Valkenburg (Netherlands) (AFP) - Tadej Pogacar racked up an 11th win of the season on Sunday when he dropped Tom Pidcock on a climb and soloed over 30km to win the prestigious Amstel Gold Race before putting away a glass of beer in impressive speed.
The 24-year-old Slovenian of the UAE team finished first on the Dutch classic in six hours 01min 02sec, ahead of Ireland's disappointed Ben Healy of EF Education-EasyPost.British rider Pidcock clung on to third place.
Alexey Lutsenko and Andreas Kron rounded out the top five after failing narrowly to reel in Pidcock in a desperate chase for third.
On the winner's podium, Pogacar and the others were all handed a glass of Amstel Gold beer, and Pogacar downed his drink in one long slug and smiled broadly to the cheering onlookers.
Pogacar had changed bikes just ahead of the climb where his trademark climb-kick left the others standing.
"We didn’t have cars for such a long time but we managed to get the bike just in time before the final climbs," said Pogacar.
He later explained fellow rider Mathieu van der Poel had tippped him off to the tactic.
"He told me I should go on the Keutenberg and it is the hardest climb and it suits me the most.He told me that three days ago, he sent me a message.I will thank him for the advice," he said.
The lead trio went clear as part of a large attack with 90km to go on the 253.6km race over relentless hills on an overcast day run between Maastricht and Valkenburg.
The ease with which Pogacar later shot away from an in-form Pidcock on the upper reaches of the Keutenberg hill showed why the double Tour de France winner added to his Tour of Flanders triumph earlier this month.
Next weekend Pogacar faces a mouth-watering duel with Remco Evenepoel at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege with the Belgian defending champion tasked with taming the 2021 title winner.
Ahead of that he also tackles La Fleche Wallone in midweek.
"It’s a hard race for me.I never did a good result there, but with good shape right now and a good team, we can also do a good result in Flèche," said Pogacar.
Dutch rider Demi Vollering won the women's race after breaking free of the pack on the final descent, producing a third major win for the 26-year-old this season after Strade Bianche and Tour of Flanders.
