The Amstel Gold Race is one of the Ardennes Classics (despite being situated in the Netherlands) and takes place on Sunday 10 April. The only UCI WorldTour event in the Netherlands, the race will switch its usual dates with Paris-Roubaix due to the French elections.
The first of the three Ardennes, before La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the race is generally a hotly contested affair.
In the 2021 men's race Wout van Aert managed to beat Tom Pidcock and Maximillian Schachmann to the line first, while Marianne Vos beat compatriots Demi Vollering and Annemiek Van Vleuten to secure victory in the women's race.
The 57th edition of the men's race will feature the same narrow roads, short, sharp ascents, twists and turns expected from the Ardennes Classics.
The route changed dramatically in 2017, with the Cauberg finish extended to almost 2km further on from the top, with the Bemelerberg signalling the final climb instead.
The 263km men's route changed slightly in 2018 and it stayed the same for 2019, with a distance of 265.7km. The race shortened slightly to 216.75km last year to enable the race to proceed, but this year riders will face 254.1km, covering 33 hills in total.
Kicking off in the Maastricht, Amstel Gold Race features its first hill just 9km into the race, with the Slingerberg. The southern Netherlands region of the hilly Limburg heavily features during the race, with challenging climbs featuring multiple times throughout the race. The Cauberg, for example, is navigated three times.
The Keuterberg climb, at 22% gradient - albeit for a short distance - could prove pivotal in the race, but there will still be 21km left in the race once the riders have ascended the Cauberg for the final time.
From there, the route covers the narrow roads to the foot of the Bemelerberg climb, before moving through Terblijt. Little time will be left in the race from this point, with the arrival in Vilt determining the winner of the Classic.
Women's race
The women's race is 128.5km long, featuring 19 hills. The Cauberg climb is the last of the day, before a 1.6km run-in to the line.
Starting in the Maastricht, over 7km of zigzag roads leads the women through the Limburg region. Multiple hills will come thick and fast from there on, with the 800m Cauberg, averaging 6.5%, navigated four time in total.
The first time after the Cauberg, the riders will pass the finish line before completing three laps of a 17.9km circuit - featuring the Geulhemmerberg/Bemelerberg/Cauberg combo. After the final lap of the race, the riders will face a 1.6km stretch to the finish.
Men's Amstel Gold Race 2022 start list
Jumbo-Visma
BENOOT Tiesj
LAPORTE Christophe
DUMOULIN Tom
VAN HOOYDONCK Nathan
TEUNISSEN Mike
ROOSEN Timo
VAN EMDEN Jos
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl
VERVAEKE Louis
SCHMID Mauro
ASGREEN Kasper
SERRY Pieter
SÉNÉCHAL Florian
HONORÉ Mikkel Frølich
BAGIOLI Andrea
ŠTYBAR Zdeněk
Ineos Grenadiers
TURNER Ben
VAN BAARLE Dylan
ROWE Luke
KWIATKOWSKI Michał
NARVÁEZ Jhonatan
PIDCOCK Thomas
HAYTER Ethan
Bora-Hansgrohe
UIJTDEBROEKS Cian
ALEOTTI Giovanni
BENEDETTI Cesare
KOCH Jonas
KONRAD Patrick
SCHELLING Ide
Lotto Soudal
CAMPENAERTS Victor
DE BUYST Jasper
GILBERT Philippe
KRON Andreas
WELLENS Tim
Trek-Segafredo
SIMMONS Quinn
SKUJIŅŠ Toms
BARONCINI Filippo
LIEPIŅŠ Emīls
KAMP Alexander
VERGAERDE Otto
HOOLE Daan
EF Education-Easy Post
BETTIOL Alberto
VALGREN Michael
POWLESS Neilson
VAN DEN BERG Julius
VAN DEN BERG Marijn
Bahrain-Victorious
TEUNS Dylan
MACIEJUK Filip
WRIGHT Fred
MOHORIČ Matej
SÜTTERLIN Jasha
PRICE-PEJTERSEN Johan
DE BAAT Kim
DE WILDE Julie
GHEKIERE Justine
KASTELIJN Yara
VAN DE VELDE Julie
VAN DER HEIJDEN Inge
Andy Schleck-CP NVST-Immo Losch
DANFORD Georgia
FABER Claire
MÜLLENBERG Lisa
RIJKES Sarah
SCHIFF Carolin
Team Coop - Hitec Products
ANDERSSON Caroline
GÅSKJENN Ingvild
MOHR Mari Hole
NELSON Josie
STEIGENGA Nicole
Amstel Gold Race past winners
Men's
2010: Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Omega Pharma–Lotto
2011: Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Omega Pharma–Lotto
2012: Enrico Gasparotto (ITA) Astana
2013: Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Saxo–Tinkoff
2014: Philippe Gilbert (BEL) BMC Racing Team
2015: Michał Kwiatkowski (POL) Etixx–Quick-Step
2016: Enrico Gasparotto (ITA) Wanty–Groupe Gobert
2017: Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Quick-Step Floors
2018: Michael Valgren (DEN) Astana Pro Team
2019: Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Corendon–Circus
2020: No race
2021: Wout van Aert (BEL) Team Jumbo-Visma
Women's
2001: Debby Mansveld (NED) Vlaanderen T Interim
2002: Leontien van Moorsel (NED) Leontien van Moorsel (NED)
2003: Nicole Cooke (GBR) Pasta Zara–Cogeas
2004-2016: No race
2017: Anna van der Breggen (NED) Boels-Dolmans
2018: Chantel Blaak (NED) Boels-Dolmans
2019: Kasia Niewiadoma (POL) Canyon-SRAM
2020: No race
2021: Marianne Vos (NED) Team Jumbo-Visma
