Red Bull's Remco Evenepoel took his first Amstel Gold win at the weekend, outsprinting last year's winner Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) after the two had escaped together. Meanwhile UAE Team ADQ's Paula Blasi surprised the favourites to win the women's race, holding off a chase from Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma in the final kilometres.
The Amstel Gold Race heralds the end of springs cobbled classics and the start of the hillier Ardennes one-day races. Amstel takes place in the Limburg region in the south of the Netherlands and forms part of the Ardennes triptych of races that includes La Fleche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
This year's Amstel Gold Races took place on Sunday April 19. Both men's and women's races started in Maastricht near the Belgian border, and finish just 17 kilometres to the east in Valkenburg. The men covered 257kms and 34 named climbs - or Hellingen in Dutch - while the women covered 158kms and 22 climbs.
Despite that amount of climbing, and its place among the Ardennes races, Amstel Gold is something of a transitional classic and has been won by cobbled specialists and Grand Tour winners alike. Recent editions have been won by Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel as well as Tadej Pogačar. Similarly the women's race has been won by Marianne Vos and Demi Vollering.
Both races are WorldTour events (the only men's WorldTour event in the Netherlands) and are based on a circuit that includes the iconic climb of the Cauberg, just outside of Valkenburg. The men climb the Cauberg three times, while the women climb it five times. The finish line used to be at the very top of the climb, but in 2013 the organisers moved the finish line two kilometres further along the road to open up the race to more riders, a move that has clearly worked.
If you want to watch this year's Amstel Gold Race on television, check out our how to watch guide.
Amstel Gold Race 2026 women's race route
The 157.3km women's race starts in Maastricht at 9.55am local time and heads directly north alongside the river Meuse that forms the border between the Netherlands and Belgium. The first climb of the Maasberg comes inside the first 10km and will barely warm the legs up. The route turns east at Urmond and then heads south toward the races spiritual home of Valkenburg where the climbs start to come in quick succession.
The first ascent of the Cauberg - the tenth climb of the day - comes after 81km as the race hits the finishing circuit based around Valkenburg, Bemelen, and Vilt. This circuit is covered four times and includes 12 climbs in the final 75km. Four ascents each of the Geulhemmerberg, Belemerberg and the Cauberg.
The finish line comes 1.6km after the final ascent of the Cauberg, typically ending in a chase to the line for the those who have been distanced by the climbers.
Riders to watch
Demi Vollering: The European champion will line up as the favourite after a dominant win at the Tour of Flanders. She last won the race in 2023, the year she took a clean sweep of the Ardennes races.
Marianne Vos: As a fast finisher who can get over the climbs, Vos is perfectly suited to Amstel Gold and has won it twice before. It would have been more had the women's race been run between 2004 and 2016, the years when Vos was in her prime. Her agonising second place at Paris-Roubaix the weekend before will no doubt have her hungry for a win. She's only raced three times this year, but has been in the top ten each time.
Puck Pieterse: The heir to the crown of Dutch women's cycling, Pieterse has show amazing consistency this year with sixth at Strade Bianche, fourth at Milan-San Remo and third at the Tour of Flanders. Winner of last year's Fleche Wallonne, expect her to feature in all the upcoming Ardennes races.
Other riders to watch: While Mischa Bredewold wears the number one on her back, she'll likely share leadership duties with Anna van der Breggen, winner of the 2017 edition. Britain's Cat Ferguson makes her debut at the race which suits her abilities. With two wins already this season, and a solid showing in all the one-day classics she's ridden this year, the 19-year-old is a good outside bet.
Amstel Gold Race 2026 men's race route
Starting in Maastricht at 10.40am local time, Amstel Gold Race features its first of 34 categorised climbs just 9km into the race, with the Slingerberg. As with the women's race, the route turns at Urmond before heading south to the south of the Limburg region where this is barely a flat stretch of road.
The hills, some big, some small come thick and fast as the route twists and turns around on itself. Following the map above, the route follows the black line, then the red, then the yellow, and finally the dark gray line that makes the finishing circuit around Valkenberg, Bemelen and Vilt. The Cauberg is ridden three times in the latter stages.
Riders to watch
Remco Evenepoel: The Belgian placed third on his debut here in 2025, and on spring form looks like the favourite this year. As a two-time winner of Liege-Bastogne-LIege and a three time winner of San Sebastian, it does seem like Amstel is a race that would suit him. Hilly enough to make it hard, yet fast flowing enough to allow him to put his TT skills to good use.
Mattias Skjelmose: Lidl-Trek's leader has had a quiet start to the year, but reliablie non-the-less. This will be only his third one-day race this season, but he'll go on to compete at Fleche and Liege afterwards.
Ben Healy: It's been a slow start to the season for EF's Irishman, but it's a race that undoubtedly suits him and his style of racing. Healy is a rider who picks his targets through the season and commits 100% to them. He spent three days in the break at Itzulia Basque Country last week, suggesting he was using it as training for the Ardennes races.
Others to watch: 2024 winner Tom Pidcock is on the provisional start list but his team are remaining tight-lipped about his return to racing after his crash at the Volta a Catalunya
Amstel Gold previous winners - Women
2026: Paula Blasi (Esp) UAE Team ADQ
2025: Mischa Bredewold (Ned) SD Worx Protime
2024: Marianne Vos (NED) Visma Lease-a-bike
2023: Demi Vollering (NED) Team SD Worx
2022: Marta Cavalli (ITA) FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope
2021: Marianne Vos (NED) Team Jumbo-Visma
2020: No race due to Covid Pandemic
2019: Kasia Niewiadoma (POL) Canyon-SRAM
2018: Chantel Blaak (NED) Boels-Dolmans
2017: Anna van der Breggen (NED) Boels-Dolmans
2004-2016: No race
2003: Nicole Cooke (GBR) Pasta Zara–Cogeas
2002: Leontien van Moorsel (NED)
2001: Debby Mansveld (NED) Vlaanderen T Interim
Amstel Gold previous winners - Men
2026: Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe
2025: Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek
2024: Tom Pidcock (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers
2023: Tadej Pogačar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates
2022: Michał Kwiatkowski (POL) Ineos Grenadiers
2021: Wout van Aert (BEL) Team Jumbo-Visma
2020: No race due to Covid pandemic
2019: Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Corendon–Circus
2018: Michael Valgren (DEN) Astana Pro Team
2017: Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Quick-Step Floors
2016: Enrico Gasparotto (ITA) Wanty–Groupe Gobert
2015: Michał Kwiatkowski (POL) Etixx–Quick-Step
2014: Philippe Gilbert (BEL) BMC Racing Team
2013: Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Saxo–Tinkoff
2012: Enrico Gasparotto (ITA) Astana
2011: Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Omega Pharma–Lotto
2010: Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Omega Pharma–Lotto
