Amstel Gold Race

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Route 2012

The Amstel Gold Race is a road bike race that has been held annually near Maastricht in the Netherlands since 1966 .

The classic one-day race , which is named after the Dutch type of beer Amstel , was part of the ten-races World Cup until 2004, the last year of this series . Then it belonged to the newly introduced UCI ProTour and since 2011 to the successor series UCI WorldTour .

The approximately 250 km long Dutch classic was for a long time more of a bike race for sprinters due to its rather simple topography. In recent years, however, more and more new hills have been built into the course of the race. Above all, the relocation of the finish has proven to be decisive: since 2003, the Amstel Gold Race no longer ends in Maastricht, but on the Cauberg in Valkenburg , a relatively short but steep climb that has also hosted the road world championships four times . In 2013 the destination was moved again. It was now 1.8 kilometers behind the Cauberg, at the same point where the 2012 World Championship ended. Since 2017, the Cauberg is no longer the last ascent, but the Bemelerberg and the goal is in Berg en Terblijt .

Until the early 1990s, the Amstel Gold Race was largely dominated by Belgians and Dutch. Since the race has been part of the Cycling World Cup or the UCI ProTour , the Palmarès has become significantly international. The record winner of the Amstel Gold Race is the Dutchman Jan Raas , who won the race five times between 1977 and 1982, followed by Philippe Gilbert , who won four times from 2010 to 2017. German winners were Olaf Ludwig in 1992, Erik Zabel in 2000 and Stefan Schumacher in 2007. In 1993 and 1998 the Swiss Rolf Järmann and in 1995 Mauro Gianetti won .

For women, the race was only held four times until 2016, namely from 2001 to 2003. In 2003 the Amstel Gold Race was part of the Cycling World Cup . In 2017 the race for the women was held again as part of the UCI Women's WorldTour .

For several years now, the Amstel Gold Race has also been held as an everyone’s race on the day before the elite race. The previous “tourist version” of the Amstel Gold Race, the “ Limburgs Mooiste ” bike tour , will continue to be organized.

Climbs

The climbs of the Amstel Gold Race are mostly short, but steep. In 2017, the drivers had to complete 32 Heuvel (German: hill), as the climbs in Limburg are called, with a total length of 46.7 km and an altitude gain of 2318 m. Six climbs are climbed twice, only the destination Cauberg is climbed three times (numbers in brackets).

No.	km	Surname	summit	height	length	pitch
01	010.7	Maasberg	062 m	22 m	500 m	4.4%
02	032.5	Adsteeg	112 m	27 m	500 m	5.4%
03	040.2	Long Raarberg	124 m	59 m	1300 m	4.5%
04th	055.5	Bergseweg	180 m	90 m	2700 m	3.3%
05	067.4	Sibbergrubbe (1)	145 m	87 m	2100 m	4.1%
06th	072.8	Cauberg (1)	137 m	69 m	1200 m	5.8%
07th	076.3	Geulhemmerweg (1)	126 m	62 m	1000 m	6.2%
08th	095.7	Wolfsberg (1)	191 m	35 m	800 m	4.4%
09	101.3	Loorberg (1)	225 m	83 m	1500 m	5.5%
10	111.4	Schweibergerweg	220 m	114 m	2900 m	3.9%
11	117.8	Camerig	281 m	163 m	4300 m	3.8%
12	130.8	Drielandenpunt	321 m	142 m	3700 m	3.8%
13	133.6	Gemmenich	273 m	58 m	900 m	6.4%
14th	137.1	Vijlenerbos	269 m	92 m	1800 m	5.1%
15th	146.9	Eperheide	225 m	103 m	2300 m	4.5%
16	154.9	Gulperberg (1)	153 m	57 m	700 m	8.1%
17th	158.5	van Plettenbergweg	141 m	42 m	1000 m	4.2%
18th	160.4	Eyserweg	205 m	95 m	2200 m	4.3%
19th	165.3	Huls	214 m	77 m	1000 m	7.7%
20th	170.7	Vrakelberg	178 m	55 m	700 m	7.9%
21st	178.6	Sibbergrubbe (2)	145 m	87 m	2100 m	4.1%
22nd	184.1	Cauberg (2)	137 m	69 m	1200 m	5.8%
23	187.6	Geulhemmerweg (2)	126 m	62 m	1000 m	6.2%
24	201.3	Bemelerberg	127 m	45 m	900 m	5.0%
25th	218.4	Wolfsberg (2)	191 m	35 m	800 m	4.4%
26th	224.0	Loorberg (2)	225 m	83 m	1500 m	5.5%
27	232.3	Gulperberg (2)	153 m	57 m	700 m	8.1%
28	237.8	Kruisberg	162 m	60 m	800 m	7.5%
29	239.9	Eyserbosweg	187 m	89 m	1100 m	8.1%
30th	243.6	Fromberg	166 m	64 m	1600 m	4.0%
31	248.1	Keutenberg	136 m	66 m	700 m	9.4%
32	260.4	Cauberg (3)	137 m	69 m	1200 m	5.8%