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Amstel Gold Race: Pidcock close to beating van Aert

2021-04-18T18:44:54.189Z


The young Briton nearly deprived the Belgian star of victory in the Dutch classic on Sunday. The young Briton Tom Pidcock, 21, was invited to the big leagues on Sunday in the Amstel Gold Race, the only Dutch classic on the calendar, narrowly won by the Belgian Wout van Aert. Pidcock, who opened his record on the road at the highest level on Wednesday, almost did it again on the heights of Valkenburg. He was beaten by van Aert by so short a time that the two men had to wait several minutes


The young Briton Tom Pidcock, 21, was invited to the big leagues on Sunday in the Amstel Gold Race, the only Dutch classic on the calendar, narrowly won by the Belgian Wout van Aert.

Pidcock, who opened his record on the road at the highest level on Wednesday, almost did it again on the heights of Valkenburg.

He was beaten by van Aert by so short a time that the two men had to wait several minutes for the photo-finish review and the commissioners' verdict.

This time, unlike the Flèche Brabançonne, the Belgian semi-classic that Pidcock stole from van Aert's nose and beard last Wednesday, the result was reversed.

The advantage remained with the Jumbo team rider, although a TV camera image placed to the side might have led to believe the opposite for a while.

"I left too late", regretted the Briton.

“I should have pitched first, I think I was the fastest.

It's a little frustrating to lose with such a margin ”.

“Normally, a long sprint is to my advantage,” commented the winner of the 55th edition of the + Gold Race +.

"I was in the worst position and thought it was better to throw from a distance" (200 meters).

In the three-man sprint, with the German Maximilian Schachmann, Pidcock positioned himself in the wheel of his rival.

He then dislocated, without succeeding in reassembling it completely.

But, he made a sensational debut in the Dutch classic, transformed this year into a circuit race because of the pandemic and above all significantly shortened (about fifty kilometers!).

Roglic at ease but unlucky

In the absence of the defending champion, the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, the last word remained with the cyclo-cross specialists.

At the last World Championships in the discipline, won by + VDP +, van Aert was placed 2nd and Pidcock 4th.

But both are also doing wonders on the road where van Aert is one of the big names and Pidcock a value in the making.

The last nugget of the Ineos team is only in its first season -partial- in the peloton.

At the end of the Ardennes campaign, the Leeds rider has planned to switch to mountain biking with a view to the Tokyo Olympics.

"We threw grenades today", joked the Polish Michal Kwiatkowski of the surname of his team (Ineos-Grenadiers).

“We had Tom Pidcock an inch from the win.

But we will gain a lot more with this young man ”.

It was Pidcock, in fact, who provoked the decision with 13 kilometers from the finish, after a forcing of van Aert in the last ascent of the Cauberg where his Slovenian teammate Primoz Roglic, very comfortable, lost all chance. on a mechanical incident. Behind the leading trio, the first pursuers could only get closer in the last kilometer to fail at 2 seconds.

For his part, van Aert concluded his spring campaign with a success, the 21st of his career and the 14th of the season for his team Jumbo.

Above all, the Dutch team put an end to their repeated failures in the Amstel Gold Race, which they had not won since 2001 (Erik Dekker).

The other contenders won the runners-up (Valverde 5th, Alaphilippe 6th).

For them, the next act is set for Wednesday in the Flèche Wallonne, before the main meeting scheduled for next Sunday in the “Doyenne” Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

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Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-04-18

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