Women's Amstel Gold Race 2026 Preview | Vollering leads star squad FDJ-Suez squad. Can anyone beat them?
CyclingWednesday, 15 April 2026 at 21:38
The cobble classics are already in the recent past, which means cycling world turns its attention to the hilly classics. After Brabantse Pijl on Friday, the women venture into the Amstel Gold Race, the biggest race in the Netherlands. IDL Pro Cycling brings you everything you need to know ahead of Sunday's race.
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The Amstel Gold Race for women in its current form has been held since 2017. Anna van der Breggen won that edition. Then it was the turn of Chantal van den Broek-Blaak and Kasia Niewiadoma, before the corona break caused a small hiatus on the honour roll.
In 2021, Marianne Vos won for the first time, before Marta Cavalli surprisingly took the spoils in 2022. Demi Vollering was the best in 2023, and in 2024 we saw the much-discussed sprint between Vos and Lorena Wiebes. The sprinter from SD Worx-Protime thought she had won, but in the end, Vos was deemed to have just edged it.
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Last season, the victory did go to SD Worx-Protime, specifically to Mischa Bredewold. The rider from Amersfoort rode away in the final phase and ultimately shared the podium with compatriots Ellen van Dijk and Puck Pieterse.
Recent winners: Amstel Gold Race - women
2025 Mischa Bredewold
2024 Marianne Vos
2023 Demi Vollering
2022 Marta Cavalli
2021 Marianne Vos
2020 Cancelled
2019 Kasia Niewiadoma
2018 Chantal van den Broek-Blaak
2017 Anna van der Breggen
2024 Marianne Vos
2023 Demi Vollering
2022 Marta Cavalli
2021 Marianne Vos
2019 Kasia Niewiadoma
2018 Chantal van den Broek-Blaak
2017 Anna van der Breggen
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Amstel Gold Race - women 2026: Route, weather and times
Race director Leontien van Moorsel proudly announced three years ago that she was taking 'a new step' with the Amstel Gold Race for women. This meant that the race would be made thirty kilometres longer, bringing the total distance towards 160 kilometres. At the request of several riders from the peloton, for clarity.
The extra distance was mainly found with a loop in the opening phase towards Sittard and Geleen, but the final lap of eighteen kilometres is also covered an extra time.
In total, the riders must overcome 1700 metres of elevation, which are distributed over approximately 22 categorised hills in South Limburg. The local lap with the Geulhemmerberg, Bemelerberg and Cauberg will likely be crucial again. With a hundred kilometres to go, the Kruisberg, Keutenberg, Fromberg and Eyserbosweg follow in succession, after which the four local laps containing the aforementioned climbs follow.
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The final Cauberg - the extra and fifth passage - must be conquered about two kilometres from the finish, when we will know at around 2pm CET who will succeed Bredewold in Berg en Terblijt.
Weather
What kind of weather can we expect in South Limburg on Sunday? Wind from the north will not be too strong, but some chance of rain is expected in the afternoon. The temperature will peak just below 15 degrees Celsius.
What kind of weather can we expect in South Limburg on Sunday? Wind from the north will not be too strong, but some chance of rain is expected in the afternoon. The temperature will peak just below 15 degrees Celsius.
Times
Start: 10:10 a.m.
Finish: 2 p.m.
Start: 10:10 a.m.
Finish: 2 p.m.
Favorites Amstel Gold Race 2026 - women
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The Amstel Gold Race for women has a stacked starting field, but it is clear that one team carry the title of out and out favourites, especially after last Sunday. FDJ-Suez are enjoying a dream spring, with victories in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix Femmes.
Demi Vollering (Omloop and Flanders), Elise Chabbey (Strade Bianche) and Franziska Koch (Paris-Roubaix) were individually responsible for this, but collectively they also had a significant share in each other's victories. Add Juliette Berthet to that for Sunday and you are talking about four contenders for the win. If we have to pick one, it has to be home favoutrite Demi Vollering.
Besides Vollering, there are many more Dutch contenders, starting with SD Worx-Protime. That team is missing Lotte Kopecky, but with defending champion Mischa Bredewold, sprinter Lorena Wiebes and Anna van der Breggen, they have the potential to win in any scenario.
And then we haven't even mentioned Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) and Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike, also with Femke de Vries), podium finishers in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix respectively.
Furthermore, Shirin van Anrooij, Riejanne Markus, Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Thalita de Jong (Human Powered Health) and woman-in-form Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ, which also plays Silvia Persico) deserve a mention.
Representing the rest of the world, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM), returns after a fall in Milan-San Remo to try and win for a second time. Other contenders include world champion Magdeleine Vallieres, Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner, Noemi Ruëgg (EF-Oatly), Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal-Quick-Step), Cat Ferguson and Liane Lippert (Movistar).
IDL Cycling Top Picks, 2026 Amstel Gold Race - women?
Top favorites: Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech)
Outsiders: Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM), Franziska Koch, Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) and Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Outsiders: Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM), Franziska Koch, Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) and Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Longshots: Mischa Bredewold, Lorena Wiebes, Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek), Juliette Berthet (FDJ-Suez), Magdeleine Vallieres, Noemi Ruëgg (EF-Oatly), Karlijn Swinkels, Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) and Liane Lippert (Movistar)
TV Amstel Gold Race 2026 - women
Below you can find where to watch Paris Roubaix Femmes in English by country
- United Kingdom: HBO Max now carries all of the UK cycling coverage.\
- USA: You will need a subscription to Peacock to watch the racing in the USA.
- Canada: FloBikes carries the stream for Canadian fans. Again you will need a subscription.
- Australia: Fans down under can watch both the men's and women's races for free on SBS on Demand.
IDL-productions
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Latest Comments
- Here is a novel idea......it's a road bike race, stick to smooth asphalt courses! Cobble is like mild off-road cross riding!!!!Germanrazor14-04-2026
- Rider X, y and z? Could you update?yaNzKEWL21-03-2026
- Can anyone help me understand the thinking behind the two punishments? Are the commissaires saying you get thrown out of the race for a second inadvertent disposal of a bidon (even to the delight of fans) but that as long as you can afford it you can show off your phalangeal cuticles all day long on international TV? Aking for a friend.packfiller7112-03-2026
- It's a bit embarrassing that. Isn't the main sponsor supposed to keep them at 36.5 ?tomjacques03-03-2026
- They were close to cracking a very tired Tadej that wasn't fully focused on the TdF with a team of riders focused solely on cracking Tadej. And if they cracked him, he would have still won. Tadej won't be racing the giro this year. It'll be an even easier win for him.Veganpotter09-02-2026
- Nice!Bea22-01-2026
- Those events are mental rest for him. Fun, without expectations. *Sagan lost his abilities because he gained weight and got lazy. Pogi will likely retire before that has a chance at happening.Veganpotter14-12-2025
- Ah, the consequences of riding for Israel.Veganpotter11-12-2025
- Pidcock could follow everyone but Pogi while finishing 3rd. No second place rider this season😃Veganpotter16-11-2025
- Now the Palestinian protestors can stop their whining. Trump came to the rescue. So they can now STFU and go back to waving the rainbow flags.raufus15-10-2025
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