Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition
Race details
DateMid April
RegionLimburg (Netherlands), Netherlands
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI Women's World Tour (since 2017)
TypeOne-day race, Ardennes classic
OrganiserStichting Amstel Gold Race, Flanders Classics (from 2025)
Web sitewww.amstel.nl/amstelgoldrace
History
First edition2001 (2001)
Editions9 (as of 2023)
First winner Debby Mansveld (NED)
Most winsNo repeat winners
Most recent Demi Vollering (NED)

The Women's Amstel Gold Race is the women's event of the Amstel Gold Race, the most important annual road cycling event in the Netherlands. Held in mid-April, it is organized on the same day as the men's race at approximately half the distance.[1] Like the men's event, the race starts in Maastricht and finishes in Berg en Terblijt, Valkenburg. It features 17 categorized climbs, including four ascents of the Cauberg.[2][3]

The race forms one of the three Ardennes classics for the professional women's peloton - along with the Belgian La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes.

History

Pioneering years

From 2001 to 2003, three editions of the Amstel Gold Race for elite women were held. In 2003, it was part of the UCI Women's Road World Cup.[4] The race started in Maastricht 30 minutes after the men's. It was run over 114 km, taking in nine climbs and similarly finishing on top of the Cauberg.[5] The race was discontinued after the third edition, because organization on the same day and on largely the same roads as the men's race was considered too difficult on the irregular circuits.

Holland Hills Classic

During the discontinuation of the Amstel Gold race for women, another women's elite professional cycling race, the Holland Hills Classic, was held in Limburg. The first years the race was held in August,[6] before moving to the spring in 2011. It had a similar route as the Amstel Gold Race and, likewise, finished in Berg en Terblijt, Valkenburg.[7] It was organized by the Stichting Holland Ladies Tour, which also organizes the Holland Ladies Tour. The race was a 1.1 UCI event and was discontinued after the 2016 edition when it became apparent there would be a rebooted Amstel Gold Race in 2017.[8] Marianne Vos won the event three times in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Reboot of race

The Amstel Gold Race was rebooted in 2017 after a 14-year hiatus, with the race part of the UCI Women's World Tour. Olympic road race champion Anna van der Breggen won the 2017 edition with an attack at 8 km from the finish.[9] Chantal Blaak won the 2018 race as ruling world champion.[10] The 2021 edition was won by Marianne Vos, who had won the Holland Hills Classic three times. Demi Vollering won the 2023 edition, before winning the other two Ardennes classics in the same year.

Winners

Year Country Rider Team
2001  Netherlands Debby Mansveld Vlaanderen–T-Interim
2002  Netherlands Leontien van Moorsel Farm Frites–Hartol
2003  Great Britain Nicole Cooke Ausra Gruodis-Safi
2004–2016 No race
2017  Netherlands Anna van der Breggen Boels–Dolmans
2018  Netherlands Chantal Blaak Boels–Dolmans
2019  Poland Katarzyna Niewiadoma Canyon–SRAM
2020 No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021  Netherlands Marianne Vos Team Jumbo–Visma
2022  Italy Marta Cavalli FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
2023  Netherlands Demi Vollering SD Worx

Wins per country

Wins Country
6 Netherlands
1 Italy,  Poland,  United Kingdom

References

  1. ↑ "UCI unveils 2017 Women's WorldTour". VeloNews. 15 October 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "Amstel Gold adds women's event with Cauberg finale". Archived from the original on 4 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  3. ↑ O'Shea, Sadhbh. "Amstel Gold Race Women – Preview". Cyclingnews. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  4. ↑ Jones, Jeff. "38th Amstel Gold Race – World Cup status for women's Amstel". CyclingNews. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Jones, Jeff. "38th Amstel Gold Race – CDM. Nicole Cooke holds off charging peloton". CyclingNews. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Gulpen Hills Classic". Gulpen-Wittem.nl. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  7. ↑ "Emma Johansson wins Boels Rental Hills Classic 2014". Cyclingfever.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  8. ↑ "Boels trekt stekker uit Hills Classic" (in Dutch). 1Limburg.nl. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  9. ↑ Braverman, Jessi. "Van der Breggen wins women's Amstel Gold Race". Cyclingnews. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "Chantal Blaak wins women's Amstel Gold Race". Cyclingnews. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.