcard.

Filippo Pozzato believes he’s poised to win at least one major classic this spring and he could care less which one it is.

Lance Armstrong will be back in the spring classics this year in a big way. RadioShack sport director Johan Bruyneel told Biciciclismo that Armstrong will race Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Spaniard Carlos Sastre, winner of the 2008 Tour de France, will compete in the 2010 Giro d'Italia.

Holland's biggest race is relatively new to the international calendar, having first been held in 1966.

Luxembourg's Frank Schleck has pulled out of Wednesday's Fleche-Wallonne race and is doubtful for Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege after his fall in the Amstel Gold Race, his Saxo Bank team revealed on Tuesday. Schleck was taken to hospital after falling spectacularly during the Dutch race on Sunday but was discharged shortly afterward. The 29-year-old had hoped to compete in all three Ardennes classics this season, but his team said the seriousness of his fall prompted them to take extra precautions.

Beer wasn't atop my list of cravings as I inched up the Cauberg, rolled under the jumbotron and crossed the final finish line of the Amstel Gold Race cyclosportive. Pedaling 250 kilometers through Hollands hilly Limberg region had me wanting to get off my bicycle – pronto. The freezing rain that fell for the final two hours also didn't exactly put yours truly in the mood for some chilly suds. And after stuffing waffles and the sugary Euro sports drink Isostar down my pie hole for 10 hours, I craved something salty: corn chips, popcorn or frites.

Even though he didn’t race this weekend, Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam), retained the top spot in the UCI world rankings. The German-Aussie sprinter headed to the beach following his impressive spring campaign and skipped Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race, but he held enough of a margin to retain the lead of the updated rankings released Monday. In fact, there were no major shakeups, with the exception of Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto), who catapulted from 21st to ninth after finishing fourth in the Dutch classic.

Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) and Matt Lloyd (Silence-Lotto) crashed heavily in Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race and left the course in ambulances, wearing cervical collars around their necks. Schleck, who won here in 2006, never lost consciousness and was later diagnosed as having suffered a mild concussion, according to his team. There was no immediate word on Lloyd’s condition. "It is not as serious as we first feared," said Saxo Bank sporting director Kim Andersen. "Frank is fine and that is the most important thing. I was really concerned for him when I saw him lying on the ground!"

Sergei Ivanov (Katusha) won the 44th edition of the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday in a dramatic two-up sprint with Saxo Bank's Karsten Kroon as a frantic chase fell just a few seconds short of success. "For me it's the biggest win of my career," said a clearly delighted Ivanov after emerging the strongest of a final three-man break that also included Robert Gesink (Rabobank), who hung on for third on the steeps of the Cauberg, just a few seconds ahead of the charging peloton.

Defending champion Damiano Cunego is among the favourites going into Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, the only spring classic which takes place in the Netherlands. The 258.6km road race leads from Maastricht to Valkenburg in the hilly Limburg region in the south of the country, near the borders with Belgium and Germany. It features 31 torturous climbs, culminating in a 1000m ascent of the notorious Cauberg, and makes a grim mockery of the Netherlands' reputation as a flat country.

Cervélo TestTeam has been the surprise of the 2009 spring classics. The new squad has been racking up impressive results, including podiums in the opening three classics with Thor Hushovd (third at Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix) and the sensational Heinrich Haussler (second at Milan-San Remo and Flanders). That trend continued this week with Dominique Rollin notching his first European podium with third at the Belgian semi-classic Scheldeprijs on Wednesday.

San Luis Obispo, California, 17th April 2009 - Columbia-Highroad is heading to the Amstel Gold Race in Holland on Sunday with no clear leader but with some key riders clearly approaching top condition for the Ardennes Classics. “I wouldn’t say my form is fantastic, but my winning a stage in the Tour of the Basque Country last week is a very encouraging sign all the same,” says Italian Marco Pinotti. “Amstel isn’t a race which suits me 100 percent, but we’ve got a very well-balanced squad and hopefully I’ll be able to do something to support the team’s overall effort.”

Sunday’s menu calls for beer and bergs in southern Holland as the top riders in the world tackle the Amstel Gold Race, the hilly classic named for its sudsy title sponsor. This marks the 44th running of Amstel, which, along with Belgium’s Fleche-Wallonne (April 22) and Liege-Bastogne-Liege (April 26), comprises the Ardennes week of racing. But while Belgium has already enjoyed a full week of Classics, the Netherlands has not. It’s no surprise that beer swilling Dutch cycling fans arrive en masse to watch their country’s premier cycling event.

Carlos Barredo will have some big shoes to fill as Quick Step enters the Ardennes classics without the dominating presence of Paolo Bettini. Quick Step has grown accustomed to dominating the spring classics, first with Tom Boonen and Stijn Devolder on the cobbles and then with Bettini in the hilly classics such as Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. With Bettini enjoying retirement, Quick Step is looking to the 27-year-old Barredo to step up and carry the team colors across the Ardennes.