Tom Pidcock won the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, outsprinting three rivals to claim his first Ardennes classic. The British rider settled a score three years old with the victory.
A move on the Geulhemmerberg
The race split with 13 kilometres left when Marc Hirschi attacked on the Geulhemmerberg. Pidcock, Tiesj Benoot and Mauri Vansevenant followed, and the four riders pulled clear. Pidcock had already tried several solo digs but could not break the elastic.
Vansevenant led the group into the final sprint. Pidcock launched from the wheel and held off Hirschi in a frantic dash to the line. The chasing bunch finished just 11 seconds behind, led by Michael Matthews.
First Briton on the top step
Pidcock became the first British winner of the Dutch classic. The win ended his road drought, which stretched back to Strade Bianche in 2023. It also redressed the 2021 edition, when he lost a photo-finish by a hair to Wout van Aert.
Pre-race favourite Mathieu van der Poel, fresh off a Flanders-Roubaix double, could not follow the late move. The world champion rolled in 22nd, his first finish outside the top ten that spring.
"I was going to say it's great to win for the second time, but that might create quite some controversy," Pidcock told reporters, smiling about that 2021 near-miss.
A road classic now sits beside his Olympic and world mountain bike titles. It is the third road one-day win of his career, and the first he had to take in a pure gallop from a small group.
