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40th Amstel Gold Race - PT
Netherlands, April 17, 2005
Main Page Map and profile Start List Latest live report Results
Commentary by Roger Hughes with additional reporting from Jeff Jones
Complete live report
Live coverage starts: 10:21 CEST
Estimated finish time: 16:40 CEST
10:30 CEST
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Today's fifth race of the seven ProTour spring classics will be run over the usual parcours through the Limburg hills in the south of Holland, starting from Maastricht and finishing atop the Cauberg in Valkenburg 251 kilometres later. While the route lacks the cobbles of last Sunday's Paris-Roubaix, it is more than challenging with the inclusion of 31 short, steep climbs.
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Runner up in both Amstel and Liege in 2004 was Michael Boogerd (Rabobank), who has an impressive record in this race: one victory (1999), three second places, and one third. He has had a quiet build up to the race this year, hampered by sickness, but should be ready for the Battle on the Cauberg on Sunday. Rabobank also has Erik and Thomas Dekker, as well as Oscar Freire in its lineup, and looks to be one of the strongest teams on paper.
10:37 CEST
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Serge Baguet, Leon Van Bon, and Axel Merckx will be the riders to watch for Davitamon-Lotto. Baguet has recovered from a crash in Pais Vasco, and will hope to find his early season winning legs again. Van Bon had the misfortune to puncture out of the lead group in Paris-Roubaix last Sunday, but showed that he had excellent form by still finishing sixth.
10:39 CEST 5km/246km to go
The mist is expected to clear to a dry day with maybe a bit of sun later; no
rain is expected, which is just as well on this rather convoluted course with
its myriad twists, turns and traffic-calming measures (21 new speed bumps and
chicanes on the course since last year, apparently). The first loop of the course
heads north out of Maastricht around the airport.
11:15 CEST
Frankly, there's not much happening yet, which is hardly unexpected on a course
which tends to whittle down the field from the back. Unlike Flanders, Paris-Roubaix
or Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the main obstacles - the 31 listed climbs - are not
concentrated in the closing section of the race, but are spread fairly evenly
throughout.
Not that we could possibly condone betting on bike racing (*checks list of advertisers*)
which is a mug's game if ever there was one, but purely as a matter of academic
interest, the bookies (well, mrbookmaker.com, who we can mention because they
are a sponsor and all) have Michael Boogerd down as 4/1 favourite, but the amateurs
on Betfair seem to be going for Alejandro Valverde and Danilo Di Luca ahead
of him.
11:49 CEST 55km/196km to go
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Leighton and Vicki in New Zealand ask if today's race is likely to be more of a team race than an individual's race with the teams higher up the ProTour team classification trying to control the race. I doubt it; the team classification is unlikely to get very much attention, and with there being no relegation from the ProTour circuit, the returns in terms of publicity and so on from individual race wins are likely to be far greater than the sort of consistency in mopping up the minor placings that wins points competitions (which is one reason why I never liked the World Cup, myself - it encouraged people to ride for second and cut their losses rather than taking risks to win).
12:29 CEST
Another of the breakaways - who have a healthy 13 minutes or so ahead of an
as yet uninterested peloton - is Erwin Thijs (mrbookmaker.com), who is a newish
recruit to the Jacky Durand/Ludo Dierckxsens/Tomas Wegmüller "usual suspects"
club; he was in the long early breakaway in Paris-Roubaix as well.
12:52 CEST 100km/151km to go
After the first hundred kilometres and nine climbs the breakaway group's lead
has settled down to just over 12 minutes. The race here is now on its southernmost
loop heading for the highest point in the Netherlands, which is also in Belgium
and Germany - the Drielandenpunt. No signs of rare fauna in this fairly densely
populated corner of the world, but our naturalists are instead keeping an eye
out for the rare zinc violet, unique to the valley of the river Geul, so we
hope that the spectators are being careful where they tread.
In other news, the UCI's medical inspectors picked 32 riders to be blood-tested
this morning from Davitamon-Lotto, Quick.Step, Lampre, and CSC. All were declared
fit to start.
13:21 CEST 120km/131km to go
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The peloton has picked up the pace now, and the break are starting to be reeled back in as they return to Dutch soil after the brief sojourn in Belgium that follows the Drielandenpunt climb (only a couple of kilometres now, rather than the 30 km final run-in in Belgium that the previous version of the course had).
13:49 CEST 145km/106km to go
Grivko has punctured and Van Katwijk has now been dropped; they are chasing
Moreau and Thijs together, while the bunch have closed the gap down to nine
minutes; no big hurry yet although a few people will be twitchy after the mid-week
Scheldeprijs, where the suicide breakaway unexpectedly came off, leaving the
sprinters' teams with egg all over their faces.
As ever, all eyes (not least their sponsors') are on the Rabobank team in their
leading domestic race. As we mentioned, the bookies are making Michael Boogerd
("practically married to this race", according to Frans Maassen) the favourite,
although precedent would suggest you'd be better backing him to come fourth.
We had a word with his team-mate Karsten Kroon this morning. "I feel good myself,
but we have a relatively strong team with Boogerd, Dekker, and Freire. I hope
that I can work well for the team. In principle, I have to ride the last 50
km. We'll see who of the four of us is left and decide who to work for".
13:57 CEST
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14:16 CEST
Moreau and Thijs lead over the longish drag of the Eyserweg. The peloton are
still more than 8 minutes back.
We had a quick word with Christian Henn in the Gerolsteiner team car. He said
that Davide Rebellin was feeling very good, like last year. His form has been
getting better and better; he rode very strongly in the Basque Tour. He thinks
that the Rabobank stars and Di Luca are favourites and Gerolsteiner is now forcing
the pace along with their teams.
14:24 CEST 155km/96km to go
Despite the chase, the two leaders seem to have stopped the slide for the moment
and the lead seems to be fluctuating around the 9 minute mark now; they're still
a long way from home though and this is a course just made for riders to blow
up spectacularly on.
14:40 CEST 168km/83km to go
The leaders are now onto the Sibbegrubbe, climb 20, the last before the second
ascent of the Cauberg, still with 9 minutes lead.
The bunch is now somewhat diminished in size, with Bas Giling, Peter Farazijn
(a crash victim earlier) and Brad McGee being among those dropped; Francisco
Mancebo has packed.
14:42 CEST 172km/79km to go
Illes Balears have now moved up to join the chase on behalf of Alejandro Valverde.
The two leaders are tackling the Cauberg in front of a packed crowd; as we are
just over the border from Belgium there are plenty of Vlaamse Leeuwen on display,
with the bearers cheering on Erwin Thijs as he hangs onto the stronger-looking
(but clearly suffering) Moreau's wheel. Plenty of Germans have also taken the
opportunity of nipping over the frontier as well.
14:53 CEST
Van Katwijk and Grivko look as though they will soon be swept up by the bunch,
led for the moment by Discovery Channel, who are fielding a relatively weak
team in this race, with Max Van Heeswijk and George Hincapie as senior members.
We spoke to Hincapie this morning in Maastricht: "This race doesn't suit me
as well as Flanders. I just hope I can have decent legs and be there in the
final. It's difficult to recover from Roubaix and Flanders, but I missed San
Remo so I hope I still have a bit left for today."
14:57 CEST
The two leaders are now over the Geulhemmerberg (climb 22) and onto a loop through
the centre of Maastricht that will bring them back to the Bemelerberg where
a puncture saw off Boogerd's chances in the World Championships in 1998. The
gap is down to 7.30.
15:21 CEST 198km/53km to go
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15:28 CEST
T-Mobile's Steffen Wesemann has jumped across the gap to Van Bon and the pair
are pulling back Thijs and Moreau, who now have only four and a half of their
original 13 minutes' lead. The first five hours of the race have been run off
at some 42 kph.
15:42 CEST
Van Bon and Wesemann are now over half a minute clear of the bunch which means
that they are pretty much out of sight in this terrain and weather; this could
be a very smart move if they have the legs on the last half-dozen calf-biters
(as the Dutch call them). Moreau and Thijs still have just under four minutes,
but it's looking hard for them.
15:45 CEST 209km/42km to go
Jens Voigt (CSC) is now chancing his hand by trying to get across to Wesemann
and Van Bon, who are closing fast on the two leaders. Bos, Kano, Baguet, and
Vierhouten are among those dropped.
15:52 CEST 214km/37km to go
Voigt's attempt comes to nothing and he is back in the bunch as the race hits
the Wolfsberg.
15:56 CEST 218km/33km to go
On the Loorberg (climb 25) the lead is melting away like snow in summer (and
unlike Limburg fog); less than a minute now and Moreau and Thijs are definitely
doomed.
16:04 CEST 224km/27km to go
As the Wesemann/Van Bon tandem closes in on Thijs and Moreau, the bunch in turn
is closing in on them; their advantage is back down to 20 seconds.
They are caught at the foot of the Gulperberg after more than 200 km in the
lead.
16:09 CEST 227km/24km to go
Moreau and Thijs tag on to Van Bon and Wesemann, but it looks as though the
bunch (Rabobank massed to the fore) will be on them very soon. Moreau and Thijs
lose contact on the Kruisberg.
16:19 CEST 232km/19km to go
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16:21 CEST 236km/15km to go
The quartet take the top of the Fromberg with 22 seconds lead, with just two
more climbs to go.
16:27 CEST 241km/10km to go
The four of them are moving clear now, 356 seconds lead on the run in to the
Keutenberg; Kroon looks like he is getting his chance from Rabobank; Lotz (who
is a local Limburgerborn in Valkenburg) will be desperate to show Rabobank that
they made a mistake in letting him go. Wesemann will want to make up for missing
out in the Ronde because of illness. Etxebarria is always up for it. A chasing
group of 10 riders has formed half a minute behind them.
16:30 CEST
And the chasing group has the names we've been waiting for in it: Rebellin (Gerolsteiner),
Rodriguez (Saunier Duval), Leukemans (Davitamon-Lotto), Valverde (Illes Balears),
Sinkewitz (Quick.Step), Celestino (Domina), Kirchen (Fassa), Di Luca (Liquigas),
Boogerd, Freire (Rabobank).
16:34 CEST 243km/8km to go
The four leaders have 18 seconds on the ten chasers, with the peloton another
10 seconds or so behind them.
16:36 CEST 245km/6km to go
Over the Keutenberg and the chasers are closing in, just 8 seconds now
16:37 CEST 247km/4km to go
The leaders are on the descent of the Sibbegrubbe now, almost at the foot of
the Cauberg
16:38 CEST
30 riders are together, as the various front groups have reformed. This could
be a bunch sprint on the Cauberg...
16:39 CEST 249km/2km to go
2 kilometres to go, and this group of 30, with all the favourites, are together.
This should be one hell of a sprint...
16:40 CEST
Oscar Freire and Davide Rebellin have to be favourites for this kind of a finish.
Also Di Luca.
16:40 CEST 250km/1km to go
Dekker is leading the bunch now. They're at the foot of the Cauberg.
16:41 CEST 250.5km/0.5km to go
Rabobank is controlling the front group, hoping for a home win. Kroon leads,
then Dekker takes over, Boogerd in third, then Freire...
16:43 CEST 251km/0km to go
Dekker buries himself, then Boogerd takes over with Freire behind. Here comes
Di Luca, he moves up next to Boogerd, then Murn(?) takes a flyer for Phonak.
Nope, now Boogerd jumps with Rebellin following.
250m to go and it's Boogerd, Di Luca and Rebellin. Then Freire.
Di Luca is too good and wins the Amstel Gold Race!! Boogerd second, again...
Celestino takes third ahead of last year's winner Rebellin. Freire was out of
the top 8 - the Rabobank lead out was perfect, except for the last man. Boogerd
wasn't prepared to do the sprint, and was somewhat dismayed that Freire couldn't
follow. Well, that's how it goes!
Thanks for following us once again - we'll be back next week with the Tour de Georgia, La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The fun never stops.
Results
Provisional 1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi 2 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 3 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Domina Vacanze 4 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 5 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 6 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quickstep 7 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 8 David Etxebarria Alkorta (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team Pro Tour standings 1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep 112 pts 2 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 93 3 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi 91 4 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 79 5 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 75 5 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 75 7 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Gerolsteiner 70 8 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 55
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