Photos Amstel Gold Race 2019

Amstel Gold Race 2019 / 21 April / Maastricht-Berg en Terblijt

The 54th Amstel Gold Race, the most famous one day classic of the Netherlands, started in Maastricht and finished in Berg en Terblijt.

The start of the race in Maastricht with Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) on the right and race director Leo van Vliet waving the red flag on the left.

Here on the Fromberg, Jakob Fuglsang (AST) and Julian Alaphilippe (DQT) had already attacked. They were confident they could stay away until the finish.

It was Mathieu van der Poel (COC) who managed to get to them and win the race in the most sensational way. Simon Clarke (EF1) became second and Jakob Fuglsang (AST) became third. Julian Alaphilippe (DQT) became fourth.

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Photos Brabantse Pijl 2019

Brabantse Pijl 2019 / 17 April / Leuven-Overijse

Mathieu van der Poel (COC) is the winner of the Brabantse Pijl 2019. Julian Alaphilippe (DQT) became second and Tim Wellens (LTS) third.

Alberto Bettiol (EF1), the winner of the Ronde van Vlaanderen 2019, performed also well in this Flanders Classic and became sixth.

Michael Matthews (SUN) almost made it to the podium, but became fourth in this year’s edition of the Brabantse Pijl, in which he always rides well.

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Photos Ronde van Overijssel 2018

Ronde van Overijssel 2018 / 12 May / Rijssen

The Ronde van Overijssel (UCI 1.2) almost always has the same route, but this year the organisation decided to move the finish closer to the city centre of Rijssen. The riders had to face a distance of 199 kilometres through Overijssel, a region in the east of the Netherlands. It is a perfect race for young talented riders to show what they are capable of and a lot of foreign teams come to the race, such as Canyon Eisberg from Great Britain with Harry Tanfield, who has recently won a stage in the Tour of Yorkshire. Before the ravitaillering and the Lemelerberg, there were riders who managed to get away from the peloton.

This head bunch consisted of 14 riders, such as Cees Bol (SEG), Max Kanter (DSU), Eamon Lucas, Rens Tulner (DCR), Tijmen Eising (MET), Jordi van Loon (DES) & Martijn Budding (RNL). The team WV De Jonge Renner and later on also Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij managed to reduce the gap and then Tim Ariesen, Nick van der Lijke en Jeroen Meijers from Team Roompot and a few other conti-riders jumped to the head of the race.

The bunch with about 25 riders stayed away and Piotr Havik from the team Beat Cycling Club attacked. Harry Tanfield (BCC) was the only rider who was able to get him back and they sprinted for the win. Havik then won the 66th edition of the Ronde van Overijssel. Cees Bol (SEG) remains the leader in the Holland Cup.

All the winners joined each other on stage at the end of the day: winner Piotr Havik (Beat Cycling Club), runner-up Harry Tanfield (Canyon – Eisberg), number three Max Kanter (Development Team Sunweb), the most combative rider Tijmen Eising (Metec), the best rider U23 (Gijs Verdick Memorial Prize) Max Kanter (Development Team Sunweb), the winner of the sprint ‘Dorp van de Ronde’ (Enter/Wierden) Nils Eekhoff (Development Team Sunweb) and Cees Bol (SEG Racing), the leader in the Holland Cup.

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Go Gorilla

♫ André Greipel – Go Gorilla ♫

“Go Gorilla, rock your tool
You are the champion for us toujours
Go Gorilla, you are strong
And in the end you’ll be the number one”

Germany | YouTube – Sebastian Paddags | Tour de France 2017

Photos Dutch Road Championships 2017

Dutch Road Championships 2017 / 25 June / Elite Men

The Dutch National Road Championships took place in Montferland this year, an area in the east of the Netherlands, and the start and finish were in ‘s-Heerenberg. Quickly after the start, a head bunch was formed with the following riders: Robert Gesink, Bert-Jan Lindeman, Koen Bouwman (TLJ), Jetse Bol (MZN), Berden de Vries, Tim Ariesen, Martijn Budding (RNL), Albert Timmer, Tom Stamsnijder (SUN), Peter Koning (ABS), René Hooghiemster, Robbert de Greef (BDC), Boy van Poppel (TFS), Joey van Rhee (DJP), Stan Godrie (VWC), Roy Eefting (VCT), Lars van der Haar (TFL), Jasper Hamelink (MET), Maarten de Jonge (MCT) and Ike Groen (DCR).

The race was 231 kilometres long and took place on a circuit of 16,6 kilometres. After the start in ‘s-Heerenberg the riders went up north to Zeddam, then to Beek in the west and finally to Stokkum in the south, before heading back to ‘s-Heerenberg. The head bunch was very strong, but couldn’t stay away until the end. There were quite a few attacks from riders towards the end, but no one was able to stay away. From then on it was clear that the race would end in a sprint. Dylan Groenewegen (TLJ) – last year’s champion – wasn’t able to beat Wouter Wippert (CDT) and Ramon Sinkeldam (SUN). But who was the winner? Wippert thought that he’d won, but the jury saw it on tv: Sinkeldam was a bit faster.

Tom Dumoulin, the winner of the 2017 edition of the Giro d’Italia, had already prolonged his national time trial title on the wednesday before the road race. But he was also very happy after finishing the road race, because winner Ramon Sinkeldam is his teammate – they both ride for the German WorldTour Team Sunweb. Pieter Weening smiled along, because his team Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij also performed well during the day. Coen Vermeltfoort almost reached the podium – he became 4th behind Dylan Groenewegen (TLJ).

They were so close, but the red-white-blue jersey was for Ramon Sinkeldam. But Wouter Wippert and Dylan Groenewegen could still smile, because together with the new national champion they showed once again that they are the best sprinters of the Netherlands and that they belong to the sprint top of the world. Ramon Sinkeldam and Dylan Groenewegen will be present in the Tour de France this year, so the Dutch national colours can be spotted in the Tour peloton again.

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Photos Amstel Gold Race 2017

Amstel Gold Race 2017 / 16 April / Maastricht-Vilt

The Amstel Gold Race always starts at the Grote Markt in Maastricht, a beautiful place in the south of the Netherlands. But this time the presentation on the podium was pretty special, because for the first time in years, the women were present too. A lot of classics have been added to the women’s calendar in the past years and this year the Amstel Gold Race was added as well. A lot of female riders were psyched about riding this race, because they had asked for it for so long. The winner of the women’s edition of the race was Anna van der Breggen.

The breakaway of the day consisted of 12 riders: Lars Boom (TLJ), Tim Ariesen (RNL), Stijn Vandenbergh (ALM), Pieter Vanspeybrouck (WGG), Kenneth Van Rooy (SVB), Nikita Stalnov (AST), Mads Würtz Schmidt (KAT), Michal Paluta (CCC), Brendan Canty (CDT), Johann van Zyl (DDD), Vincenzo Albanese (BAR) and Fabien Grellier (DEN). This group was able to stay away for almost 200 kilometres, but Team Sunweb, Lotto and BMC fought hard to get them back.

Then a new group was formed with Philippe Gilbert (QST), Michal Kwiatkowski (SKY), Sergio Henao (SKY), Michael Albasini (ORS), José Joaquím Rojas (MOV), Ion Izagirri (TBM), Nathan Haas (DDD) and Bert-Jan Lindeman (TLJ). At the Bemelerberg, Kwiatkowski and Gilbert were the ones who got away and got to fight for the victory. It was Philippe Gilbert who won the sprint à deux.

So the 52nd edition of the Amstel Gold Race was exciting to watch until the very end, where Philippe Gilbert managed to secure his fourth Amstel Gold Race victory. Gilbert also won this year’s Ronde van Vlaanderen, so this was already the second classic that he added to his palmares this year. Michael Albasini (ORS) became third and was a bit disappointed about his result, because he had hoped for a bunch sprint. Kwiatkowski wasn’t able to beat Gilbert in the sprint. “He fought and came back in those final metres. Gilbert is a champion, we must not forget that.” Unfortunately after the race it turned out that Gilbert had a serious kidney injury due to a crash and has to take some time off to recover.

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