2025 Amstel Gold Race: David vs. Goliath
“Julian Alaphilippe attacks on the Kruisberg.”
The race had been in control for UAE until Alaphilippe launched his attack with 47 km to go. Tadej Pogačar, the big favorite, who had just come from an extraordinary second place in his first Paris-Roubaix, was the only one who could follow.
It was one of the last times we saw Julian battle with the big stars, but after a couple of kilometers, he couldn’t follow the world champion’s pace anymore. Pogačar was in control. His cadence was strong. There was not a single doubt in my mind that the gap was only going to become greater and greater.
There were a couple of attacks on the Keutenberg from the attack group, and on the top, Mattias Skjelmose came with his attack when it hurt the most on his rivals. He got a decent gap down to the chasers.
Remco Evenepoel attacked. He was not ready to lose this race. He caught Skjelmose, and they got into a good cooperation.
But there was no way they could bring back the world champion. A thing that had only been done by one before: his arch-enemy, Jonas Vingegaard.
The time gap began going down.
What was happening? Had Pogačar exploded? Had the classic season been too hard? Everyone had their own speculation.
When they reached him, Evenepoel kept riding like a train past Tadej. Skjelmose did everything to keep the wheel of the burning Evenepoel. Pogačar rode all out but closed the gap in the end.
This was a sign from the Olympic champion to the world champion. You could feel the tension through the screen.
7 kilometers to go.
2 kilometers to go.
Nobody attacked. All three of them believed in their sprint.
Near the finish line, Pogačar and Evenepoel kept looking at each other. The chasing group was taking a lot of time. Skjelmose kept taking pulls. He knew how big a podium would be for him.
When was the sprint going to be opened, and by whom? Were the chasers going to reach them in time?
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It was as if time stood still.
Evenepoel opens from the front. Tadej goes up on his side of the sprint, but Skjelmose launches and comes up on Pogačar’s side.
They are three wide on the finish line.
A few milliseconds after the line, everyone’s thought was: who won?
Remco looked a little gutted, but Skjelmose had come with a fast punch. Skjelmose takes his hand to his head. Did he really win?
Nobody dared to call who had won.
Remco looked like someone had turned him off.
Skjelmose rode directly to his soigneurs.
“I THINK I WON. I think I won.”
The adrenaline was still surging.
The announcement came: Mattias Skjelmose was the winner of the 2025 Amstel Gold Race.
There came a roar from all of the Lidl-Trek personnel.
He had beaten the best of his generation. The happiness he felt, I could also feel, even though it was over 1,000 km from where I was.
Skjelmose didn’t go into the race with the hopes of winning, but he did.
The underdog had beaten the two unbeatable giants.
