Incredible! Mattias Skjelmose denies Tadej Pogacar & Remco Evenepoel in Amstel Gold Race thriller
CyclingMonday, 21 April 2025 at 13:39
Lidl-Trek's Mattias Skjelmose has prevailed at a thrilling 2025 edition of the Amstel Gold Race. Emerging victorious from an incredible three-up sprint ahead of world champion Tadej Pogacar and Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel.
Eight riders got themselves into the breakaway of the day. Those being Michel Hessmann (Movistar Team), Rémi Cavagna (Groupama - FDJ), Robert Stannard (Bahrain - Victorious), Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin - Deceuninck), Cedric Beullens (Lotto), Jarrad Drizners (Lotto), Jelle Johannink (Unibet Tietema Rockets) and Hartthijs de Vries (Unibet Tietema Rockets).
There was no shortage of drama for the big names early on either. Tadej Pogacar was caught out behind an early split, although the world champion's UAE Team Emirates - XRG teammates eventually managed to fix things. Then, at just over 100km to go, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel and Thibau Nys were all caught up in a crash, although all three were soon back in the peloton.
Although the break had around 4:30 of advantage at one point, on the Cauberg with still over 80km to go, they were almost all caught by a rampant peloton, UAE-led peloton, with only Hessmann surviving. Things weren't all rosy for UAE though, as news filtered through of the abandonment of Jhonatan Narvaez. With 69km to go however, Hessmann had been swallowed up too, meaning the peloton had already regained the front of the race.
After a short calm, at around 55km to go, EF Education-EasyPost came to the front of the bunch and put in a real acceleration, jettisoning a number of riders out the back of the lead group. The first big move of the day then came from former world champion Julian Alaphilippe. Unsurprisingly, the current Rainbow Jersey Tadej Pogacar was straight on the back wheel. After the pair rode together for a short while, the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader dropped the Frenchman with a brutally calm, seated acceleration, heading into the final 40km solo.
Although the Slovenian quickly built up a lead of around 30 seconds, the chase - a group that included the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Mattias Skjelmose, Ben Healy, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock among others, managed to keep things relatively stable at around the half a minute mark. With Evenepoel and Skjelmose taking matter into their own hands and attacking the chase though, the gap to Pogacar actually started to drop.
On the penultimate ascent of the Cauberg, Evenepoel and Skjelmose got themselves back to around 15 seconds of Pogacar. By 10km to go, it was only 10 seconds and Pogacar couldn't stop looking behind. Could the unthinkable really be happening? Was a Tadej Pogacar attack being reeled back in? With 8km to go, it became a reality and immediately Evenepoel tried to slingshot straight over the top, although the world champ was aware to the danger and managed to cancel out the move.
With nearly 40 seconds lead as the reached the final Cauberg, the podium looked locked. Which order would they finish though? Through the Flamme Rouge they were still all together at the front, and as they started playing cat and mouse, the chase was closing. In the sprint it was the incredible Mattias Skjelmose who prevailed ahead of the world champion and the Olympic champion!
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- Nobody has unlimited money. At the best the team would be throwing a million to universities for studies. they dont have the werewithal to fund a Doping research lab exclusively for them. Also in UAE the only outlier is Pogi. The others are getting beaten pretty normally, they dont last until the end of the race either when helping out. There is no domination like first three from UAE teamabstractengineer04-05-2025
- Comments such as this is what Tadej is referring to when he says that social media is the cancer of our society.. And this guy even insists that "the conversation needs to happen". Well then, take your case to WADA sir, where such conversations are in urgent demand.FredMan04-05-2025
- Not remotely in the realm of possibility. Pharmaceutical companies spend billions (with a B) developing proprietary new drugs. There is absolutely no chance that a shadow company is exclusively developing a product for a few guys on one team in a minor sport that almost no one cares about. It sounds like you watch too many James Bond movies. Which might be better for you (and us) than speculating on something like this. UAE is doing what everyone else is doing, just a bit better. You have no idea what this is; nor do I; nor does anyone in this or any other comment section. If you don't like what you are watching, don't watch.
Barney04-05-2025 - My personal opinion is that UAE has a proprietary cocktail that isn't on the market and will probably never be on the market. It's happened before in sport. Look at BALCO and THG with the baseball situation. UAE could very well have their OWN scientists and chemists making a proprietary cocktail just for them. They have what I call "fk you money" which means UNLIMITED money. It's not out of the range of real possibilities. I've seen a few of your comments and decided to look and see what you've said in other articles. That led me to a few of your comments and I felt it would be ok to speak my opinion. Obviously my opinion doesn't go over very well with most but I've also seen people say "you are everything wrong with the sport" to you😂 and I thought maybe I can talk with this guy. You may not agree with me which is fine but the conversation needs to happen Cheers 🤘🏻🇬🇧
kaos03-05-2025 - I actually agree. Jonas and Visma put off altitude camp untill May I believe to help him closer to the TDF. I do also believe we will see Jonas retire suddenly and soon 🤘🏻🇬🇧kaos03-05-2025
- This is what I've been saying but nobody is wanting to listen. I don't know if I'm right but I'd like to see the spring classics season affect Pogi at the TDF 🤘🏻🇬🇧kaos03-05-2025
- I can't believe how naive some people are. You must be new to this sport. The history of doping is so entrenched in this sport. It's a very real thing and it didn't stop with Lance. You're absolutely crazy if you think this sport is "clean" 🤘🏻🇬🇧kaos03-05-2025
- I agree mate. I've watched this sport for over 40 years and something is going on within Team UAE and its not above board. Yes they test but when has testing ever caught these massive doping programs so to say "he tests clean" is a farce. We know the testing system is a joke. The bio passport was introduced to help catch doping jut it had the opposite effect. It HELPS these dopers stay within the limits. We will probably never get "proof" about Pogi and UAE as a whole but it's clear something is going on. The entire peleton has access to the same nutrition, technology, science etc etc but when you see pogi I. THE SADDLE going up a 24% gradient, nose breathing, like he was shot from a rocket while all the other top level riders are struggling to even stop from tipping over, there's something not right. All we can hope for is for someone to come forward after their career has come to an end that was at UAE during this time. I believe we are seeing a new substance within the sport. It could very well be a proprietary cocktail made just for UAE that isn't on the market and will never be on the market so it will remain undetectable. It has happened in sport before. Look at THG made by BALCO used by baseball players. That was a proprietary cocktail that never hit the market. With all the UNLIMITED money UAE has I believe they have their own scientists making them a "special brew" that we MAY NEVER see or know about but the best chance we have of this coming out is a disgruntled ex staff member or ex rider from UAE and it may not come out for 10 or 15 years but I believe we WILL find out in years to come 🤘🏻🇬🇧kaos03-05-2025
- Not sure why this article popped a year after it was published. I've been saying this all of last season and all of 2025 season. Pogi has gotten arrogant. Last year was bad and this year he races with rainbow jersey so it may even be worse. I like to see that he's not had the success he wanted for 2025 tho. I was hoping that would bring him down a peg or two. One thing is certain for me tho and that's the fact that Pogi has now reached a level of arrogance and he plays nice to the cameras to make his "new" fans think he's awesome but those of us that have watched the sport for decades see right thru his act. He's fun to watch race but I've lost all interest in him after 2024 season.kaos03-05-2025
- I've not even looked at the start list for the Giro yet but I'll be watching every minute. I don't usually go for the favourite. I find it too easy to go for the favourite but I'll usually pick 2. One I THINK will win and one I would LIKE to win. I certainly don't want Ayuso to win. The lad is arrogant and he's a problem child for UAE. I'm not a big fan of UAE anyway. I feel something isn't right within their camp. One thing is for sure tho, GT's have plenty of excitement and usually some surprises and that's the fun of it all. Probably the best part of cycling is seeing new talent make a name for themselves and win stages. That's what the sport is all about for me. Lads I've never heard of that leave their mark in the sport 🤘🏻🇬🇧kaos03-05-2025
When was the last time Pogacar lost in a long range solo attack? I don't recall. Seems like he's got a smart head, knowing what's possible and what's not. Except this time.
2 things. It’s easy to look smart strategically when you’re way better than the rest and only perfect organisation between a large number of others can endanger the outcome of your gamble. Secondly, his long solo attacks have usually been against fields not including very dangerous rivals or where he had a clear advantage. He has been at times been a bit lucky (1st Tour win) at others a bit cocky (mixing it with the sprinters at the Giro but rarely been put under pressure on his terrain, it’s a good thing there is a Remco around and that he’s now seen guys like MS are capable of bringing him back down to earth, it might make him understand the importance of gathering racing experience to not lose races neglectfully. People say and hope he is a showman, I don’t actually think that’s true or his main reason for doing this, I think deep down he has a need and that he’s either very good at disguising that or doesn’t even realise it himself. I just hope that a frustrated Tadej doesn’t reveal a different side to his teflon character, he really didn’t look comfortable downing that drink (which wasn’t a pint by the way CUTD).
I feel like I'm having a flashback. Didn't Mattias beat two big guys in a sprint a while back, just like he did now? Was it Primoz and Remco? I tried to find the record but can't find it.
He beat Remco and Ayuso one stage winning the Tour de Suisse and a stage of Paris-Nice in a 3-way sprint with Jorgensen and McNulty, one of those?
Also, Fleche Wallone 2023 he was only narrowly beaten by Tadej. He’s always been the Joao Almeida of the north, very capable but just waiting for the break when things come together.
I think I mixed him up with another Trek rider, Ciccone, when he beat Primoz and Remco at the 2023 Catalunya, stage 2. My bad brain.
C’mon, at our ages it’s a miracle how much we actually do remember with all the input we have to sort through ;-)
Good thing he won today to reactivate those cells heh?
Great race, Remco did a lot of work to get back up there. He looks in great form, can't wait for the Tour!
If you thought that the race was all over when Tadej Pogacar was out front and riding away, you weren't alone. If you said that you said that you'd picked Mattias Skjelmose as the eventual winner, people might have called you crazy. When it comes to entertaining, exciting, and unpredictable racing, it doesn't get any better than that.
Maybe Tadej just rested on his laurels too much publicly considering Remco as not impressive just before the race may not have been the wisest of attitudes.
I agree. I also think that riding Paris Roubaix took a lot more out of Tadej than he thought that it would.
Yes, even though MS was warning in advance he was ready for taking him on.
Exactly this. A day or so before the race an analyst (I forget who) strongly advised that Pogacar should take a longer break after Roubais, and skip Amstel, or suffer the consequences. Turns out they were right.
I don’t think he is very well advised in-house, whether that is because they’re happy for him to do things this way or whether he just isn’t good at taking advice, I don’t know and it probably doesn’t matter, not until he will reach a “bad” patch because as many before him discovered, it can be very long to climb out a bad patch if you don’t know or accept what will help you get through it.