AMSTERDAM — Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel will be the race favourite as he looks to inject new life into his season when the Ardennes classics begin in the Netherlands on Sunday.
Cycling fans, though, will have to wait a little longer for the mouth-watering and hotly-anticipated three-way clash between Evenepoel, world champion Tadej Pogacar and French teenage sensation Paul Seixas, AFP reported.
The latter two will not line up at the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, and while Seixas will compete at the midweek Fleche Wallonne, Pogacar will only tackle Liege-Bastogne-Liege on the following Sunday.
Four-time Tour de France winner Pogacar has opted for a highly-streamlined race programme this year and Liege will be only the 27-year-old Slovenian’s fifth race.
He is yet to take part in a stage race this season and apart from recording a record fourth victory at Strade Bianche last month in his season opener, he has targeted only the prestigious Monuments this season.
He won at Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders before he was pipped in a sprint finish to Paris-Roubaix by Wout van Aert last Sunday.
Pogacar and Evenepoel both lined up at Amstel Gold last year but had to settle for second and third respectively as they were beaten by Dane Mattias Skjelmose in a sprint finish.
Evenepoel had a great start to this season, winning three races at the Challenge Mallorca series in late January.
The 26-year-old Belgian followed that up by winning the Tour of the Valencia Community but then saw a drop in his form.
After a good start to the UAE Tour, winning the opening timetrial, he fell away to finish 10th overall and could then finish only fifth at the Tour of Catalonia.
He did show his one-day classic pedigree at the Tour of Flanders just over a week ago, finishing third behind Pogacar and cobbled classics specialist Mathieu van der Poel.
Amstel Gold is often viewed as a Tour of Flanders without the cobbles and is raced over a similar length at 257km, containing 33 short, steep, punchy climbs. Evenepoel should be in his element.
His main competition will likely come from 2024 winner Tom Pidcock, as long as the Briton, who began the season in fine style, has recovered from his crash in Catalonia.
Skjelmose will be there to defend his title, although his results have been patchy this season.
A fifth-placed finish at the Ardeche Classic won by Seixas and seventh at the Tour of Catalonia, where Jonas Vingegard triumphed, were decent results.
He was well-placed at last week’s Tour of the Basque Country in fifth and just a handful of seconds off a podium finish before cracking on the penultimate stage and dropping to 14th.
American Matteo Jorgenson could be in the mix after a strong start to the season that saw him finish second behind Mexican Isaac del Toro at the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race.
