Amstel Gold Race 2016: Favourites

Amstel Gold Race equals a seemingly endless parcours of short, steep climbs separated by narrow, winding roads. The finale climbs out of the gorgeous village of Valkenburg and up the famous Cauberg climb, which usually is the deciding factor in the race. Cyclingstage.com brings you the likely contenders to win the 2016 Amstel Gold Race. (Slideshow route/profile)

While Amstel Gold is not one of cycling’s five Monuments, it is still very highly regarded. ‘AGR’ is the most prestigious one day race in The Netherlands.

The race is played out around the hilly Limburg province in the south of Holland with huge crowds of Dutch and Belgian cycling fans crowding the picturesque town of Valkenburg and all along the famous Cauberg climb that is usually the deciding factor in the race. The Dutch will be hoping for a first home winner since 2001. The Belgians will be looking to Philippe Gilbert and Tim Wellens to prevent that from happening.

Handling your bike to perfection definitely has to be one of your talents if you want to win Amstel Gold Race. Other wanted characteristics are a good sprint and punchers legs.

Contenders who did win the race before are Davide Rebellin (2004), Fränk Schleck (2006), Philippe Gilbert (2010, 2011, 2014), Enrico Gasparotto (2012), Roman Kreuziger (2013) and Michal Kwiatkowski (2015). Title holder Kwiatkowski recently showed his good form with a win in E3 Harelbeke, outperforming Peter Sagan in a one-on-one battle.

Favourites Amstel Gold Race 2016

*** Michal Kwiatkowski, Michael Matthews, Philippe Gilbert
** Simon Gerrans, Wilco Kelderman, Rui Costa, Tony Gallopin, Tim Wellens
* Tom Dumoulin, Enrico Gasparotto, Robert Gesink, Julian Alaphilippe, Joaquim Rodriguez