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The Amstel Gold Race is the most important Dutch cycling
race which is held annually since 1966 in the southern
part of the province Limburg. The Amstel Gold Race is
already for a long time part of the UCI ProTour, but due
to its short history it is still reckoned as one step
lower than the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège
and Paris-Roubaix.
The course is tough and selective, mainly because of the
31 hills that have to be climbed, some with angles as
steep as 20%. Some of the toughest hills are the
Cauberg,
Keutenberg and
Eyserbosweg. The
Amstel can be confusing for first time riders, because
the course features a lot of turns, plus some spots are
visited more than one time during the race.
The start is since 1998 on the market place in
Maastricht, one of
the oldest Dutch cities. After many years Meerssen
(1966-1990) and Maastricht (1991-2002) as finish places,
the finish line is drawn on top of the Cauberg in
Valkenburg since
2003. The place also hosted several times the World
Championships Cycling; the last time in 2012 when
Philippe Gilbert won the race over 267 kilometers.
VeloNews summarized the Amstel Gold Race as follows "This is the mack-daddy race on the Dutch calendar. The
route map looks like a plate of spaghetti, with four
loops tracing back and forth over deceptively steep
climbs. An endless string of 31 climbs are wickedly
steep, with Keutenberg featuring ramps as steep as 20
percent. Coupled with the narrow roads, strong winds and
the danger of crashing, Amstel is one of the season's
most nerve-wracking races." |
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73 km |
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149 km |
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1st part Amstel Gold Race |
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108 km |
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2nd part Amstel Gold Race |
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63 km |
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