After the race was shortened to only three laps of the ending circuit because of an incident involving a police motorcycle, Marianne Vos took the victory in an exhilarating version of the Amstel Gold Race to take her third victory of the season for Visma-Lease a Bike.
After assaults from the favourites on all three ascents of the Cauberg, the race got here right down to a lowered bunch dash, with Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) main the group out for her teammate Lorena Wiebes as they entered the ultimate few hundred metres.
An early dash by Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) closed Wiebes to the limitations, however the Dutch sprinter was capable of finding a approach by means of, opening her dash with Vos on her wheel. The victory then appeared like a formality for the SD Worx-Protime rider, however she celebrated earlier than the end, permitting Vos come round and pip her on the road to take the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a lowered version of the Amstel Gold Race this 12 months. Because of a collision between a police motorcyclist and a automotive on the Bergseweg climb, the commissaires had been compelled to neutralise the race, because the native police opened an investigation into the crash.
The organisers then introduced that the riders would go beneath impartial situations to the city of Valkenburg to tackle three laps of the ending circuit. This shortened the remaining distance of the race to round simply 54km.
Racing then resumed about an hour after the neutralisation, because the riders handed the end line to start the primary of their three laps.
As they hit the Cauberg for the primary time, the favourites had been eager to check the legs of these round them, as Elisa Longo Borghini drew a small group of six riders clear, which included the likes of Demi Vollering, Anna Henderson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM).
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They had been introduced again by the peloton excessive of the climb although, with a three-rider group then going clear excessive, with Eva van Agt (Visma-Lease a Bike), Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon-SRAM) launching a transfer off the entrance.
Behind them, there have been extra assaults within the peloton on the second lap, as Lidl-Trek had been significantly energetic with Longo Borghini launching one other assault on the Cauberg and though she was as soon as once more capable of pull a gaggle clear, they didn’t have the cohesion to carry a spot on the remainder of the peloton.
Onto the ultimate lap, the trio on the entrance continued to work nicely collectively, as their hole hovered round 30 seconds over the primary group. Within the peloton, there was no clear and concerted chase from a selected workforce, with the riders clearly content material to go away every thing till the ultimate two climbs of the Bemelerberg and the Cauberg.
With 10km to go, apprehensiveness within the peloton meant that the hole to the breakaway had gone as much as round a minute. Within the three-rider group, Van Agt attacked Bemelerberg, distancing Kastelijn, who had been struggling for a while by that time. She was capable of get again on although and rejoin the group because the highway started to stage out.
Emma Wyllie (Liv AlUla Jayco) then got here to the entrance of the peloton within the hopes of injecting some tempo into the group on the climb. Nonetheless, the favourites had been merely joyful to comply with the wheels, with the hole to these on the entrance nonetheless not coming down.
Van Agt continued to encourage her breakaway companions to work collectively within the hopes of holding off the peloton, shouting at Kastelijn and Bauernfeind to do a flip on the entrance.
At this level, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) started to take issues into her personal arms, as she had been hovering across the entrance of the group for a short while. The World Champion labored alongside her teammate Kata Blanka Vas to cut back the hole to the breakaway to beneath 30 seconds as soon as once more.
Lidl-Trek additionally started to commit riders to the chase, with Ellen van Dijk placing her teammates in good place forward of the ultimate ascent of the Cauberg.
As they reached the left flip on the backside of the Cauberg, the hole to these out entrance was simply ten seconds, as Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) tried an assault, with the peloton making the catch to the breakaway.
They weren’t out of it although, as Bauernfeind continued to tug on the entrance, earlier than her teammate Niewiadoma attacked, however that transfer was rapidly shut down. A couple of extra strikes went, however none of them had been capable of get a spot over the favourites.
As they reached the ultimate straight to the end, Vollering started her leadout for her teammate Lorena Wiebes. Longo Borghini then opened her dash and closed the Dutch sprinter to the limitations.
Wiebes managed to discover a approach by means of although and opened up her dash with Marianne Vos on her wheel. It appeared virtually sure that she would take the victory, however as she sat as much as have a good time, Vos managed to throw her bike on the line and snatch the win away from Wiebes on the picture end.
RESULTS – AMSTEL GOLD RACE 2024: MAASTRICHT > VALKENBURG (99KM)
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 2:35:02
2. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
3. Ingvild Gåskjenn (Nor) Liv AlUla Jayco
4. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) dsm-firmenich PostNL
5. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek
6. Eleonora Gasparrini (Ita) UAE Crew ADQ
7. Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (SAf) AG Insurance coverage-Soudal
8. Amber Kraak (Ned) FDJ-SUEZ
9. Yara Kastelijn (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck
10. Soraya Paladin (Ita) Canyon-SRAM, all at similar time
