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Abandon:
The injection of pace in the peloton by the new teams joining the front has seen the break’s advantage completely disintegrate with just 1’50” splitting them now.
Climbs 15, 16, 17, and 18 all come thick and fast now. The Plettenberg, Eyserweg, Schanternelsweg, and Vrakelberg before a brief hiatus from climbing then another cluster beginning with the Sibbergrubbe that will take us to the first passage of the Cauberg and the finish line.
Climb 14 now, the Gulperberg. Under a kilometre long but kicks over 12% in gradient.
The most likely rider that Decathlon-CMA CGM are riding for today is Paul Lapeira. The former French champion hasn’t raced since Milan-San Remo, where he took 17th place. What can he produce today?
As the rain joins the party for the men’s race, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s tactic has worked and they are joined by Visma-Lease a Bike and, interestingly, Decathlon-CMA CGM on the front to set the tempo.
Now onto climb number 13, the Eperheide. Around 4% in gradient and just over 2km long.
A reminder of the break:
Huub Artrz (LOI)
Warren Barguil (TPP)
Joseba López (CJR)
Siebe Deweirdt (TFB)
Filip Maciejuk (MOV)
Marco Frigo (NSN)
Xabier Mikel Azparren (PQT)
Valentin Retailleau (TEN)
Abram Stockman (URR)
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe may be trying to get other teams to bite the bullet and work with them on the front of the bunch as it has all been up to the German team thus far.
Three hours in and the average speed dips under 43kph. The peloton losing grip on the break, perhaps deliberately, as the gap grows again to 4’40”. The largest the gap has been all day.
Amstel Gold Race is always a great way to kick of the trio of Ardennes Classics with La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège following. It feels like the difficulty level grows as they go on. And, with the Ronde van Limburg and Brabantse Pijl now bridging the gap between the cobbles and hills, the Classics feel like a big group rather than two separate classifications of Classics. This is helped, of course, by the likes of Pogačar and Evenepoel doing both.
The race is roughly at the half way marker today.
It is sunny for the men at the moment but, as the women finish in Valkenburg, the rain falls. Classic April weather.
Dutch national champion, Danny van Poppel, showing off his nation’s colours on home roads as he works for his Belgian leader, Evenepoel in the glorious mid April sunshine…
Are riders and races more relaxed when Tadej Pogačar isn’t here? You could imagine that if he was, UAE would already be hammering it at this point…
Reminder that this is Warren Barguil’s first race after some pretty serious injuries from a crash in February, so it’s good to see him up in the break.
Meanwhile, there’s 10km to go in an exciting edition of the women’s race. You can also follow that one live on the site.
Still not very much going on in this race, and still over 130km to go.
The riders are really heading into the thick of it now with hardly any moment of rest bite from here to the finish. The race is up and down on narrow and twisty countryside roads and traffic island filled towns.
Now on climb number eight of 33, the Schweibergerweg.
He may not be racing today, but Pidcock is making a miraculous return to racing after his horror crash at the Volta a Catalunya at the Tour of the Alps as he builds towards Liège-Bastogne-Liège…
The riders are on the seventh climb of the day, the Loorberg.
After two hours of racing the average speed is 43kph.
Evenepoel is being guided by his team on the front of the peloton with Jorgenson’s Visma-Lease a Bike and Skjelmose’s Lidl-Trek close behind.
The gap has stabilised around four minutes.
As expected, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have taken control for Evenepoel with around 200km to go…
The peloton has started to take control of the racing with the gap coming down to 4’00”.
While the men’s race is rather calm, why not take a look at the live updates we’re doing for the women’s race as well…
López and Barguil in the break today ride for the only teams in this race that are without a win this season. Caja Rural-Seguros RGA have come very close with Fernando Gaviria, but Picnic-PostNL have struggled with only a couple of podiums with the likes of sprinter Pavel Bittner.
After an hour of racing the average speed is at 47kph.
About 4km from the Bergseweg climb. This begins the constant up and downs for the rest of the day with the Korenweg, Nijswillerweg, Rijksweg, Wolfsberg, Loorberg, Schweibergerweg, Camerig, Vaalserberg/Drielandenpunt, Gemmenich, Epenerbaan/Vijlenerbos, Eperheide, Gulperberg, Plettenberg, Eyserweg, Schanternelsweg, Vrakelberg, and Sibbergrubbe all to come before the laps around the finish in Valkenburg. Only the Gulperberg is used again one more time out of this list.
The breakaway are riding together well and have 4’15” on the peloton who seem to have calmed right down and are just sorting themselves into order before teams such as Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Visma-Lease a Bike, Ineos Grenadiers, Lidl-Trek, UAE Team Emirates-XRG and the rest decide who will control the day.
The gap has gone out further with the breakaway holding 3’45” over the peloton as the bunch seem very happy with the composition of the group out front.
Abandon:
The gap for the break goes to 2’10” over the peloton.
The first climb of the day is out of the way…
20 minutes in and the average pace has shot up to over 48kph with the break trying to get a good gap on the bunch.
Break:
Huub Artrz (LOI)
Warren Barguil (TPP)
Joseba López (CJR)
Siebe Deweirdt (TFB)
Filip Maciejuk (MOV)
Marco Frigo (NSN)
Xabier Mikel Azparren (PQT)
Valentin Retailleau (TEN)
Abram Stockman (URR)
They have a gap of 1’20” on the peloton.
Nine riders go clear and swiftly get a gap of 30″ on the peloton. I’ll confirm who they as soon as I can.
Multiple attacks are being launched in the peloton.
The first climb of the day is the Maasberg, which comes after 10km of racing and is just 300 metres long. Maybe a launchpad for the break to finally go?
The first 10 minutes of racing sees the riders average 42kph.
No attacks are getting any gap as of yet.
The riders head out on the 1.8km neutral zone in Maastricht.
10 minutes until the start.
Evenepoel comes into this after a disappointing third place in last year’s edition. Will he change his approach to this year’s race?
Several big name riders who were originally down to ride but aren’t due to a variety of issues have meant that the startlist isn’t quite as stacked as originally expected. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) are both ill, Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) is coming back from injury and has opted for the Tour of the Alps as prep for Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) has a broken sacrum after crashing at Itzulia Basque Country.
Unfortunately, one rider who has been in great form before getting ill at Itzulia Basque Country, was Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike). He doesn’t take to the start today as he is still struggling with fitness after illness. Samuele Battistella (EF Education-EasyPost) will also not start due to illness.
🇳🇱 #AGR26Unfortunately, Ben Tulett is not fit and will not start in the Amstel Gold Race. We wish him a speedy recovery! 🍀April 19, 2026
Skjelmose returns to defend his crown in Valkenburg but, yet again, he is not the favourite. Evenepoel is where everyone is looking for the big name favourite this year. However, he does have challengers from Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), and many more besides.
The opener for the Ardennes Classics is always a tough race to call. It is often the most unpredictable of the three where even a stand out favourite like Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) can come unstuck. Last year’s race, won by Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) in a three up sprint with Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was proof of that.
Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews‘ live report of the men’s Amstel Gold Race 2026.
There’s about half an hour until the race start and the rider presentation is well underway. Groupama-FDJ United come into this race with a really good option in Romain Grégoire who comes into today off the back of a fourth place finish in Brabantse Pijl, not to mention several solid results in the cobbled classics.
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