PARIS (AFP) - Tadej Pogacar resumes his relentless pursuit of victories on Sunday in the Amstel Gold one-day cycling classic in the Netherlands.
Two weeks after claiming the Tour of Flanders, the Slovenian returns to competition as the great favorite.
As well as the Tour of Flanders, one of cycling’s five one-day ‘Monuments’, Pogacar has finished first overall in two multi-day races, Paris-Nice and the Tour of Andalucia, winning three individual stages in both. He also won his season-opener in Jaen in Spain.
His late decision to enter instantly changed the prospects for his main rivals.
They include Belgian Tiesj Benoot, Briton Tom Pidcock, Frenchman Benoit Cosnefroy and last year’s winner, Pole Michal Kwiatkowski.
Pogacar will be the man to beat.
Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, winner this year of Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix, and Belgian Wout Van Aert, who ended his spring campaign last Sunday with a heartbreaking third place in the ‘Hell of the North’, are both absent.
The only Dutch classic on the calendar has a profile that fits Pogacar’s style.
It is winding, with 33, often short and sharp, climbs. It covers 253 kilometres as it zig-zags from Maastricht to Valkenburg.
“I’ve only ridden it once and I remember it being a long and difficult race with lots of climbs,” said the UAE team leader.
Four years ago, at 19, he did not finish.