VALKENBURG, NETHERLANDS (AFP) – Tadej Pogacar racked up an 11th win of the season on Sunday when he dropped Tom Pidcock on a climb and soloed over 30 kilometre (km) to win the prestigious Amstel Gold Race.
The 24-year-old Slovenian of the UAE team finished first on the Dutch classic in six hours one minute two second, ahead of Ireland’s disappointed Ben Healy of EF Education-EasyPost. British rider Pidcock clung on to third place.
Alexey Lutsenko and Andreas Kron rounded out the top five after failing narrowly to reel in Pidcock in a desperate chase for third.
Pogacar had changed bikes just ahead of the climb where his trademark climb-kick left the others standing.
“We didn’t have cars for such a long time but we managed to get the bike just in time before the final climbs,” said Pogacar.
He later explained fellow rider Mathieu van der Poel had tippped him off to the tactic.
“He told me I should go on the Keutenberg and it is the hardest climb and it suits me the most. He told me that three days ago, he sent me a message. I will thank him for the advice,” he said.
The lead trio went clear as part of a large attack with 90km to go on the 253.6km race over relentless hills on an overcast day run between Maastricht and Valkenburg.
The ease with which Pogacar later shot away from an in-form Pidcock on the upper reaches of the Keutenberg hill showed why the double Tour de France winner added to his Tour of Flanders triumph earlier this month.
Next weekend Pogacar faces a mouth-watering duel with Remco Evenepoel at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege with the Belgian defending champion tasked with taming the 2021 title winner.
