At the turn of the 70s and 80s they had nicknamed it Amstel Gold Raas given the five successes - four in a row - by Jan Raas. Today, after his third triumph, the Amstel Gold Race, the only classic on the calendar that takes place in Holland, is increasingly under the sign of Philippe Gilbert, the Belgian cyclist who here in Valkenburg, on the ups and downs of Limburg, also won the world title in 2012. Gilbert had already won it in 2010, ahead of Ryder Hesjedal, and in 2011, mocking Joaquim Rodriguez. Always with the same tactic: once again this year, on Easter day, he chose the hardest section of the Cauberg, the last of the 34 stretches of the Amstel, to fly away ahead of Jelle Vanendert by a handful of seconds. Alejandro Valverde, with Gilbert and Rodriguez one of the three big favorites in the race, still missed his goal of victory by finishing fourth. As for Rodriguez, the Spaniard, like the Luxembourgian Andy Schleck, had to give up before even fighting for a crash after just two hours of racing. Acciaccato Purito now fears having to forfeit the next Liège-Bastogne-Liege which with the Freccia Vallona is the highlight of the Ardennes classics. Gilbert, who last Wednesday had already triumphed in the Freccia del Brabant, won the Amstel, aims to repeat the extraordinary trio achieved in 2011.
To counter him there will always be Valverde, the eternal runner-up of this start of the season, who has already won two Lièges in 2006 and 2008 and a Freccia Vallona in 2006. Maybe Sagan will try, who has only won Harelbeke so far this year . Cancellara's participation is still uncertain. Among the Italians, who in the beer race had in Gasparotto - already winner of the Amstel in 2012 - the best placed in eighth place, there will be (barring last-minute defections) Nibali and Cunego who disappointed by the Amstel could make up for it in the Ardennes. Cunego has already won an Amstel Gold Race in 2005. Nibali, who has the Tour as his goal for the season, came close to success in the "Liege" two years ago, burned at the finish line by the Kazakh Maksim Iglinskij.
