"This race is just under the monuments..." - Remco Evenepoel takes great pride in maiden Amstel Gold Race win
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel has taken the win at the 2026 Amstel Gold Race, fruit of a race where Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe did everything they could to prepare the terrain for the Olympic Champion. Evenepoel made the difference where it mattered and won the Dutch classic through a complete performance.
"It means a lot. I've had a pretty good last month - the month fo April with Catalunya and Flanders but to take a win is always a bit different," he said in a post-race interview. The Belgian entered the race as the main favourite and man to beat, which can be treacherous in this classic, which lacks the brutal climbs of some of its peers.
But these are climbs that suited him very well. "I think I mentioned already that I love this race, I like the short/hard climbs. The race opened more or same in the same place. I was really confident, I felt much better than last year in the final and that showed in the sprint, my sprint was much better - I had something left".
Evenepoel was part of the decisive six-man attack with just over 40 kilometers to go and then stayed upright when a crash split the group in half. Through endurance, his hard pace then caused the initial attackers Romain Grégoire to get dropped, as well as breakaway survivor Marco Frigo.
Read also
The best win of his season and one of the best of Evenepoel's career
The win was his first in two months. "I'm proud to finish all the team work. Danny van Poppel Tim van Dijke had to control the whole race alone, my other teammates dropped me off in perfect position always. With the rain it was not always easy to stay calm. Like I said this is one of my favourite races in the season and winning it feels amazing".
Only Mattias Skjelmose, defending champion and a man who beat Evenepoel in last year's final sprint, had the legs to follow him on the climbs. But in a sprint, the advantage was on the BORA rider's side.
"I had more confidence now, I felt on the climbs that I was probably the strongest today so I felt he was a bit on the limit when taking the pulls. I thought he wasn't as strong in the beginning when we were gone so I had a lot of confidence in the sprint". It proved to be the correct bet. "So I'm happy with the result of course".
It is so far the highlight of his season, he assures. "It's the most beautiful win of the season that's for sure, but every win is a new one and is a beautiful one. Like I mentioned a few days ago this race is just under the monuments so its high on my ranking - on my Top8 of wins in my career, probably. I'm one of the lucky guys to win quite a lot, so to win this one means quite a lot and I'm proud of this one".
Liège-Bastogne-Liège will be a major goal where he will face Tadej Pogacar and Paul Seixas, but this Wednesday the Flèche Wallonne is also on the calendar, a race which he will decide soon on whether he will race or not.
"We're going to analyze the race and then decide it tomorrow. It's on the list but it's not confirmed yet. We'll see how I recover from today but I felt pretty strong, I hope to race they predict some nice weather and it's always nice to have some nice weather in Flèche Wallonne but first I'm going to enjoy this one".
Read also
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 8visitors 2
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment