The 51st Amstel Gold Race took place in the Netherlands on Sunday, with a repeat winner of Enrico Gasparotto on the top step of the podium, but for Team KATUSHA it was a disappointing day on the bike with team leader Joaquim Rodriguez crashing hard and unable to chase back for the final. Despite today’s lack of results, Rodriguez is still ready to race for the win in the next Ardennes races.
- There was again some bad luck for us – we saw that today when Joaquim crashed with 60 km to go. It was a hard crash. He was able to continue on afterwards for some time, but could not really recover from that. He has some pain, so for him the race was over at that point, - said team director José Azevedo.
Over the Cauberg for the final time, 2012 winner Enrico Gasparotto (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Michael Valgren of Tinkoff escaped the group to sprint for the win, with Gasparotto able to take the victory for the second time in his career. The 34-year old Italian rider pointed to the sky in an emotional salute to his fallen teammate Antoine Demoitié, who died after being hit by motorbike at Gent-Wevelgem several weeks ago. Third place at 3-seconds behind the winning time of 6:18.03 was Sonny Colbrelli of Bardiani-CSF.
- We know that “Purito” had good legs today, so we will re-group and look to Wednesday’s La Flèche Wallonne and then Liège–Bastogne–Liège next Sunday. These races suit him better and are big goals for us and for him, - concluded director Azevedo.
Sunday’s one-day classic signaled the racing season’s start in the Ardennes region. The race began in Maastricht and ended in Bergen Terblijt after 248,7 km on a day featuring 34 sharp, steep climbs. An early break of 11 riders was later chased by a group of four, but with the relentless climbs coming throughout the day and the rain continuing to fall intermittently, it was evident that the final time up the Cauberg would make the difference. Many attacks came but it was the distance created by Valgren and Gasparotto, that made up the winning move as tired legs rolled into the finish line after a race known for its difficulty. While Joquim Rodriguez did not finish, he remains in good condition for the next Ardennes races.
Photo credit: (c) Tim De Waele
