A climbing specialist or climber, also known as a grimpeur, is a road bicycle racer who can ride especially well on highly inclined roads, such as those found among hills or mountains.
The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic road cycling race held in the province of Limburg, the 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.
Koppenberg is a 77 m (253 ft) high hill in Oudenaarde, the Flemish Ardennes, Belgium. "Koppen" is an abbreviation for cobblestones which in Dutch slang language are called kinderkoppen, or "children's heads". This climb is part of the route of the Tour of Flanders professional cycling race and feared by many because of its steepness and because of its cobblestones. This makes the Koppenberg difficult even for top professionals. Quite often, riders slow to the point of losing their balance, especially those at the back of the peloton who have to dismount and scramble to the top on foot.
Philippe Gilbert is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Lotto–Soudal. Gilbert 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.
The Cauberg is a hill in Valkenburg aan de Geul, a town in the southern part of the Netherlands. The hill played an important role in the early development of tourism in Valkenburg. Today, several major tourist attractions are situated on or nearby Cauberg. The hill's fame is mainly due to the many cycling races and championships that were held here. The length of the climb is around 1200 m, with a maximum grade of 12%.
The Muur van Geraardsbergen is a steep, narrow road with cobblestones in Geraardsbergen, Belgium. It is also known as Kapelmuur, Muur-Kapelmuur or simply Muur. The hill starts near the river Dender at 18 m and reaches the top of the Oudenberg at 110 m after 1,075 m at 9.3 per cent. This climb is often part of the Tour of Flanders professional cycling race.
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.
Eys is a village in the municipality of Gulpen-Wittem, Limburg, the Netherlands. The town is located 3 km. from Gulpen and 17 km. from provincial capital Maastricht. Furthermore, it is characterised by its location in the hilly landscape of South Limburg. The village was first mentioned in 1193 in a document of the Sint-Pauluskapittel of Liège, Belgium, and was named after the river Eyserbeek.
The Keutenberg is a steep hill in the south of Limburg, Netherlands. The start of the climb is in Schin op Geul, a small village near Valkenburg aan de Geul. The Keutenberg is considered the steepest hill in the Netherlands and is famous for being part of the route of the Amstel Gold Race.
The Men's Individual Road Race of the 2012 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on 23 September in the province of Limburg, Netherlands.
The Women's road race of the 2012 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on 22 September in the province of Limburg, Netherlands.
The Women's team time trial of the 2012 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on 16 September 2012 in the province of Limburg, Netherlands.
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 is part of the Ardennes classics season, although it takes place in the Limburg region of the Netherlands rather than in the Belgian Ardennes. It takes 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 Paterberg is a hill in the municipality of Kluisbergen, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. With its top at 80 m, its is one of many hill formations in the Flemish Ardennes, close to Wallonia. The slopes of the hill were unpaved until 1986, when a local farmer paved the road in cobbles because he wanted the Tour of Flanders cycling race to pass by his house. The cobbled climb became one of the iconic sites of Belgian cycling, and in 1993 the road of the Paterberg was classified as a protected monument.
The Bosberg is a hill in the Pajottenland in Belgium with its top located on the border of East Flanders and Flemish Brabant. The road leading to the top is surfaced in concrete in the lower parts and cobbled in the steep upper parts of the hill. The hill is almost completely forested with the Raspaillebos natural reserve.
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 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 fifth edition of the Amstel Gold Race for Women was a road cycling one-day race held on 15 April 2018 in the Netherlands. It was the seventh event of the 2018 UCI Women's World Tour. The race started in Maastricht and finished in Berg en Terblijt, containing 17 categorized climbs and covering a total distance of 116.9 km.
The fourth edition of the Amstel Gold Race for Women was a road cycling one-day race held on 16 April 2017 in the Netherlands. It was the sixth event of the 2017 UCI Women's World Tour. The race started in Maastricht and finished in Berg en Terblijt, containing 17 categorized climbs, covering a total distance of 121.6 km. It was won by Dutch rider Anna van der Breggen.
The Women's Amstel Gold Race is the women's event of the Amstel Gold Race, the most important annual road cycling event in the Netherlands. Held in mid-April, it is organized on the same day as the men's race at approximately half the distance. Like the men's event, the race starts in Maastricht and finishes in Berg en Terblijt, Valkenburg. It features 17 categorized climbs, including four ascents of the Cauberg.
