Vos wins Amstel Gold Race after nerve-wracking sprint
Marianne Vos has won the Amstel Gold Race for the second time in her career. In a shortened edition of the Dutch WorldTour race, the 36-year-old rider beat Lorena Wiebes, who was cheering too early, on the line.
The race was stopped for a long time. A motorcycle police officer collided with a car, neutralizing the race for more than an hour. The peloton resumed the race after the organization decided to complete three more local laps.
Eva van Agt saw her chance to go on the attack shortly after the resumption. Together with two fellow escapees, Van Agt gained a minute from the peloton. The trio was allowed to get close to victory, but with the final kilometer in sight, the group was outflanked by a now reduced peloton.
Van Agt then worked with some teammates to get Vos in position for the final sprint. Strengthened by her experience, Vos then launched her sprint. Wiebes thought she had the win and already raised her arms in the air, but that turned out to be too early. Vos was able to pass her compatriot in the closing meters. The leader of Team Visma | Lease a Bike thus booked her third victory of the season. For her team, it was victory number four of 2024.
"I'm very happy with the win"
"An unbelievable victory," Vos stammered immediately afterwards. "It still has to sink in if I'm honest. A lot happened in this race. Obviously I am very happy with the victory, but I sympathize with Lorena. I've been through a similar situation myself. Today I gave everything until the line and that was enough for the win. I felt I had more speed than the competition, but it was still a bit uncertain after the finish line whether it would be enough. Fortunately, it turned out to be. That discharge was wonderful. I'm very happy with the win."