Amstel Gold Race 2022: Who’s riding? When is it on TV? Can anyone stop Mathieu Van der Poel and Marianne Vos?

Founded in 1966, the Amstel Gold Race takes place in the hilly Dutch province of Limburg and traditionally marks the point in the calendar where the cobbled classic specialists hand the baton over to the puncheurs and climbers ahead of the Giro d’Italia. Of course, when the best rider in both cobbled classics and hilly classics is one and the same, those boundaries become a little fluid.

Although the race location of Limburg is not part of the Ardennes, the Amstel Gold Race is often considered the opening race of so-called Ardennes Week, which also includes De Brabantse Pijl, La Fleche Wallonne and, most importantly, Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

With the infamous Cauberg climb not featuring in the men’s finale since 2017, the Amstel Gold Race has become far more unpredictable, with six different winners in the last six editions – most notably Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who in 2019 put in one of the performances of the season to claw his way back into contention on the home straight before winning an exhilarating bunch sprint.

The first round of the French Presidential elections on Sunday 10 April 2022 means Paris-Roubaix has been delayed one week so that it falls on Easter Sunday (faced with a decision between going to the polls or watching the peloton tearing up the Arenberg Trench, there would only be one winner, after all). All this means Amstel Gold falls between the Ronde van Vlaanderen and the Hell of the North in 2022 as the world of cobbles and punchy Ardennes climbs overlap. The men’s race starts at 09:20 UK time and is expected to finish around 15:45.

Of course. The women’s edition returns for a fifth outing since its renaissance in 2017, having previously run three times between 2001 and 2003. The women’s race starts at 09:35 and will finish around 13:05 UK time.

Eurosport has you covered for both races, with coverage of the women’s race from 12:00 UK time and of the men’s race from 13:15. Juggle things carefully and you’ll be able to watch the climax to Stage 1 of the Tour of Turkey, too. You can also watch the Amstel Gold Race on discovery+ and GCN+.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) beat Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) in the tightest photo finish imaginable. So tight, in fact, that many still believe that the British tyro got the better of his Belgian counterpart. One thing that was certain was third place going to Germany’s Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) ahead of a chasing group that included the likes of Michael Matthews, Alejandro Valverde, Julian Alaphilippe and Matej Mohoric.

In the women’s race, veteran Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) topped an all-Dutch podium ahead of Demi Vollering (SD Worx) and Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) after a thrilling reduced sprint once Katia Nieuwiadoma and Elisa Longo Borghini – who had attacked on the Cauberg – were swept up just 500 metres from the line.

With defending champion Wout van Aert still sidelined by Covid ahead of his expected return at Paris-Roubaix, Jumbo-Visma will lead with Dutchman Tom Dumoulin alongside their strong classics stable of Christophe Laporte, Tiesj Benoot, Mike Teunissen and Nathan van Hooydonck.

No Van Aert is good news for the man who lost out to him – at least, photographically – last year. Tom Pidcock leads a tasty Ineos Grenadiers squad with Flanders runner-up Dylan van Baarle, the 2015 winner Michal Kwiatkowski, and Ethan Hayter in support.

But Pidcock will have his work cut out to keep the Ronde champion Mathieu van der Poel at bay. Near unbeatable since his return from injury, the Dutchman will be the focal point of Alpecin-Fenix’s challenge – although he may not want to go as deep as 2019 given the prospect of Paris-Roubaix on the horizon. That could play into the hands of teammate Kristian Sbaragli, seventh last year.

One team which needs a result is Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl. With just one top 10 finish during the entirety of Flanders Week, the Belgian team have been comprehensively outclassed this spring. It’s time for Kasper Asgreen, Florian Senechal, Andrea Bagioli and Mikkel Honore to step up.

Record Amstel Gold winner Philippe “Mister Cauberg” Gilbert will feature for Lotto Soudal although a record fifth win is less likely than a result from either Tim Wellens, Andreas Kron or Victor Campenaerts. The only other former winner to feature is Denmark’s Michael Valgren although EF Education-EasyPost may see in Alberto Bettiol or Neilson Powless a better chance of outside glory.

Milan-San Remo winner Matej Mohoric features for Bahrain-Victorious alongside Dylan Teuns and Fred Wright, while the aggressive Soren Kragh Andersen is due a result for Team DSM, ditto Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies), while Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) showed his classics capabilities during Flanders Week.

Also worth mentioning are Patrick Konrad and Max Schachmann (both Bora-Hansgrohe), Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), Greg van Avermaet and Benoit Cosnefroy (both Ag2R-Citroen), Ben Hermans (Israel-Premier Tech), Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) and UAE Team Emirates duo Matteo Trentin and Marc Hirschi.

In the women’s edition, the last three previous winners will all be present in Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma), Katia Niewiadoma (Canyon-Sram) and Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Team SD Worx). The Amstel Gold Race represents a rare vacancy in the trophy cabinet of Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar). Could that change on Sunday?

Trek-Segafredo will go with Ellen van Dijk, Elisa Longo Borghini and world champion Elisa Balsamo, while SD Worx also have options with Demi Vollering and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio. Sixth and seventh in the last two editions, Denmark’s Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine) is on the hunt for her first win of the season.

The route overhaul in 2017 was designed to favour attackers and it has clearly delivered on its promise with six thrilling and unpredictable editions taking place on narrower roads in the final lap – as perfectly encapsulated by Mathieu van der Poel’s rip-roaring victory in 2019, when the Dutchman single-handedly led the chase on Julian Alaphilippe and Jakob Fuglsang before sprinting to glory.

Starting in Maastricht, the men’s route in 2022 twists and turns along for 254km via no fewer than 33 climbs, culminating with the Bemelerberg (900m at 4.5%) with seven kilometres remaining. The first test, the Slingerberg, comes after just nine kilometres and sets the tone for five hours of climbs and punishment. The Sibbergrubbe and Loorberg climbs feature twice, while the Bemelerberg, Cauberg (800m at 6.5%) and Geulhemmeberg (1km at 5%) are included three times.

The toughest tests come in the final 50 with the double-digit ramps of the Gulperberg, Kruisberg and Eysenbosweg following in quick succession, capped with the Keuterberg with its infamous 22% section – a mighty sting in the legs ahead of the third and final ascent of the Cauberg, which peaks at 12.8%. The riders then cross the finish line ahead of the last 21km lap, which includes the Geulhemmerberg-Bemelerberg double and the fast run into Terblijt.

The women’s race is 128.5km and includes 19 hills. It differs from the men’s race by featuring three laps of finishing circuit that includes the Geulhemmerberg, Bemelerberg and Cauberg climbs. The finish line comes just 1.6km after the top of the Cauberg, giving it a very different dynamic from the men’s race.

After finishing second and third in the past two editions, Annemiek van Vleuten will be hungry for glory – especially after narrowly missing out in the Ronde van Vlaanderen last Sunday. She has the form where the likes of Demi Vollering, Marianne Vos, Ellen van Dijk and Elisa Longo Borghini don’t. But with Roubaix looming, perhaps we will see a relative outsider come to the fore in either Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, Katarzyna Niewiadoma or Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio.

Dutch fans would like nothing more than Mathieu van der Poel or Tom Dumoulin doing the goods – and while it’s hard looking beyond the Alpecin-Fenix rider in that particular two-horsed race, the 2019 champion could well have the absent Wout van Aert and the Arenberg on his mind. Tom Pidcock won’t have a better chance at avenging that narrow photo-finish loss from last year, although you sense Michael Matthews is very much chomping at the bit.