Maastricht, Netherlands--Reigning champion Philippe Gilbert faces stiff competition as he bids for a fourth victory in the Amstel Gold race on Sunday.
The biggest and longest one-day classic in the Netherlands will see riders complete 258km and tackle 34 climbs -- amounting to more than four vertical kilometres of climbing -- on their way from Maastricht to Valkenburg.
Alongside three-time winner Gilbert, there will be six other former victors in the field, as well as a new breed of hungry, talented potential champions.
Most notably amongst those is current road race world champion Michal Kwiatkowski from Poland.
He had a fantastic Ardennes Classics campaign in 2014, earning top five finishes in all three events -- the other two being Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
The finish in Valkenburg, 1.8km beyond the final, tough Cauberg climb, is ideally suited to a rider like Kwiatkowski.
He's also the kind of rider who might not wait for the final of four ascensions of the Cauberg to make his move and although the race often comes down to a punchers' shoot-out on that final climb, only two years ago, Czech Roman Kreuziger made his winning move with more than 15km remaining.
Gilbert's devilish, and perfectly-timed, acceleration on the Cauberg last year proved too much for his competition and he will no doubt be a man to watch this time around, despite the negative publicity surrounding his BMC team.
One of their riders, Greg Van Avermaet, is battling against a doping storm -- the Belgium cycling federation has recommended a two-year ban for Van Avermaet, who denies any wrongdoing over medication he took in 2012.
AFP
