Enrico Gasparotto finished off a massive charge up the Cauberg to overcome Liquigas's Peter Sagan and win the Amstel Gold Race. Gasparotto patiently waited for the catch of BMC's Philippe Gilbert, as he, Sagan and Lotto-Belisol's Jelle Vanendert timed their effort perfectly to gain separation. Sagan took off for the line in the last 150 meters, but couldn't hold on, as Gasparotto came past him and held off Vanendert in the process.
A nine-rider breakaway lasted long into the race, with Romain Bardet of AG2R and Alex Howes of Garmin extending the attack all the way to the slopes of the penultimate climb, the Keutenberg, with BMC controlling the peloton. Greg Van Avermaet reeled in a late break by Edvald Boasson Hagen of Sky, with Gilbert sitting comfortably on his wheel. Bardet continued to defy the chasing peloton (of maybe 30 riders now) over the top but finally succumbed with 9km to go.
Oscar Freire pulled a cheeky attack with 6km left and got 17 seconds, and gained Niki Terpstra for company in the last km at the foot of the Cauberg. Gilbert was the first to launch, drawing Gasparotto, Sagan and Vanendert for company, while Cunego crashed with Sky's Lars Peter Nordhaug, and caused the decisive gap. Gasparotto's perfectly timed move gained him his first win in two years, and probably the biggest win of his career (assuming this beats the Italian championships). He has previously finished as high as third in Amstel Gold. Gilbert's streak of consecutive wins in Limburg ends at two.
- Enrico Gasparotto, Astana
- Jelle Vanendert, Lotto-Belisol
- Peter Sagan, Liquigas
- Oscar Freire, Katusha
- Thomas Voeckler, Europcar
- Philippe Gilbert, BMC
- Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel
- Fabian Wegmann, Garmin-Barracuda
- Rinaldo Nocentini, Ag2r -LaMondial
- Bauke Mollema, Rabobank
Photos © Fotoreporter Sirotti