Analysis, insight and data
The new Amstel Gold route drew out the favourites well before the inish
When Micha¯ Kwiatkowski sat back off Philippe Gilbert in the finishing straight of Amstel Gold, he was hoping that lightning would strike twice. The Polish rider had done exactly the same to Peter Sagan in Milan-San Remo. The tactic, which worked perfectly on the Via Roma, is to accelerate into the slipstream of the rider ahead, then kick out to get a double advantage. But Gilbert was also hoping for a repeat performance of his own: he went into the 2017 Amstel as a three-time winner. Though his previous wins had come on the Cauberg, relegated to a supporting role this year by a route change, his climbing ability and brilliant form meant that he’d be a formidable opponent. With 400m to go, the situation was: one Amstel winner against another; one former world champion against another; the winner of Milan-San Remo against the winner of the Tour of Flanders. As Gilbert soft-pedalled at the front, looking back regularly, Kwiatkowski waited for his moment. The Pole made his move at 300m, just as Gilbert momentarily turned his gaze forwards. He dipped into Gilbert’s slipstream and jumped out, gaining three bike lengths. But it was too soon – the Belgian had 250m to claw Kwiatkowski back and then accelerate past.
The biggest winner might have been the race itself. Between 2003 and 2012, Amstel Gold finished on top of the Cauberg and was usually settled in an uphill sprint. From 2013 to 2016, the finish line was moved a couple of kilometres down the road from the top of the climb, but after an exciting 2013 edition, won solo by Roman Kreuziger, the next three came down to the Cauberg and the sprint. Strong teams with good puncheurs effectively shut down the race.
In 2017, the format was changed. There were still plenty of climbs - 35 in total - but the finish was on the flat, in the town of Berg en Terblijt. The route designers put in a tough combination of climbs – the Gulpenerberg, Kruisberg, Eyserbosweg, Fromberg and Keutenberg – in a crucial phase between 220 and 235km. This section was hard enough to draw out the best riders and prevent teams closing down the race – it was effectively a domestique-killer. Any contender who wanted to be at the front over these climbs would have to do their own dirty work.
With the early break caught, Tiesj Benoot of Lotto-Soudal attacked on the Kruisberg, pulling Gilbert, Sky’s Sergio Henao, LottoNL’s Bert-Jan Lindeman, Orica rider Michael Albasini and Dimension Data’s Nathan Haas clear. Bahrain’s Jon Izagirre and Movistar’s José Joaquín Rojas bridged. When this octet pulled out a 30-second lead, it looked like the selection might be definitive, but Sunweb’s Warren Barguil pulled the gap back to below 15 seconds. There was one final reshuffling to come: Benoot was dropped on the Fromberg and Lindeman on the Keutenberg. Kwiatkowski attacked on the Keutenberg in what looked like a tactical mistake. With his team-mate Henao ahead, he risked bringing riders across and weakening Sky’s position or, worse, killing the break. But Kwiatkowski knew what we didn’t: that the riders around him were at their limit. He bridged up quickly, to make it seven at the front. Another septet including Greg Van Avermaet formed behind, then came the peloton and over the next 15km there was a three-way pursuit and a demonstration of how cooperation and tactics work in cycling.
Six of the front seven shared the work – Rojas was the only rider not pulling, as his team leader Alejandro Valverde was in the next group back. Since this group contained the strongest riders, its progress was smooth.
The next group wasn’t weaker, but there was less cooperation. Gilbert’s team-mate Bob Jungels wouldn’t work while Valverde’s efforts were half-hearted, since he had Rojas up the road. Rui Costa of UAE didn’t pull so only Van Avermaet was putting his back into it, but one pulling against six ahead was an unequal battle. Meanwhile, the peloton didn’t have enough teams with sufficient numbers to mount a coherent chase.
Kwiatkowski and Gilbert broke their five rivals on the Bemelerberg, the race’s final climb, with 6.5km to go. Kwiatkowski accelerated, Gilbert chased; Kwiatkowski re-accelerated and Gilbert chased again. It took a back-breaking effort by Haas to close them down. Then Gilbert did exactly the same – the third attack stretched the group again and the fourth pulled Kwiatkowski away. Haas relented and nobody else chased. Why would they? Rojas and Albasini were the strongest sprinters, but sprinters rarely do their own chasing. Haas was exhausted. Henao wouldn’t chase his own teammate. Izagirre tried half-heartedly, but Henao easily shut him down. In any case, the strongest two riders were up the road and moving clear. It was all over bar the sprint.
Any contender who wanted to be at the front over these climbs would have to do their own dirty work