April 19/15 14:28 pm - Amstel Gold

Posted by Editoress on 04/19/15
 

Etixx - Quick-Step rider Michal Kwiatkowski achieved one of his main objectives of the season on Sunday, winning the first Ardennes Classic of his career. The UCI World Road Champion won out of a select group at 258km Amstel Gold Race, as the group came together going into the final kilometer after Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) attacked over the top of his teammate Ben Hermans on the Cauberg. The tactic was the same that won Gilbert the 2014 edition of the race, but did not have the same success in the 2015 edition.

Kwiatkowski stayed composed on the Cauberg with 2km to go, as it looked like Gilbert, and Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE), had a chance to make it to the line. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) eventually bridged. A group of about 18 riders came back together to contest the finish, and the Polish Etixx - Quick-Step rider waited in the group to launch at the perfect moment for the victory. Valverde finished 2nd, and Matthews 3rd.

As the race approached the final 80km and the gap sat around five minutes, Orica-GreenEDGE committed its first rider to the chase, Canadian Christian Meier.

Ten kilometres later, the peloton was just three and a half minutes behind and by the 50km to go mark the gap sat around one minute for De Vreese, Polanc and Gerdemann who remained as the final three escapees.

Kwiatkowski was escorted to the key moment on the Cauberg by several of his teammates, and hard work by Tony Martin out front earlier in the race allowed Kwiatkowski to conserve some energy in the peloton leading into that point. Martin eventually bridged to a breakaway with a chase group, as David Tanner (IAM Cycling) attacked when the original escape group was caught with about 37km to go in the race. Five riders including Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Martin, Tanner, Alex Howes (Cannondale-Garmin), and Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEDGE) came together and had an advantage over the peloton with 28km to go.

Collaboration within the breakaway, which was eventually down to Clarke, Nibali, and Martin, became an issue and Clarke went solo with 14km to go and the gap at 9 seconds. However, even Clarke was caught with about 8km to go in the race. Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) tried to launch an attack, but that was also chased down before the peloton exploded on the final ascent of the Cauberg due to the acceleration of Hermans.

Kwiatkowski is just the 4th rider in cycling history to win Amstel Gold Race in the Rainbow Jersey. Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Jan Raas were the other three riders to accomplish this feat.

"This was a great day for me, the hard work paid off," Kwiatkowski said. "I'm really thankful that my teammates were so amazing today. I was always in the top 20 or 25 positions. I could relax the whole day. We had Tony in the important breakaway and that was crucial for me. Of course I was suffering as well in a race with so many climbs. The second-to-last time up the Cauberg I said to Gianni Meersman 'you know, I'm not feeling so good today.' But he said to me straight away that everyone is suffering with 34 climbs at this race and I have to make it. That gave me a lot of motivation before the last time up the Cauberg."

"I'm really thankful they believed in me until the last moment. In cycling you never know what to expect from those around you. You might look around and feel like no one is suffering but you, but you don't know the true situation until the last important acceleration. For the sprint I was able to sit in the slipstream and breathe a little bit, and that was important to recover from the effort on the Cauberg. I was able to get some energy back to go full gas in the select group sprint and win Amstel Gold Race.  It's an amazing race here, with a difficult race from start to finish and so many fans of cycling on each climb. It's really special to get this win at the opening race of the Ardennes Classics."

"For sure, winning Amstel Gold Race in the Rainbow Jersey means a lot to both me and the team, and it is another example of how strong we are as a collective. I built up really well for this race, and winning here, which was my goal, I cannot describe my emotions. It's really big for me at this point in my career. For sure I will celebrate with my teammates tonight. They were key to helping me get this win. Then, we look next to the rest of the Ardennes Classics with great morale."

Report edited from Etixx - Quick-Step and ORICA-GreenEDGE reports

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