The rolling, tough climbs of the Amstel Gold Race suited Mattias Skjelmose (Trek) very well. As defending champion, the Danish rider lived up the hype and delivered a memorable race to finish second place behind winner Remco Evenepoel.
1. Remco Evenepoel. 2. Mattias Skjelmose 3. Benoit Cosnefroy
“I’m happy. I was a little bit sick after Basque so I didn’t know what to expect from today. Second place and looking at the numbers, my performance was good. Following a rider like Remco to the finish is a great result and for the team, it is rainiong on a really dry place. When he didn’t drop me on the Cauberg I thought I might be able to win, and I tried when he launched the sprint but he was the superior rider in the end. Amstel is the closest race you get to doing a cobbled classic with the left, right, up, down, and small roads and obstacles. I love this race. Even though every time I finish it, I think I won’t do it again because it’s insane, but for sure I want to do it again.”
-Mattias Skjelmose
Two weeks after finishing third in the Tour of Flanders, the two-time winner of Liege-Bastogne-Liege has now added another race from the Ardennes Triple (LBL, Amstel, La Flèche Wallonne) to his palmares…
“I really love this race. Lost of short, hard climbs, and actually the race more or less opened on the same place this year again, so I was really confident. I felt much better than I did last year in the final. For sure, it’s the most beautiful victory of the season. For me this race is just under the monuments, so it’s really high on my ranking. It’s in my top 8 of victories in my career, probably.”
-Remco Evenepoel.
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