Evenepoel beams after winning one of his favorite races and praises Dutch teammates

“This victory means a lot to me,” Evenepoel said at the start of his flash interview with NOS. “I already had a good month in Catalonia and at the Tour of Flanders, but winning is always nicer,” he added, now able to look back on a successful spring campaign.

“I’ve said before that I love this race, with all those short and nasty climbs,” he continued. Evenepoel saw the race unfold in a similar way to last year’s edition. “The finale opened up in the same place as last year, on the Kruisberg. I had a lot of confidence and also felt much better in the final than I did last year. That showed in my sprint as well. It was much better than last year; I really still had something left in the legs.”

Evenepoel could count on a strong team along the way, with his teammates taking on much of the work throughout the race. “I’m very proud that I was able to reward the hard work of my teammates. Danny van Poppel and Tim van Dijke had to control the race all day. The other teammates then kept putting me in perfect position.”

In the final, Evenepoel gradually thinned out the group of favorites. Some of his rivals also disappeared in a more literal sense, with Matteo Jorgenson among those taken out by a crash. Evenepoel avoided the bad luck, and in the closing phase he then beat Skjelmose with clear authority in the sprint. “This is one of my favorite races on the calendar, and to win it on my second appearance is amazing,” the Belgian said, beaming after the finish.

Just like last year, Evenepoel had to take on Skjelmose in the sprint. “Yes,” Evenepoel laughed. “I had flashbacks to last year. But I felt much more confident. On the climbs, I noticed that I was the strongest rider in the race. When he came through to take turns, I also noticed that Skjelmose was on the limit. That gave me a lot of confidence that I would be able to finish it off in the sprint.”

Evenepoel has already won plenty of beautiful races, and among all those victories, he places the Amstel Gold Race high on the list. “It is definitely the most beautiful victory of the year. Every win is beautiful, of course. Amstel sits just below the Monuments, so it is certainly high in my ranking. It is definitely in the top eight of my victories. I am one of the lucky ones who wins a lot, and I am proud of that.”