Andrei Greipel was just centimeters from a victory on stage sixth at the Tour of Turkey.
"We did a dominant lead-out, again, and unfortunately this time I missed it by a few centimeters. My teammates deserved a win today. It is incredible how dedicated they are, and how much they trust in my sprint.
We missed him (Rick Zabel) in the train, however, together we will keep trying to get that stage victory here in Turkey."
-Andrei Greipel
How close? This close!
Amstel Gold Raas: holds a record of five wins.
Sunday's prestigious Amstel Gold Race will be the first classic of the Ardennes triptych, canceled last year, with a revised route.
In the midst of the pandemic, the course will include climbs of Geulhemmerberg, Bemelerberg, and the Cauberg. It's on a local closed circuit of 17 km covered 12 times through Valkenburg and Maastricht for a total of 217 km. And, there will be the last lap without the legendary Cauberg, shorter at 16 km. The riders will complete 38 climbs on the twisty course with plenty of wear and tear for the punchers, climbers, Grand Tour specialists, classic leaders, and sprinters capable of climbing.
Mathieu Van de Poel (2019 winner) will not be present since he has decided to devote himself to mountain biking competitions to be ready for next summer's Olympics. There are many favorites racing to win in Limburg: Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe, Primoz Roglic, Jakob Fuglsang, Marc Hirschi, Greg Van Avermaet, Sep Vanmarcke, Mikkel Honore, Tom Pidcock, Michael Matthews, Max Schachmann, Matteo Trentin, Dylan Teuns, Florian Senechal and David Gaudu.
"It will be a whole other race, a bit like the GP of Quebec and Montreal, where it explodes in the last two laps."
-Sep Vanmarcke
The Amstel beer awaits.
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