Evenepoel Does Just Enough at Amstel Gold to Save His Best for Liège

You’d think that after losing a three-up sprint last year at Amstel Gold Race, the last thing Remco Evenepoel would want would be a replay against Mattias Skjelmose and the rider who relegated him to third in 2025.

The key moment on Sunday was not what Evenepoel did, but what he didn’t do.

But rather than blow up the race Sunday and ride away solo — a la Pogačar — the Belgian superstar played the sprint card Sunday and came up aces.

Evenepoel delivered textbook-perfect race management in what he’s calling one of his best sprints ever after a long one-day classic.

“I am super happy. I think the celebration on the line said enough,” Evenepoel said. “I looked at the values of my sprint, and it was one of my best sprints ever after a difficult race.”

At 257km and 3,400m of vertical, the Amstel Gold Race is the real deal.

And without Mathieu van der Poel, Tom Pidcock, Wout van Aert, and Tadej Pogačar at the start line, he had to win.

But Evenepoel resisted the urge to detonate the race for a showboating solo win and instead wagered on his sprint to finish off Skjelmose.

Perhaps a wiser, more calculating Remco? Or was he already thinking about Sunday?

We’ll find out this weekend in a generational showdown with Pogačar and Paul Seixas at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Saving his matches

Amstel Gold Race was not a typical Evenepoel race. He raced differently in the sharp hills of the Dutch classic.

This was controlled, calculating, and almost restrained. No tantrums, no bitter disappointments, no crashes. For once, things went to script.

What was going on?

In his first race back since finishing third at the Tour of Flanders, the burden of control fell squarely on Evenepoel’s Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe squad. They embraced it. After all, it’s a super team, and that’s what super teams are expected to do.

“We took full responsibility,” Evenepoel said. “We didn’t even ask for support. They wouldn’t have done it anyway.”

On the decisive climb at the Kruisberg, it was Romain Grégoire — not Remco — who lit the fuse with just over 40km to go. A few noticed a cold sore on his lip. Was he off?

A crash soon after thinned the group, taking out Matteo Jorgenson with a broken clavicle that quickly made the finale a three-man move that later became two.

Evenepoel jettisoned Grégoire on the penultimate climb of the Cauberg, leaving only last year’s winner Skjelmose in the final.

Rather than go for some theatrics, Evenepoel played the odds.

“I felt like I was the strongest on the climbs. I felt that Skjelmose was at his limit,” he said. “When I accelerated on the Cauberg to drop Grégoire, Skjelmose also had a hard time. I thought, maybe it’s better to take him to the sprint, because there’s still headwinds until the end.”

Evenepoel kept Skjelmose on a tight leash and made no effort to drop the Dane on the final Cauberg.

Is this a wiser, more economical Remco, who often races like the former soccer player that he is?

Or was this all about checking off the “W” as easily as possible in a brutal race, and getting ready for what really matters?

All eyes on Liège

A perfect win on Sunday gives Remco tailwinds going into the Ardennes, but the pressure will only build.

What if Evenepoel attacked again on the final Cauberg? He might have gone solo, but he might have cracked into the headwind.

It might have been that he was also thinking about this weekend.

The hype machine now turns Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a double-decker clash with Pogačar and rising star Paul Seixas on April 26.

A start at La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday was still up in the air, but on Monday he no dice.

That would have put him in his first direct clash with Seixas since Il Lombardia last fall.

Since then, Seixas’ stock has gone parabolic, with some saying he’s already surpassed the double Olympic champion in grand tour potential.

Liège will set up the epic bout between Seixas, Pogačar, and Evenepoel.

No wonder Evenepoel didn’t want to go too deep to win Amstel Gold.

He delivered on the pressure to win, but he will need all of his trademark instinct and aggression to have any hope on Sunday.