Amstel Gold Race ushers in the Ardennes Classics

The cobbles are behind the WorldTour and this Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race marks the start of the short Ardennes Classics season. Over eight days three relentlessly hilly races–Amstel Gold in the Netherlands’ Limburg region, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the Belgian Ardennes region–tempt the punchy climbers.

Amstel Gold features 34 short, steep ascents over 258-km and four varied-sized loops, each with the dreaded Cauberg as its centrepiece. The race used to end at the top of the Cauberg, but organizers moved the finish 1.8-km farther in 2013, leading to a slight downhill and flat before the line, which makes for a different race. Champions now either have to hold their Cauberg attack, outsprint others in a select group or attack from far out, like Roman Kreuziger in 2013.

Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland/Sky) is back to defend his title, as is three-time winner Philippe Gilbert (Belgium/BMC), who, along with absent Alejandro Valverde, were the two Cauberg conquerors that Kwiatkowski caught and defeated in the 1.8-km addition.

Orica-GreenEdge have two recent podium men who must be considered as likely lads: Michael Matthews, third last year, and Simon Gerrans, thrice third.

Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain/Katusha) might still have a surprise left; the punchy 36-year-old was 5th in the recent, climb-intensive Pais Vasco.

Since 2009 Ryder Hesjedal gives the Cobbled Classics a miss and specializes in the Ardennes Classics. He was runner-up to Gilbert in 2010 in the Amstel Gold and has placed in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège top-10 three times.

Other Canadians in Limburg are the Direct Energie duo of Ryan Anderson and Antoine Duchesne, Duchesne having placed 52nd in the Tour of Flanders and 58th in Paris-Roubaix.

Meanwhile, Dutch Pro Continental team Roompot-Oranje Peloton is scrambling to switch its bikes over to rim brakes before Sunday after the UCI suspended disc brakes in professional racing on Wednesday.