Cavalli wins Amstel Gold Race Women

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Marta Cavalli (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) won the Amstel Gold Race Women on Sunday, crossing the finish line alone. 

The former Italian champion attacked from a group of seven riders that had formed on the Cauberg and held off the chasers on the last two kilometres, reaching the line with a three-second advantage.

Demi Vollering (SD Worx) was fastest from the rest of the group for second place, while third went to Liane Lippert (Team DSM) in what was a tight sprint for the minor podium places. 

"It is an incredible feeling, my biggest victory so far,” said Marta Cavalli after the race. 

"In the last 50km, I felt a bit tired. I have to thank my sports director [Nicolas Maire], when we were at the top of the Cauberg the last time, he pushed me on the radio, ‘Marta, this is your moment, we have nothing to lose’. We started the season with the motto ‘all or nothing’, I attacked, and when I looked back after 500 metres, I saw a big gap. Then it was just pushing until the finish line.”

The pre-race reconnaissance ride was crucial to Cavalli’s victory.

"We spoke about this moment on the recon, when you are in the back of a group after the Cauberg, and in the front they slow down, that is the key moment to attack," she said.

How it unfolded

Starting in Maastricht in sunny, but cold weather, the 128.5-kilometre course with 19 named ascents meandered through South Limburg. Reaching the Cauberg after 70km and crossing the finish line for the first time two kilometres later, the race ended with three laps of a circuit including the Geulhemmerberg, Bemelerberg, and Cauberg.

After an early break had been caught, Anna Henderson (Team Jumbo-Visma) and Pauliena Rooijakkers (Canyon-SRAM) initiated a move with 85km to go that led to a front group of ten riders, also including Niewiadoma, Van Vleuten, Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo), Yara Kastelijn (Plantur-Pura), and the Team SD Worx quartet of Marlen Reusser, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Niamh Fisher-Black, and Vollering.

Van Vleuten, Niewiadoma, and Vollering attacked from this group on the steep Keutenberg with 68km to go while the others were reeled in, and soon after, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Team SD Worx), Lippert, Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo), and Henderson joined the front group.

Their advantage fluctuated between 10 and 45 seconds, and Ane Santesteban (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) bridged after the first ascent of the Geulhemmerberg. Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ) also joined the front on the descent before the second Cauberg ascent where the group was caught.

The next to get away was Rooijakkers who attacked with 33km to go. After a few kilometres, she was joined by Amanda Spratt (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) and Arlenis Sierra (Movistar Team). At 40 seconds ahead of the peloton on the Bemelerberg with 27km to go, they started the final lap with only eight seconds on Margarita Victoria García (UAE Team ADQ) who had attacked just after the Cauberg and 13 seconds on a group of about 15 riders.

Although the gap grew a bit again, Rooijakkers, Spratt, and Sierra were eventually caught 10km from the line. After a flurry of unsuccessful attacks, Stine Borgli (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) went solo with 6km to go, but she was reeled in again just before the turn into the Cauberg.

Mikayla Harvey (Canyon-SRAM) set the pace on the lower slopes of the final climb, then Floortje Mackaij (Team DSM) took over until Van Vleuten launched her trademark attack. Only Lippert could stay in her wheel, but as the climb flattened out towards the top, Niewiadoma, Vollering, Moolman-Pasio, García, and Cavalli all came back to the front.

At 1,800 metres from the line, Cavalli attacked on the left side of the road, surprising Moolman-Pasio who looked to the right to watch Van Vleuten. The 24-year-old Italian quickly got a sizeable gap and rode on to the finish, leaving only the second place for Vollering.

World Champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) won the sprint of the next group to place eighth and continues to lead the UCI Women’s WorldTour ranking.