Amstel Gold Race Men - Live Coverage

Situation

Kwiatkowski awarded Amstel Gold Race victory in photo-finish sprint against Cosnefroy

Good morning, and welcome along to a rather unusual edition of the Amstel Gold Race. 

I know what you're thinking... this is Paris-Roubaix day. Well, good old fashioned French local political bureaucracy has seen to that, and Amstel has kindly stepped in to swap dates. In truth, the Dutch race was always an uncomfortable member of the Ardennes Classics, mainly due to the fact it doesn't take place in the Ardennes. Now it's out on its own, and it probably deserves to be enjoyed more on its own terms, given its unique character. 

Narrow country lanes, punchy climb after punchy climb, and countless twists and turns... that's the essence of Amstel Gold Race. And since they modified the route and binned the Cauberg, the spectacle has improved dramatically in recent years. With some top class names on the start list, we've got the ingredients for the same again today. 

It's a glorious morning in Maastricht, where the fans are out in force and the riders are signing the register ahead of the race.

My colleague Daniel Ostanek is in Maastricht and will have all the news from the start plus the reaction from the finish in Valkenburg. We also have separate live coverage of the women's race, and you'll soon be able to join Amy Jones for that one. 

We're less than 10 minutes away from the roll-out now. It's a short neutral zone and a long race, at 254.1 kilometres. 

Before we get going, now's the time to have a read of our in-depth race preview, covering route, contenders, and more. 

Van der Poel favourite for home glory at Amstel Gold Race – Preview

"It's going to be special," says Mathieu van der Poel, winner in 2019. "The year I won was crazy, I had the national champion's jersey so that was maybe even more of a trigger for the fans, but it's really psycho-minded here. It's the first time in two or three years people are allowed alongside the course so it's going to be a good atmosphere.

"For sure I know the race well because I trained a lot here when I was younger. I know the roads and the climbs. Experience is important but the legs are more important. People will look at me a bit but I think I'm less a favourite than I was at Flanders, which suits me better. Amstel is a bit different, no cobbles... for sure it's going to be a hard race, and I think we'll see some different names in the front in the end."

Van der Poel, winner of the Tour of Flanders last weekend, is the favourite today, but who else could compete. Here's our list of riders to watch. 

Amstel Gold Race Men: 5 favourites, 5 outsiders

We're off

We reach kilometre-zero and the race is waved underway. Here come the first attacks and the attempts to form the day's breakaway.

A seven-man move goes clear. Will it be as easy as that?

In this move are: Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe), Owain Doull (EF Education-EasyPost), Johan Jacobs (Movistar), Emils Liepens (Trek-Segafrdo), Aaron Van Poucke (Sport Vlaanderen Baloise), and the Bardiani-CSF duo of Luca Rastelli and Davide Gabburo.

Gabburo is dropped from the break, leaving six. They have a lead of 50 seconds so have moved clear but haven't sailed clear as of yet.

It's a slightly chaotic start, with a couple of crashes and a few mechanicals seeing lots of riders sprinting back to the peloton.

Tom Pidcock, whose spring has been turbulent due to a stomach problem, revealed at the start that he's been ill again this week.

"I've been ill this week, which has been very frustrating to say the least. I tried everything to stay healthy but it seems a bit like pot luck at the moment. I'm on the start line and I'll do my best today."

Pidcock was second here last year in his debut season as a pro. He'd just beaten Wout van Aert at Brabantse Pijl and went head-to-head with him again, this time in the tightest of photo finishes. Every angle seemed to suggest a different winner but in the end it was Van Aert's name that was read out.

"I didn't sleep very well after Amstel last year, I'm not going to lie," Pidcock added this morning. 

We've done 30km already and the peloton has finally eased and let this six-man move off the leash. This is our breakaway of the day.

Just the 33 climbs on the menu today. We've already done three of them. In truth, things start to become serious once we pass through the finish in Valkenburg for the second time and take on the Geulhemmerberg and Bemeleberg for the first time - they're the two climbs on our finishing circuit. There's a brief respite before things really intensify with a string of climbs at 50km to go, before the third passage of the line comes with 21km to go and we head out on that final loop and those two climbs before the finish.  In total, all these short climbs add up to more than 3000 metres of elevation gain. 

Here's a first shot of our breakaway

And here's the first windmill of the day

200km to go

The breakaway's advantage has stabilised at a modest 4 minutes 30 seconds.

The race heads up the Cauberg and across the finish line for the first time. The gap is still 4:30. 

Here's Daniel Ostanek's story on Pidcock from the start this morning. 

Pidcock's Amstel Gold Race hopes take a blow after another bout of illness

If Pidcock isn't fighting fit, Ineos can look to Dylan van Baarle, who was runner-up at Flanders last week. They also have former winner Michal Kwiatkowski, road captain Luke Rowe, the Belgian Laurens De Plus who's starting to string some races together, plus the youthful duo of Magnus Sheffield and Ben Turner - who had a great debut at the cobbled Classics.

For more on Turner, a shameless plug for this background piece we did on him from Belgium 10 days ago, with input from Rowe, Rod Ellingworth, and of course Turner himself. 

Ben Turner: A complete package, perhaps the next Luke Rowe

Ineos have been prominent in the peloton so far today. It's them and Van der Poel's Alpecin-Fenix who've largely been keeping this breakaway at 4:30.

170km to go

84km on the clock and we're just tackling a pair of climbs - Wolfsberg and Loorberg - before a short respite. All calm for now. 

We're two hours in and the average speed so far is 43km/h.

Here's a relaxed Van der Poel in the bunch

154km to go

100km on the clock and the peloton calls another nature break. It's been a pretty uneventful day so far. It was a slightly frantic start with some crashes and mechanicals but the break went early and, after that brief flurry, were allowed to go clear. Still, it's hardly been slow, with Ineos and Alpecin conspiring to keep the gap at an ungenerous 4:30 for much of the day.

The bunch on the Cauberg a little earlier

The gap between break and bunch hits five minutes for the first time.

UAE have started to join the chase. They're here with a team that includes road captain Matteo Trentin, plus Marc Hirschi, who's shown some good form so far this year. They also have the young talent Juan Ayuso. 

We're into the final 25km of the women's race. A reminder that we also have separate live coverage of that one with Amy Jones. Here's the link you need for that.

After a brief crossing of the Belgian border for the Gemmenich climb, we're now heading back from the south east towards Valkenburg once more. When he cross the finish line again, that's when the race should start to come to life.

Here's our full round-up of quotes from the big names at the start this morning. 

Amstel Gold Race start line quotes: Van der Poel, Van Vleuten, Pidcock, Balsamo

125km to go

The pace has lifted in the peloton. The gap falls to four minutes.

Tom Dumoulin wears the number 1 for Jumbo-Visma in the absence of 2021 champion Wout van Aert. That said, he's arguably third choice for the team today, as Tiesj Benoot and Christophe Laporte look to carry over their form from the cobbles.

The average speed comes down to 41.5km/h after three hours of racing. 

Into the final 5km and onto the Cauberg at the women's race. Live coverage of that is here. 

115km to go

Another surge in the peloton and the gap falls to three minutes. Things are starting to shift as we head back towards Valkenburg. 

Victor Campenaerts is looking to attack, and everyone knows how dangerous he can be so that draws an instant response.

100km to go

Splits in the bunch after the Vrakelberg as we head into the final 100.

The gap comes tumbling down to 90 seconds as things get frantic with these small splits.

Campenaerts attacks again.

Campenaerts is joined by Nathan Van Hooydonck (Jumbo)

Rastelli has been dropped from the break.

Campenaerts and Van Hooydonck are just 30 seconds behind the breakaway now. They're also 30 seconds up on the peloton.

89km to go

Campenaerts and Van Hooydonck make contact with the break ahead of the Cauberg.

Bahrain Victorious are leading the peloton, just over a minute behind this newly enlarged breakaway.

Another counter-attack from the bunch. This time it's Florian Senechal (QuickStep-AlphaVInyl).

Alpecin-Fenix have come back to control the peloton with five men on the front. 

Senechal is dangling in no-man's land. It doesn't look like he'll be getting across. QuickStep don't have Julian Alaphilippe here as he was racing Itzulia so there's more of a cobbles feel to their team. They have Kasper Asgreen but he said he was 'slaughtered' at Flanders and this race is even hillier. Andrea Bagioli is one to watch but the Belgian team are in underdog mode today.

As I write that, Bagioli crashes on a roundabout...

They bunch had to split to avoid a lamppost and there was also a roadbump on the entry to that roundabout, which sent a couple of riders flying. They all look relatively uninjured, thankfully.

75km to go

Anyway, 75 to go and the seven-man breakaway has a lead of 48 seconds over the peloton.

The leaders take on the Bemeleberg now. This will be our final climb later on.

Jack Haig crashes uphill on the Bemeleberg. It's getting tense and nervous now. 

Dries De Bondt is doing the work in the peloton for Van der Poel.

70km

The break have taken their lead out to 1:12, taking advantage of a last lull in the peloton.

Alpecin are dictating but Ineos are right up there with numbers. Quite how Pidcock is feeling remains to be seen. If you're only just joining us, the Briton revealed at the start that he's been struck down by yet another illness this week. Full story here.

Here was the Campenaerts attack a little earlier, with Van Hooydonck responding in the background. Both are now in a strong strategic position for their teams.

The lull in the peloton continues and the gap balloons out to 1:40!

We've mentioned Jumbo being here with Laporte, Benoot, and Dumoulin. As for Lotto, they have a man who was won this race no fewer than four times: Philippe Gilbert. The veteran Belgian is in his finals season and certainly not in the form of old, in which case Tim Wellens should be on hand to take responsibility.

Lotto have now posted four men to the front of the bunch. They have a strong rider up the road so perhaps it's more for positioning than pace-setting, but still...

Here's a closer look at some of today's contenders

Amstel Gold Race Men: 5 favourites, 5 outsiders

59km to go

After a 15km stretch without a climb, we're heading uphill again now on the Loorberg. It's 1.6km at 5.1 per cent. 

This is the 25th of our 33 climbs. The next one is the Gulperberg and that kicks off a real chain of key climbs where things should really come to life. 

Campenaerts and Schelling are dropped from the break as Van Hooydonck sets the tempo.

Campenaerts doesn't look to be in that much trouble here, from his body language at least, but he's let the group drift away here. Schelling looks a little less comfortable but doesn't seem to be able to start bringing the gap down. Looks like break over for those two.

Laporte attacks!

A soft one from the Jumbo rider who was second at E3 and Gent-Wevelgem. Turner marks it for Ineos.

Campenaerts attacks Schelling now and leaves him behind. Bizarre. 

It gets weirder. Campenaerts is now urinating on the move, having just accelerated away. 

Schelling is caught by the bunch and now so is Campenaerts. 

Campenaerts gets straight to work on the front, so he was evidently called back by his team.

54km to go

Here we go then. Finally we have a lift in pace in the bunch. QuickStep, Jumbo (that Laporte attack quickly fizzled out), EF, and Lotto all prominent and starting to jostle for position. 

Onto the Gulperbergweg! Van Hooydonck hits it again in the break. 

Liepens is dropped from the breakaway now.

Alpecin light it up behind as the bunch start the climb 40 seconds down. It's Gogl doing the damage.

Wellens attacks!

Laporte jumps on it. The Frenchman is looking to ride an expansive race today rather than sitting back.

Laporte is not rolling through with Wellens. 

That spells the end of the move and now Stefan Kung accelerates and Kwiatkowski responds. 

Valgren moves next. He won this race back in 2018.

The bunch has split in two after those accelerations on and after the climb.

Crash. Van Hooydonck has collided with a parked car.

The softest of impacts as the Dutchman misjudges a corner and brakes hard before touching the vehicle. He has lost contact with the break as a result but the gap was already down to 25 seconds.

47.5km to go

Ineos have taken it up now with four riders on the front.

Onto the Kruisberg and Doull hits it up front while his fellow Brit Turner does the same behind.

Jacobs is the only one who can follow Doull. Vna Hooydonck is scrambling behind but he started it on the back foot.

Turner, Van Baarle, Kwiatkowski, Pidcock - that's the order at the head of this first peloton. 

Van Hooydonck gets back on! Great comeback from a rider who's been looking strong in 2022 so far.

Three at the front but their time is limited... the front bunch are just 10 seconds down now.

Van der Poel has taken up position on Pidcock's wheel. He doesn't appear to have any teammates left after they did a lot of the work earlier in the day.

Eyserbosweg time! It's 1.1km at 8.1%. Hard.

Van Hooydonck has attacked now! He goes solo as Doull and Jacobs are absorbed by the bunch.

Turner continues his effort onto the Eyserbosweg. His remarkable debut spring continues.

Van Hooydonck crests the Eyserbosweg and grabs a bottle and a gel. He has just a few seconds in hand. 

35 or so riders left in this front peloton as they head onto exposed roads over the top. 

It doesn't appear that any major favourites missed the earlier split in the bunch. Van der Poel, Pidcock, Matthews, Benoot, Laporte, Asgreen all up near the front. 

42.5km to go

Wellens attacks again 

Turner springs out of the saddle through a bend and shuts it down. 

Mohoric muscles through to the front and slots into fourth place through a right-hander.

Turner is splitting this already-split front bunch.

39km to go

Things stitch back together as we head to the Fromberg. 

1.6km at 4.6% is the Fromberg. They're on it now.

Trentin moves Hirschi up. 

Turner waves his arm at the camera motorbike. He nearly went into the back of it on a downhill through a short tunnel. Sketchy stuff.

The Keutenberg comes next then it's a longer trip over the Cauberg and back through to the finish for our finale

They hit the Keutenberg now. It's 1.7km long at 5.6%. Kwiatkowski takes it up! Turner is done

Kwiatkowski accelerates hard on the steep early slopes

Pidcock is with him and Cosnefroy is third wheel.

Benoot attacks now!

Pidcock goes with it. Asgreen responds

Van der Poel slipping!!

The Flanders winner and major favourite is getting dropped here as an elite group starts to go clear. 

Panic over. Van der Poel is back in as the groups come back over the top, but that did not look convincing.

33km to go

Two groups of around five formed on that climb. Van der Poel was in the second but they've come back so it's now a lead group of around 10. Names to follow.

Pidcock, Kwiatkowski, Benoot, Teuns, Hirschi, Van der Poel, Matthews, Cosnefroy, Kung, Asgreen, Kamp.

30km to go

That's the selection and they have 25 seconds over a chasing group with the likes of Laporte, Madouas, Mohoric (who all have teammates up the road).

Wellens and Fuglsang are also in the chase. So is Valgren. Wellens attacks now and Madouas goes with him, and starts contributing. 

Wellens attacks again from the chase. Vintage Wellens display today.

We're heading towards the finish area now and will soon be going up the Cauberg again. 

Tratnik and Cortina hit out in response from the chase.

Now for the dip down towards the foot of the Cauberg. The gap is 23 seconds.

25km to go

Cauberg time!!!

A lull on the climb up front.... Wellens is surging behind.

Hirschi attacks! They were all stalling

Asgreen steadily pegs him back as the group stays together. 

Cagey stuff on the Cauberg from this lead group. 

Pidcock attacks over the top!!

Big acceleration from the Brit. Teuns is on it. The group strings out.

Benoot lets the wheel go as Teuns rolls through. Asgreen closes it. 

Kung calls for collaboration!

They're on the home straight and coming to the line. They're all looking at each other.

Kwiatkowski launches a stealth attack. 

22km to go

And he turns it into a proper attack as the bell rings out!

Tratnik was strongest on the Cauberg from the chase and he crosses next, but the rest of the small chase group is not far behind. 

Kwiatkowski is away here. A brilliant move that puts Pidcock in a great position and, given the cooperation so far, could pay off for himself.

Benoot takes Cosnefroy too wide around a fast bend. They get back onto the road but lose the wheel. 

But they do get back in and Cosnefroy attacks!

It's the Geulhemmerberg and Cosnefroy is tearing into this gap!! Wow

19km to go

Teuns takes it up behind. The rest of the group strings out. 

Matthews loses the wheel and Benoot now picks it up

Cosnefroy reaches Kwiatkowski and hits the front. The Pole switches to sitting-on mode now.

Pidcock attacks over the top!!!

Teuns responds. He's looking super strong. Van der Poel next.

Teuns shoots straight through and attacks. 

Teuns is in the middle and trying to get across to Cosnefroy and Kwiatkowski, who are working together now.

The gap is yawning out!

Teuns is fading now as the chase is picked up behind.

Cosnefroy is betraying every morsel of his effort, mouth agape and shoulders swaying. Kwiatkowski is the complete opposite - cool and still. 

15km to go

15 to go and Teuns is caught by the rest of the group. A wasted bullet. 

20 seconds is the lead for Cosnefroy and Kwiatkowski!

Onto the narrow roads that lead to the Bemeleberg, our final climb. 22 seconds now. 

26 seconds...

Tratnik is still alone and not far off the back of this select group. 

9km to go

Here we go. It's our final climb! Bemeleberg. 1.2km at 5%, and the leading duo hit it with a lead of 29 seconds!

Cosnefroy takes it up on the twisting ascent.

35 seconds now!

The gap isn't small enough for anyone to jump across on this climb. This looks like a two-horse race now as long as they continue to collaborate.

Hirschi accelerates but it's half-hearted. 

Van der Poel stitched things back together and won in extraordinary fashion three years ago but it's not going to happen again, surely.

Big turn from Asgreen. He hasn't shirked responsibility here.

6.5km to go

Van der Poel takes it up, mouth agap. The gap bounces back down to 20 seconds

Back out onto flatter open roads and Cosnefroy launches a big acceleration to pick up speed after a bend.

Hirschi takes it up now. It's not the worst of chases but it doesn't look like enough.

Van der Poel does another turn. He hasn't shirked either.

5km to go

Into the final 5 and Kwiatkowski and Cosnefroy have 21 seconds in hand. 

Asgreen attacks!

Pidcock is onto it, then Van der Poel. The rest are all there. 

22 seconds is the gap with 4km to go

Van der Poel drives it on

3km to go now and Cosnefroy and Kwiatkowski still have 21 seconds.

Benoot attacks! He hadn't done a turn in a while

Teuns responds. Big gap then Asgreen chases

The chase group comes back together and the gap is still 20 seconds.

The front two could start to look at each other soon so it's still an open race. 

Van der Poel attacks!!

Big one from the Dutchman with 2km to go. Asgreen responds.

Asgreen closes it and Matthews is on it too. Pidcock comes back and so do the rest.

14 seconds now with 1.3km to go!

Into the barriers and up the final incline.

Van der Poel attacks again!

Small gap...

Kwiatkowski looks around. this feels familiar

Cosnefroy on the front as he and Kwiatkowski enter the final 500m

It's a two-up sprint for the win

Benoot attacks behind and Cosnefroy looks around and bides his time

Cosnefroy swings over and opens it up!!

Kwiatkowski tries to get alongside!

It's tight on the line!! But Cosnefroy holds on!!

They're not sure. They're waiting for the photo finish. But Cosnefroy took that.

"Is it me?" asks Cosnefroy. This also feels familiar.

Confirmed: Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroen) wins the Amstel Gold Race

Kwiatkowski is gutted. 

Replays now suggest Kwiatkowski got it....

The photo finish shows Kwiatkowski's wheel hitting the line first

Incredible scenes once again at Amstel. Remember last year's contentious photo finish with Pidcock and Van Aert...?

The revised news comes through to the riders and Kwiatkowski celebrates while Cosnefroy tries to hide his blushes. Absolutely brutal on the Frenchman.

So: Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) wins Amstel Gold Race

That was won on a bike throw. Cosnefroy opened the sprint and was just about holding off Kwiatkowski, but the Pole produced a strong and perfectly timed bike throw, while Cosnefroy only threw pretty much once he'd hit the line. A bike throw as good as Kwiatkowski's, and he'd have won. Amazing margins at this race and another edition that confirms the race is so much better on this course.