Amstel Gold Race route tweak

sonny73

Could be a winner: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/10983/Attackers-encouraged-with-changes-to-Amstel-Gold-Race-finish.aspx

The route of the Amstel Gold Race is to undergo a small, but critical, change this year, which will see the distance between the final two climbs reduced by more than two kilometres. The Dutch WorldTour race, which is the opening round of what has become the ‘Ardennes Triple’ – along with Belgian races Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège – has finished atop the Cauberg climb on the outskirts of Valkenberg since 2003; more often than not the result has been decided by a sprint up the final climb, with breakaways rarely succeeding, which is the rationale behind this latest course change.

pottssteve

I think it's a good move and possibly a result of comments made after last year's race, which was criticised for being a bit dull, and after Schleck Jr. was caught and passed on the final climb.

The drop down into Valkenburg is on a wide-ish road (Dahlemmerweg) but the surface gets greasy when it's wet as much of it is under tree cover. Should be fast, but probably safer than the Sibbergrubbe, which is nasty in places. There are a few "drempels" (speed bumps) near the bottom that could cause problems. Entering Valkenburg it's a very tight left hander onto the bottom of the Cauberg - riders will lose most of their speed on the corner. If there's rain it could be quite dangerous.

Here's the article on the AGR website: http://www.amstelgoldrace.nl/index.php? ... guageId=12

I did the translation from Dutch for the website, by the way.

Steve

pottssteve

Europcar and RusVelo added as 2 further wildcard squads.....