Philippe Gilbert’s superb spring campaign has continued with a second major Classic victory for the Belgian in three weeks, this time scooping his fourth win in the Amstel Gold Race.
Already the winner of the Ronde van Vlaanderen this spring, in the Amstel Gold Race the Quick-Step Floors racer broke away from a break of seven on the final climb, the Bemelberg, as he followed a driving attack by Michael Kwiatkowski (Team Sky). Gilbert then outsprinted Kwiatkowski to add a fourth victory to his wins in 2010, 2011 and 2014, one less than the record set by the Netherlands’ Jan Raas. "My goal is to win a Classic every year. I won two this year, maybe to make up for the years I didn't,” Gilbert said afterwards.
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) has ousted longstanding UCI individual World Rankings leader Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) from the top spot overall. After months of domination of the series by Sagan, as of April 9th Van Avermaet now leads with 4,852.25 points, whilst Sagan has 4,659 points. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) is now third overall, two places up from the previous week.
Leading Giro d’Italia contender Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) has announced this week he cannot take part in Italy’s Grand Tour because of a knee injury incurred during a training crash.
Wednesday April 19, La Flèche Wallonne Sunday April 23, Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Not yet 24, Danny Van Poppel (Team Sky) is already making a name for himself as an up-and-coming sprinter. Having turned pro in 2013 with the Vancansoleil - DCM ProCycling Team, Van Poppel clinched a stage of the Vuelta a España in 2015 and has also snapped up stages at the Vuelta a Burgos, the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, the Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour de Wallonie. Interestingly, the Dutch rider has also shown promise in short prologues, with a win this season in the Herald Sun Tour’s opening time trial.
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