ANALYSIS | Tadej Pogacar's top 5 rivals to win the Amstel Gold Race 2025

Despite having just completed his debut at Paris-Roubaix, Tadej Pogacar has no plans to put his season on hold. The world champion will take on the Amstel Gold Race this Sunday, his first challenge of the Ardennes Classics, which will conclude with Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The UAE Team Emirates - XRG star will arrive as the main favourite to win the race he won in 2023 with a commanding solo attack. Despite his status, the Slovenian will not it all his own way, with a strong line-up for Sunday.

The most prominent name among his rivals will be Remco Evenepoel, who is finally back. After making his injury return in the Brabantse Pijl this Friday, the Belgian will arrive at the Amstel Gold ready to test Pogacar. If the world champion is fatigued, and Remco shakes off the cobwebs quickly, then the Olympic champion could come out on top.

In addition to Remco, other rivals such as Tom Pidcock, Wout van Aert, Marc Hirschi, Tiesj Benoot, Julian Alaphilippe, Ben Healy, Maxim van Gils, Thibau Nys, Ben O'Connor or Pello Bilbao, among others, will be looking for glory. But who will be the 5 main threats to the world champion?

Although it will only be his second race of the year after returning from his long injury, the talent of Remco Evenepoel is far superior to that of the other contenders for victory. The Belgian is the only one who can threaten Tadej Pogacar head-to-head at the highest level in this type of race. This race can serve as a morale booster for Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the monument that Evenepoel has won twice before.

The Briton rides in the Amstel Gold Race, one of his favorite races. He is the defending champion from 2024, where he defeated Marc Hirschi and Tiesj Benoot in the final sprint.

He was also 2nd in 2021 and 3rd in 2023. Pidcock has not competed since Milano-Sanremo in March, where he placed a disappointing 40th. However, his debut season with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team has been excellent. He is certainly one of the main contenders for victory.

Perhaps there are other names that could stand out more than Van Aert.

However, the Team Visma star arrives in improved form. After being hounded in the Belgian press after his poor start to the season, Van Aert has shown signs of life with two 4th place finishes at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Moreover, the Belgian already knows what it's like to win this race. In fact, he did it the last time he raced it, in 2021.

The EF Education-EasyPost rider starred in 2023 in an epic battle with Tadej Pogacar for victory in the Amstel Gold Race. Although he was 38 seconds behind the Slovenian, the next rival came within more than 2 minutes behind him.

Moreover, Healy comes fresh from an outstanding performance in the Basque Country. He was out of the fight for the GC early on, but that did not prevent him from achieving a memorable victory on stage 5 with an attack with more than 50 kilometres to go, and from finishing 3rd a day later in the queen stage.

Visma's threat in the Amstel Gold Race will include Tiesj Bennoot as well as Wout van Aert. His form is strong, including 6th in the Tour of Flanders two weeks ago.

Benoot has two Amstel podiums (3rd in 2022 and 2024), and is hungrier than ever. Don't count either of the Visma riders out.