Valgren wins Amstel Gold Race after a cat-and-mouse finale

Michael Valgren (Astana) won the Amstel Gold Race, beating Roman Kreuziger (Mitchelton-Scott) in a cat-and-mouse finale after a rolling 263km race from Maastricht.

Enrico Gasparotto (Bahrain-Merida) was third by a few seconds while pre-race favourites Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) came fourth and fifth after being dropped by a lightning break around 1km from the finish.

“The team was counting on me,” said Valgren, who underlined his classics form with a fourth-place finish at the recent Tour of Flanders.

“In the escape I had the help of Jakob Fuglsang who was so strong and after all his efforts I had to win.”

A minute’s silence was observed at the start in memory of  Michael Goolaerts, who died after suffering heart failure during the Paris-Roubaix last Sunday.

The only one of the ‘Ardennes Classics’ to be run on Dutch soil featured 34 small climbs over constantly rolling terrain on narrow country roads.

As expected, an early breakaway formed and the nine frontrunners went on to build a lead of over 15 minutes.

It took the efforts of Valverde’s Movistar team to reel in the earlier escapees, and that set the stage for a war of nerves between the key remaining contenders.

Valgren, who was second here in 2016, took a back seat while Danish compatriot Fuglsang kept Valverde, Sagan, Julian Alaphilippe and Tim Wellens on tenterhooks with a series of false attacks.

When Valgrem suddenly accelerated, a tired-looking bunch looked to Sagan to close the gap. But the world champion refused the challenge.

Kreuziger set off in pursuit of Valgren and the pair opened a gap that proved, for the Dane, to be the platform for a clever victory.

https://youtu.be/WfIe5iRh9oA

Amstel Gold Race 2018 results: