Rabobank on the front(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Tony Martin wins the MCB jersey(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Hondo leads the line(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The riders are about to roll off(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The riders await the start (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The finish was near the warm sea(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The mini TV-helicopter hovers above the riders(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The riders just after the finish area(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alessandro Petacchi wins the sprint for second.(Image credit: Amstel Curacao Race)
The podium: Alessandro Petacchi, winner Frank Schleck and third palced Niki Terpstra (Image credit: Amstel Curacao Race)
Frank Schleck, Tony Martin, Andy Schleck and Alessandro Petacchi before the start.(Image credit: Amstel Curacao Race)
The podium (l-r): Niki Terpstra, Frank Schleck and Alessandro Petacchi.(Image credit: Amstel Curacao Race)
Alessandro Petacchi during the race.(Image credit: Amstel Curacao Race)
Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) leads the peloton.(Image credit: Amstel Curacao Race)
Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) wins in Curacao.(Image credit: Amstel Curacao Race)
Frank Schleck pins his ears back and heads for home.(Image credit: Amstel Curacao Race)
Frank Schleck strings out the field.(Image credit: Amstel Curacao Race)
Alessandro Petacchi leads the field off the start line(Image credit: Amstel Curacao Race)
Fränk Schleck took what will surely be his last win in a Saxo Bank jersey on Sunday when he won the ninth edition of the Amstel Curacao Race on the Caribbean island in the Dutch Antilles.
Schleck jumped away from the rest of the peloton to win alone, while Italy’s Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini) edged out Niki Terpstra (Milram) in the sprint for second place.
A total of 150 riders took part, including 15 professionals. These include Andy and Fränk Schleck, Petacchi, Terpstra, Grischa Niermann, Bauke Mollema and Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank), Danilo Hondo (Lampre-Farnese Vini), Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank), Matteo Bono (Lampre-Farnese Vini), Jurgen van de Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) and Wout Poels (Vacansoleil).
The professionals dominated the action dominated from the start and Schleck was keen to add his name to the list of winners.
"I absolutely wanted to win. Two years ago my brother Andy won. I also wanted my name on the honor roll,” he said.
The race was originally scheduled for Saturday but heavy rain forced organiser Leo van Vliet to delay it 24 hours. Instead the riders held a meet and greet session on Saturday and then raced on Sunday.
“Curacao is our second home. We are always welcomed by the organizers and also by the locals and so we wanted to give something back," Schleck said after the decision of the riders to race on Sunday.
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