{"id":198410,"date":"2025-04-17T12:24:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T12:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=198410"},"modified":"2025-04-17T12:24:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T12:24:00","slug":"pogacar-favored-to-resume-winning-ways-in-amstel-gold-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/04\/17\/pogacar-favored-to-resume-winning-ways-in-amstel-gold-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Poga\u010dar Favored to Resume Winning Ways in Amstel Gold Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is there anyone who can stop Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG) from winning Sunday\u2019s Amstel Gold Race, the first of three Ardennes Classics to be raced over eight days? Probably not. Not Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), who won the race last year while still with INEOS Grenadiers, and likely not Remco Evenepoel, who returns to the road on Friday at the Pro-level La Fl\u00e8che Braban\u00e7onne after recovering from a serious injury.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Like Poga\u010dar, Evenepoel is scheduled to ride all three Classics as part of his preparation for the Tour de France. He\u2019ll primarily be racing for fitness and, given the ordeal he endured during recovery, will probably not take many risks. As he put it in a social media post, recovering from the injuries he sustained on December 3\u2014when he crashed into the door of a van\u2014was \u201cthe hardest battle of my life so far. Mentally and physically, I can honestly say that I have been under the ground and really doubted a lot of my future.\u201d So, no one can fault him for riding cautiously until his confidence returns.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s a shame. After the thrilling Monument battles between Poga\u010dar and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in recent weeks, it would be fascinating\u2014and no doubt exciting\u2014to see Poga\u010dar challenged by another superstar. And who knows? Maybe I\u2019m underestimating Evenepoel, and he\u2019ll give the Slovenian a real run for his money in one or two of these races. But almost certainly not in the Amstel Gold.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mathieu<\/a>
Is van der Poel going to challenge Poga\u010dar in Amstel Gold Race? \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The two have clashed in at least two one-day races previously: the 2024 World Championships Road Race, where Poga\u010dar claimed victory and Evenepoel finished fifth; and last year\u2019s Il Lombardia, where Evenepoel finished second behind Poga\u010dar\u2014a whopping 3:16 adrift. But that\u2019s a climber\u2019s Monument and tailor-made for the world champion. They also faced off in the 2023 Li\u00e8ge\u2013Bastogne\u2013Li\u00e8ge, but Poga\u010dar<\/a> crashed out early. Evenepoel has won that race twice, and that may be where he gives Poga\u010dar a real challenge next week.<\/p>\n

So, if not Evenepoel, then who? Probably not Pidcock, who lost to the Slovenian by 2:14 in the 2023 edition. Perhaps Wout van Aert (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike)? After all, he won the 2021 edition in a sprint over Pidcock. But based on his recent performances in the Monuments dominated by Poga\u010dar and van der Poel, van Aert either hasn\u2019t fully recovered\u2014physically or mentally\u2014from the severe knee injury he suffered during last year\u2019s Vuelta, or his best days are behind him. That said, at 30, that still seems unlikely.<\/p>\n

\n
\"has-wout-van-aert-lost-the-heart-for-racing\"\/<\/a><\/div>
\n Road cycling<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n

Has Wout van Aert Lost the Heart for Racing?<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n<\/div><\/p>\n

In any case, the race will almost certainly not end in a sprint. It features no fewer than 34 short climbs of varying gradients over its 255.9 km route. That terrain might favor a puncheur like Pidcock, van Aert, or Evenepoel\u2019s teammate Max Schachmann, who is in fine form, having finished third in the recent Itzulia Basque Country behind Jo\u00e3o Almeida (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG) and Enric Mas (Movistar). But it also suits a super climber like Poga\u010dar, who might take off solo on the steep Kruisberg (0.5 km at 9.2%, with ramps approaching 20%) with about 46 km to go, or wait until the final climb\u2014the Cauberg (0.6 km at 6.7%)\u2014to make his winning move.<\/p>\n

Any scenario featuring a different winner seems highly unlikely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is there anyone who can stop Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG) from winning Sunday\u2019s Amstel Gold Race, the first of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":198411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[8468,1400,4514,3544,3415],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-198410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-2025-amstel-gold-race","tag-amstel-gold-race","tag-enric-mas","tag-remco-evenepoel","tag-tadej-pogacar","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nPoga\u010dar Favored to Resume Winning Ways in Amstel Gold Race - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is there anyone who can stop Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG) from winning Sunday\u2019s Amstel Gold Race, the first of three Ardennes Classics to be\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/04\/17\/pogacar-favored-to-resume-winning-ways-in-amstel-gold-race\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poga\u010dar Favored to Resume Winning Ways in Amstel Gold Race\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is there anyone who can stop Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG) from winning Sunday\u2019s Amstel Gold Race, the first of three Ardennes Classics to be\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/04\/17\/pogacar-favored-to-resume-winning-ways-in-amstel-gold-race\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-17T12:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2025\/04\/Tadej-Pogacar-profimedia-0987968666-CVR.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"990\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tereza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Siegfried Mortkowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/04\/17\/pogacar-favored-to-resume-winning-ways-in-amstel-gold-race\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/04\/17\/pogacar-favored-to-resume-winning-ways-in-amstel-gold-race\/\",\"name\":\"Poga\u010dar Favored to Resume Winning Ways in Amstel Gold Race - 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