Former cycling great Tom Dumoulin is set to take over as the new director of the Amstel Gold Race in 2027, the race organisation announced this morning.
The 2017 Giro d'Italia winner and former World Time Trial Champion will succeed current director Leo van Vliet next year as head of one of the best-loved hilly Classics of the season.
Van Vliet has been running Holland's only men's WorldTour Classic since 1996, with an equivalent women's race – also raced on the southern half of the Netherlands – added during his directorship first for a three-year period from 2001-2003 and then continuously from 2017.
The men's race has experienced some major changes during that time as well, most notably a move to the summit of the famous Cauberg climb in 2003 and then further along the same road for a flatter finale just a few kilometres after the same ascent in 2017.
After last year's men's Amstel Gold Race ended with a thrilling three-way duel won by Mattias Skjelmose ahead of Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar, Sunday April 19 will thus be the last edition to take place with Van Vliet as director.
"It’s quite remarkable to realise that I’ve had the opportunity to experience 30 editions as race director," Van Vliet said in a press release.
The press conference was held in the In den Ouden Vogelstruys on the Vrijthof square in Maastricht, the place where the idea for the international cycling race originated in 1965.
"The 60th edition in 2026 feels like the right time for me to pass on the baton to a new generation."
Before retiring in 2022 after an 11-year-career, Dumoulin captured nine stages across all three Grand Tours and finished on the podium of the Tour de France twice, as well as becoming the Netherlands' first-ever Giro d'Italia winner in 2017.
An expert time triallist, he also clinched multiple medals in the speciality in both the World Championships and Olympic Games.
“The Amstel Gold Race is a race that has given me such a lot, both personally and in terms of sport," Dumoulin, 35 and a native of Maastricht himself, added.
"The fact that I’ve been entrusted to lead this race as from 2027, following in the footsteps of [the first Amstel race director] Herman Krott and Leo van Vliet, feels like a great honour and responsibility. I look forward to working with the team to continue the rich tradition of this unique Classic."
