The Amstel Gold Race is a one-day classic road cycling race held annualy since 1966 in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classics riders as the favourites.
Philippe Gilbert is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships in 2012, and for being one of two riders, along with Davide Rebellin, to have won the three Ardennes classics – the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège – in a single season, which he accomplished in 2011. Gilbert also finished the 2011 season as the overall winner of the UCI World Tour.
Roman Kreuziger is a Czech former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2021 for six different teams. His father, Roman Kreuziger Sr., was also a bicycle racer who won the Tour of Austria in 1991 and the Cyclocross Junior World Championships in 1983.
The Ardennes classics are three cycling classics held in mid-April in the Belgian Ardennes and southern Limburg in the Netherlands: Liège–Bastogne–Liège, La Flèche Wallonne and Amstel Gold Race. First held in 1892, 1936 and 1966 respectively, the races are notable for their hilly courses, and often have similar riders competing for the top positions as the races are held closely following each other. Cyclists that are specialized in these hilly courses are known as puncheurs. In recent years, the three classics have been held within an 8-day timeframe.
The 2009 Amstel Gold Race was the 44th edition of the Amstel Gold Race classic cycle race and took place on April 19, 2009. It was held on a 257.4-kilometre (159.9 mi) course from Maastricht to Cauberg, the Netherlands, as the fifth event of the 2009 UCI ProTour, and the ninth event in the inaugural UCI World Ranking series. It was won by Serguei Ivanov, who formed a late breakaway with Robert Gesink and Karsten Kroon with 8 km to go.
The 2010 Amstel Gold Race was the 45th edition of the Amstel Gold Race classic cycle race and took place on April 18, 2010. It was held on a 257.4 kilometres (159.9 mi) course from Maastricht to Cauberg as the sixth event of the 2010 UCI ProTour and the tenth event in the UCI World Ranking series. The race was won by Philippe Gilbert, ending a 16-year wait for a Belgian victory in the race.
The 2011 season for Omega Pharma–Lotto began in January with the Tour Down Under, where defending champion André Greipel debuted for the team, and ended in October at the Giro di Lombardia. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour. The team's roster changed drastically from 2010.
Michał Kwiatkowski is a Polish professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Ineos Grenadiers.
The 2011 Amstel Gold Race was the 46th running of the Amstel Gold Race, a single-day cycling race. It was held on 17 April 2011 over a distance of 260.4 kilometres and was the tenth race of the 2011 UCI World Tour season.
The 2011 La Flèche Wallonne was the 75th running of La Flèche Wallonne, a single-day cycling race. It was held on 20 April 2011 over a distance of 201 kilometres between Charleroi and Huy in Belgium, and was the eleventh race of the 2011 UCI World Tour season.
The 2012 Amstel Gold Race was the 47th running of the Amstel Gold Race, a single-day cycling race. It was held on 15 April 2012 over a distance of 256.5 kilometres and was the eleventh race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.
The 2012 Liège–Bastogne–Liège was the 98th running of the Liège–Bastogne–Liège, a single-day cycling race. It was held on 22 April 2012 over a distance of 257.5 kilometres, starting in Liège and finishing in Ans, via Bastogne in the Ardennes region of Belgium. It was the thirteenth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.
The 2013 Amstel Gold Race was the 48th running of the Amstel Gold Race, a single-day cycling race. It was held on 14 April 2013 over a distance of 251.8 kilometres and it was the eleventh race of the 2013 UCI World Tour season.
The 2015 Amstel Gold Race was the 50th edition of the Amstel Gold Race one-day race. It took place on 19 April and was the eleventh race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The Amstel Gold Race formed part of the Ardennes classics season, although it took place in the Limburg region of the Netherlands rather than in the Belgian Ardennes. It took place in the week before La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the other principal Ardennes classics. The defending champion in the 2015 edition of the race was Philippe Gilbert, who had won the race three times and had also won the 2012 world championships on a very similar course.
The 2016 La Flèche Wallonne was a one-day cycling classic that took place on 20 April 2016. It was the 80th edition of La Flèche Wallonne and the twelfth race of the 2016 UCI World Tour. It was the second of the three Ardennes classics, coming after the Amstel Gold Race and before the Liège–Bastogne–Liège.
The 2016 Amstel Gold Race was a one-day classic cycling race that took place in the Limburg region of the Netherlands on 17 April 2016. It was the 51st edition of the Amstel Gold Race and the eleventh event of the 2016 UCI World Tour. It was also the first of the Ardennes classics, although it is technically not in the Ardennes region. The race took place over a 258-kilometre (160 mi) route that starts in Maastricht and ends in Berg en Terblijt on the outskirts of Valkenburg. The key difficulty in the race came from the 34 short but steep climbs. The central climb, the Cauberg, was crossed four times, with 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) between the final summit and the finish line. The favourites for victory in the race included the three-time winner Philippe Gilbert (BMC), the defending champion Michał Kwiatkowski (Sky), and Simon Gerrans and Michael Matthews.
The 2017 UCI World Tour was a competition that included thirty-seven road cycling events throughout the 2017 men's cycling season. It was the ninth edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The competition started with the opening stage of the Tour Down Under on 17 January and concluded with the final stage of the Tour of Guangxi on 24 October. Slovakia's Peter Sagan was the defending champion. The 2017 edition featured ten new events.
The 2017 Amstel Gold Race was a road cycling one-day race that took place on 16 April. It was the 52nd edition of the Amstel Gold Race and the sixteenth event of the 2017 UCI World Tour.
The 2018 Amstel Gold Race was a road cycling one-day race that took place on 15 April 2018 in the Netherlands. It was the 53rd edition of the Amstel Gold Race and the sixteenth event of the 2018 UCI World Tour. The race started in Maastricht and finished in Berg en Terblijt, containing 35 categorised climbs, covering a total distance of 263 kilometres.
The 2019 Amstel Gold Race is a road cycling one-day race that took place on 21 April 2019 in the Netherlands. It was the 54th edition of the Amstel Gold Race and the 18th event of the 2019 UCI World Tour.
