Julian Alaphilippe will make his sixth appearance at the Dutch Classic.
Amstel Gold Race returns after two years, and the parcours will be completely different than the one used at the 2019 edition. The riders will take on a hard 16.9km circuit featuring the Geulhemmerberg, Bemelerberg and Cauberg, for a total of almost 40 hills, which together with the narrow roads should make an important selection. The final lap of the thirteen on the menu this Sunday will not include the Cauberg, meaning that the big moves could come long before the finish in Berg en Terblijt.
A top 10 finisher at each of his last four participations, Julian Alaphilippe will lead the line for Deceuninck – Quick-Step in what will be the World Champion’s first outing since Ronde van Vlaanderen, at the beginning of the month. Alaphilippe, who recently has extended his contract with the team until 2024, will be joined for the 219.7km World Tour race by Mattia Cattaneo, Rémi Cavagna – one of the main animators at Wednesday’s Brabantse Pijl – Ian Garrison, Florian Sénéchal, Pieter Serry and Mauri Vansevenant, the winner of this season’s Gran Premio Industria & Artigianato.
“We have a strong line-up for Sunday, a team built around Julian, who we all know how much he loves this kind of races and will be our leader, aiming for a good result. The route is a well-balanced one but completely different than what we’ve been used to in the past years and we expect a stressful race, similar to the World Championships. The most important thing will be to stay focused all the time, follow what’s happening and find the right moment to make our move, especially as the action is very likely to start before the last lap”, said Deceuninck – Quick-Step sports director Klaas Lodewyck.
