Favourites for the Amstel Gold Race: Two photo finish losers want to upset the dominator - what are Schachmann's chances?
Thomas Goldmann
· 13.04.2024
The most important facts in brief
- Date: 14 April 2024, expected arrival ~ 16:50
- Distance: 254 kilometres
- Start: Maastricht, Goal: Berg en Terblijt
- Profilehilly
- UCI category: World Tour
- OrganiserAmstel Gold Race Foundation
- Premiere: 1966, 78th edition
- Last year's winnerTadej Pogacar
- Route, climbs, TV broadcast & live stream
The TOUR favourites by stars*
* Maximilian Schachmann, Marc Hirschi
** Juan Ayuso, Matteo Jorgenson, Maxim van Gils, Michael Matthews
*** Ben Healy, Mattias Skjelmose, Dylan Teuns
**** Thomas Pidcock, Benoit Cosnefroy
***** Mathieu van der Poel
* The more stars a driver receives, the stronger he is rated
Note: The start list has not yet been finalised at the time of publication of this article, so changes may still occur
A top favourite not at the start of the Amstel Gold Race
The script for the Amstel Gold Race had envisaged a duel between Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step). The reality looks different. Evenepoel is out with a broken collarbone and shoulder blade after crashing heavily at the Tour of the Basque Country. The Dutchman van der Poel will therefore start as the top favourite on home roads on Sunday. After his victories in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix the road world champion now also wants to win the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège to show off. He has already proven that he can do this, at least in the 2019 Gold Race. Back then, he caught the two front runners Julian Alaphilippe and Jakob Fuglsang on his own, took the sprint himself and won it. It was one of the most spectacular performances in a one-day race in the last decade.
Whether van der Poel can repeat this on Sunday will depend above all on how he has recovered after his victory at Paris-Roubaix. The riders from the pure Ardennes faction will certainly be fresher than van der Poel at the start. However, he is still the top favourite due to his class.
Thomas Pidcock and Benoit Cosnefroy as challengers
After the five-star candidate van der Poel, we gave two riders four stars: Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and Benoit Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale). Lightweight Pidcock (58 kilograms) likes the Ardennes better than the cobbled classics. Nevertheless, the All-rounder Pidcock put in a more than impressive performance last weekend with 17th place in his Paris-Roubaix debut. Pidcock finished third in the Amstel Gold Race last year. However, his sprint duel for victory against Wout van Aert in 2021 is particularly memorable. It was only after minutes of waiting and enlarging the finish photo that it was clear that van Aert had won by millimetres. In 2024, Pidcock will do everything in his power to finish one place higher this time.
Similar to Pidcock was the fate of Cosnefroy in 2022The Frenchman in turn found his champion in Michal Kwiatkowski. However, here too it was necessary to look very closely to determine the winner. This year, the Frenchman comes to the start in Maastricht in top form. During the week, he won the Arrow of Brabant in impressive style - something of a dress rehearsal for the Amstel.
Ben Healy, Dylan Teuns and Mattias Skjelmose - three candidates with three stars
Ben Healy (EF Education EasyPost) was awarded one star less. The Irishman was the rider who came closest to last year's dominator Tadej Pogacar and finished second. The 23-year-old has already achieved several top 10 results this year. Only one victory is still missing to give him more than three stars. Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech) has recently been in better form. The winner of the Fleche Wallonne 2022 finished second at the Brabantse Pijl on Wednesday and previously came eighth on unfamiliar terrain at the Tour of Flanders. This makes the 32-year-old one of the favourites.
In addition to Healy and Teuns, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) also receives three stars. The Danish stage race specialist is also doing well in the Ardennes Classics - eighth place in the 2023 Amstel, second place in the Fleche Wallonne and ninth place in Liège-Bastogne-Liège underline this. At the Basque Country Tour the 23-year-old took over the leader's jersey from Primoz Roglic after the top stars dropped out on stage 4 and only had to hand it back to Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) on the final day.
What does UAE Team Emirates do?
Although Ayuso was better than Skjelmose in the Basque Country, at the age of 21 he might still lack the race hardness for a classic over 250 kilometres long. Especially as his team has a second card to play in Marc Hirschi. In 2020, the Swiss rider already won the Fleche Wallonne and finished second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He has already won the Faun Drome Classic in 2024, but doesn't seem to be in the same form as four years ago, which is why he only managed one star.
In the form he has shown over large parts of the spring so far, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) would also have been a candidate for victory in the Amstel Gold Race. However, the US-American had to cancel Paris-Roubaix at short notice due to illness. There is therefore a question mark over his current state of fitness.
Maxim van Gils and Michael Matthews with strong performances at Milan-San Remo
With third place at Strade Bianche and seventh place at Milan-San Remo Maxim van Gils (Lotto-Dstny) is one of the discoveries of the season so far. The hilly classics suit the 24-year-old Belgian, which is why he should also have an outside chance in the Amstel Gold Race.
Just like Michael Matthews (Team Jayco-AlUla). The Australian has already finished third on the podium in the Netherlands in 2015. In 2024, the 33-year-old impressed with second place at Milan-San Remo.
What are Maximilian Schachmann's chances?
Maximilian Schachmann has also stood on the podium of the Amstel Gold Race. In 2021, the Berlin rider finished third behind van Aert and Pidcock. After a long dry spell, the 30-year-old showed very good form at the Tour of the Basque Country and almost won stage 5 - finishing third in the end. This makes him cautiously optimistic for the Ardennes classics.
