Dutch cycling classic - Photo finish: Kwiatkowski wins Amstel Gold Race

Former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski has won the Amstel Gold Race cycling classic in a photo finish.

The 31-year-old Pole beat Frenchman Benoit Cosnefroy by a tyre's width in a sprint between two breakaways. After 254.1 kilometres through the foothills of the Dutch Ardennes, Cosnefroy was initially celebrated as the winner in Valkenburg, before the photo evidence showed Kwiatkowski's narrow lead. The Belgian Tiesj Benoot finished third.

Local hero Mathieu van der Poel went into the race, which he had already won in 2019, as the big favourite a week after his victory in the Tour of Flanders. However, the 27-year-old Dutchman already had problems on the up to 22 per cent steep Keutenberg 34 kilometres before the finish. At the penultimate finish, Kwiatkowski launched the decisive attack from a leading group of eleven riders around 22 kilometres from the end.

The former U23 world champion Cosnefroy jumped to the front shortly afterwards and, unlike the chasers, the duo worked well together and maintained their lead to the finish. For Kwiatkowski, who was originally planned as a helper for his British team-mate Tom Pidcock, it was his second success at the Amstel after 2015, leaving Van der Poel in fourth place.

Copyright 2022, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved