Amstel Gold women’s race LIVE - SD Worx-Protime’s Demi Vollering begins Ardennes classics defence, race neutralised until Valkenburg

Vos is a key prospect for today’s win, in what would be her 251st road victory and second Amstel Gold title.

As well as having a previous winner in their ranks, back-to-back cyclo-cross world champion Fem van Empel returns from illness for Visma-Lease a Bike.

She said before the race: "I'm really looking forward to it," she said. "It is always fun to race in your own country; I know that from the cyclo-cross races. My family will be with me.

"The profile of the Amstel Gold Race is within my capabilities, but I am especially curious about my physical condition. We have a strong team, which makes different scenarios possible. I want to make my contribution to the team."

In addition to Van Empel’s return, British rider Anna Henderson takes part in her first race since breaking her collarbone earlier in February.

Aside from Henderson, the Visma-Lease a Bike team is made up of entirely Dutch riders with Riejanne Markus, Eva van Agt, and Sophie von Berswordt completing the team.

"I would be lying if I said we were not going for the win," said Rutger Tijssen, Visma-Lease a Bike’s technical director. "We are starting with a solid team.

"I'm sure we'll be fighting for victory. How great will it be to win the Amstel Gold Race again as a Dutch team?"

Read more below:

This year is the tenth edition of the Amstel Gold Ladies Race, but it’s one that has never been won twice by the same person.

We know that Vollering will most likely be eager to defend her title, but who else is in with a chance of creating history?

Alongside Vollering, winners from two of the races before her win in 2023 are also in the peloton today.

Canyon//SRAM Racing’s Kasia Niewiadoma, who won Amstel Gold in 2019, has had a punchy start to the year with a second and fourth place at Ronde van Vlaanderen and Strade Bianche respectively.

The indefatigable Marianne Vos (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), who won here in 2021, has started the season with debut wins at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Dwars door Vlaanderen to reach a total of 250 road victories. She additionally finished fourth at Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix Femmes.

A win for any of the three of them today will make history as the first woman to win the race twice.

Last year’s race saw Demi Vollering seal the first of three victories that would see her become Queen of the Ardennes in 2023 with subsequent victories at Liège–Bastogne–Liège and La Flèche Wallonne.

In what was a stellar year for SD Worx-Protime, Vollering went on to win the Tour de France Femmes after a memorable stage win atop a cloud-covered Col du Tourmalet, in addition to her wins at Strade Bianche and Dwars door Vlaanderen. She also took second place in the general, points, and mountain classifications in La Vuelta Femenina, with victories on stages five and seven.

Vollering returns to defend her title this year, but is yet to secure the top spot on a podium this year. She has already come second and third in Strade Bianche Donne and De Brabantse Pijl, but by this time last year she already had the Strade Bianche and Dwars door Vlaanderen victories under her belt.

While SD Worx-Protime have won the UAE Women’s Tour, Strade Bianche, and Paris-Roubaix Femmes with World Champion Lotte Kopecky, today will be a real test for Vollering, who looks certain to be leaving the team at the end of the season. However, with both of them on the team today, who knows what could happen, especially as Kopecky finished second last year.

The women’s race covers 157.4km, a few kilometres up from last year’s 155.8km, from Maastricht to laps around Valkenburg.

The race once again features 21 climbs covering a total of 1,724m, the same as last year, and laps around the finishing circuit.

The first climb, Maasberg, (0.4km in length, average gradient 5.0%) came after 12.3km and was followed by Adsteeg, Bergseweg. After this, the race was neutralised.

Due to the neutralisation, the race will re-start at the finish like in Valkenburg for the remaining laps.

At 82.km, they then tackle the prominent Cauberg (800 metres, average gradient 6.5%, steepest 12.8%) for the first time of five, before starting the first of three 17.9km laps.

The laps feature a further two climbs in addition to the Cauberg; Geulhemmerberg, Bemelerberg.

The Geulhemmerberg climb covers 1km with an average gradient of 5%, and Bemelerberg 900m at 5%. Both climbs will be tackled four times before the finish, which comes 1.8km after the fifth ascension of the Cauberg.

The route changes slightly for the final lap, with the route from Bemelerberg to the Cauberg taking riders through the narrow Franse Steeg.

In the women’s race, the Cauberg has been a key point in years gone by. Last year the false flat was where Demi Vollering dug deep to secure her late solo breakaway victory.

The race was neutralised after 47 due to a incident in Voerendaal. Thoughts are with the police officer and anyone else affected.

“A police motorcyclist was injured this morning around 11 a.m. in a collision with a car on the Bergseweg in #Voerendaal while supervising the Amstel Gold Race. He was taken to hospital by ambulance. The Bergseweg has been closed off for an investigation by TTOV.”

The first race of the Ardennes classics is here! After the brutal spring cobbles, the peloton are now faced with the hillier Ardennes races.

Sadly, there has been a major incident involving a police officer, which has meant that the race has been neutralised until Valkenburg, where the race will resume for the four laps.

We'll be providing live updates throughout.