Amstel Gold Race 2025 Men LIVE – Tadej Pogacar taking on Remco Evenepoel, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock in the Ardennes

How about that, eh?

That's me for the spring. Enjoy Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday, and Liege-Bastoge-Liege next weekend. It's not been a bad classics season, has it?

It was a fascinating final third to that Amstel Gold Race. The touchpaper was lit by the swashbuckling Julian Alaphilippe and as Tadej Pogacar followed then dispatched the Frenchman, we all thought we were about to witness that which we've seen so many times before. With Pogacar up the road, the bunch was squabbling more between themselves and the gap was only extending.

An attack off the front from Mattias Skjelmose looked valiant but surely hopeless, until Remco Evenepoel took it upon himself to charge across. As a duo they were stronger both than the bunch behind and the World Champion up front, bringing the rainbow jersey to heel inside 10km.

As Pogacar looked bushed, Remco determined, they hadn't reckoned with Skjelmose. No attacks on the final ascent of the mighty Cauberg meant it would come down to a three-up sprint. Pogacar forced Evenepoel to lead it out, while the Dane waited. He timed his move to perfection, coming around the favourites and pulling ahead at the perfect moment, to win by less than half a wheel.

1. Mattias Skjelmose 5'49'58"
2. Tadej Pogacar "
3. Remco Evenepoel "
4. Wout van Aert +34"
5. Michael Matthews "
6. Louise Barre "
7. Roman Gregoire "
8. Tiesj Benoot "
9. Tom Pidcock "
10. Ben Healy "

He let the favorites go to battle, and wear each other out, only coming into the wind when he absolutely had to. He had the most left and made it count.

It was a thrilling three-up sprint, and the rider who no-one expected came through on the line. Pogacar second, Evenepoel third. What a finish!

Evenepoel is going to lead it out.

Skjelmose flicks the elbow. Pogacar refuses to do a turn.

Evenepoel leads around the bend on his gold bike, rainbows in the middle, with Skjelmose sitting on the back. What do they all have left?

Not the flat sprint that we've become used to. It's climbing legs that will make the difference here.

Which he may be - he's got a race to win. The gap to the rest is 42km. Not unbridgeable if our front trio mess about.

He really shouldn't be, not in this company.

And Pogacar has to react just to stay in the slipstream.

Into the single digits of seconds. He's about to be caught.

The penultimate hill of this course. The gold bike has missile lock, and the rainbow jersey looks to be in difficulty. Every time the road straightens they can see him. The podium looks settled.

As the blossom blows across the bunch, Evenepoel and Skjelmose are eating away at that gap. It's now nearer 10 seconds than 20. Is it going to climax on the Cauberg? They can see him, and a look around by Pogacar tells he knows the score too. What's his move? Ease off and recover or go for broke? We've never seen him do the former before.

They need to try something, but surely that gap is too much to close?

Is Pogacar playing with them? Perhaps he's taking a bit of time to recover. Only he knows. We can only observe. He's certainly looking behind, but he knows what he's doing better than any rider in the world.

Pogacar crosses the line to take the bell, and the first three groups on the road are separated by no more than 600m. Evenepoel and Skjelmose are bang in the middle.