April 21, 2019 (Netherlands) – Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) Corendon – Circus took home a stunning victory at the 265.7 km Amstel Gold Race, from Maastricht to Berg en Terblijt, with a bold move at the finish to outfox his rivals and claim the biggest win of his career.

The 24-year-old, cyclocross star who won Brabantse Pijl and Dwars door Vlaanderen this year, brought the chase group to the leaders, Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck – Quick – Step and Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team, and then jumped alone to join the duo ahead.

With the pack just behind Van Der Poel, who was leading, boldly attacked as his two rivals hesitated, to take the win while Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First followed his wheel in for second with Fuglsang taking third, Alaphilippe settling for 4th and Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora – Hansgrohe taking 5th.

“I can’t believe it,” said Van der Poel in disbelief. “I didn’t expect I could win.”

Canadian Michael Woods (EF Education First) was in the mix near the end but fell off the pace and did not finish while his teammate Clarke landed on the podium in second.

Results

1. Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) Corendon – Circus 6:28:18
2. Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First
3. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
4. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck – Quick – Step
5. Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora – Hansgrohe
6. Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
7. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team
8. Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama – FDJ
9. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
10. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton – Scott

DNF Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First