Powerful Bredewold Crushes the Competition in Amstel Gold Race
Mischa Bredewold took control of the Amstel Gold Race. She proved to be the strongest in the field and sealed the race with a decisive acceleration on the Cauberg. Van Dijk and Pieterse sprinted to second and third place.
Under a radiant sun, the riders kicked off the 11th edition of the Women’s Amstel Gold Race in Maastricht. From the Markt, they set off, cheered on by a fantastic crowd, heading into the local circuits with the Cauberg as the main decider.
Early on, several riders attempted to break away. Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck) was very active in front of her home crowd and was joined by eight others: Anderson (Uno-X Mobility), Verhulst Wild (AG Insurance – Soudal Team), Quagliotto (Cofidis Women Team), De Boer (DD Group pro Cycling team), Allione (Winspace Orange Seal), Rijnbeek (Volkerwessels Cycling team), Tieleman (DD Group pro Cycling team), and Mrugal (Cynisca Cycling).
As the riders hit the Keutenberg, the gap had already shrunk to under a minute. With 80 km to go, the peloton caught the breakaway. At the second pass over the finish line, a large group including Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), Persico (UAE Team Emirates ADQ), and Wiebes (Team SD Worx - Protime) broke away. Vollering, Vos (Team Visma – Lease a Bike), Kopecky, and Longo Borghini (UAE Team Emirates ADQ) were not part of the move and had to start the chase. With 38 km remaining, a trio including Vos followed at 1'15", and the peloton was at 1'50".
Just before the final local lap, Pieterse made her move. She attacked several times on the Cauberg and was joined by Persico and Labous (FDJ-Suez), as well as Bredewold (Team SD Worx - Protime) and Van Dijk (Lidl-Trek). With 6 km to go, Van Dijk launched an attack with Bredewold on her wheel. On the final ascent of the Cauberg, Bredewold launched a final acceleration to go for the win. She never looked back and took an impressive victory in the Amstel Gold Race. Van Dijk and Pieterse completed the podium.
