Ready for Pogacar duel: Evenepoel wins Amstel Gold Race

Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel made a perfect start to the Ardennes week and won the Amstel Gold Race for the first time. In the absence of cycling superstar Tadej Pogacar, the Belgian from the German Red Bull team won the sprint against last year's winner Mattias Skjelmose from Denmark after 257.2 kilometres from Maastricht to Valkenburg. Third place went to the Frenchman Benoit Cosnefroy. The German professional cyclists did not play a role.

On the ride over 33 poisonous climbs, the decision was only made in a direct duel. This time, however, Evenepoel did not allow himself to be duped by Skjelmose as in the previous year. The Dane had surprisingly triumphed against the time trial world champion and Pogacar in the final sprint in 2025.

"The victory means a lot to me. I love the race with its many small, steep climbs. My sprint was better than last year. I'm very proud and happy," said Evenepoel and added: "This is the best victory of the season. The race is just below the monuments."

Duel with Pogacar in Liège

Evenepoel was thus well prepared for the next duel with Pogacar next Sunday in the spring classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The two top stars have dominated the race over the past five years. Evenepoel won twice (2022, 2023), Pogacar three times (2021, 2024, 2025). Before that, Evenepoel will probably start at the Flèche Wallonne, while Pogacar will skip the semi-classic.

The Italian Marco Frigo rode at the front for a long time - first in a breakaway group, then alone. 36 kilometres before the finish, he was caught by the favourites and dropped shortly afterwards. The race was overshadowed by a number of crashes. Among those affected were two-time Paris-Nice winner Matteo Jorgenson from the USA and Tour seventh-placed Kevin Vauquelin from France.

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