Enrico Gasparotto (Wanty – Groupe Gobert) attacked on the final ascent of the Cauberg and with only Michael Valgren (Tinkoff Team) able to follow the pair worked together for the run to the finish with 2012 winner Gasparotto taking the win, Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani CSF) won the bunch sprint for third place.
Crossing the finish line Enrico Gasparotto paid tribute to former teammate Antoine Demoitié who died following a crash with a motorbike at the Gent-Wevelgem race last month.
“Yesterday, Antoine’s wife came to see us at the hotel and said, ‘Guys, go for it’. It was not easy; it is not easy. I am 34 years old; I have a wife. Every day we think about it. Antoine’s death is so fresh.” said Gasparotto.
How Enrico Gasparotto won the race
Tim Wellens led the peloton on to the final ascent of the Cauberg by by 12 seconds with previous race winners Michal Kwiatkowski and Philippe Gilbert already dropped on previous laps.
With 2.4km to race Gasparotto attacked around the outside of the left hand bend initially followed by Jan Bakelants with Valgren close behind. As the three riders went past Wellens Gasparotto had opened a 20 metre gap to Valgren who passed a fading Bakelants with the peloton now on his wheel. Valgren quickly closed the gap to Gasparotto as the peloton looked at one another to see who was chasing, nobody wanted to chase and momentum was lost, this was the moment that anyone left in the peloton that came here to win lost the race.
Up the road Valgren recovered from closing down the gap and started working with Enrico Gasparotto and they opened enough of a gap that the peloton could not chase them down, Valgren led all the way from 800 metres to go until Gasparotto went around him with about 150 metres to race. Valgren had no answer to the acceleration and this was the moment Enrico Gasparotto won the 2016 Amstel Gold Race.
While one of the top favourites did not win this years race Gasparotto was certainly no outsider and it was no surprise, he’s won here before and was second at De Brabantse Pijl.
Pre-race favourites Michael Matthews finished 5th and Simon Gerrans was 11th.
Results of the 2016 Amstel Gold Race
| Place | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert | 6:18:02 |
| 2 | Michael Valgren (Den) Tinkoff Team | |
| 3 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF | 0:00:04 |
| 4 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie | |
| 5 | Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | |
| 6 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick-Step | |
| 7 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – Merida | |
| 8 | Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team | |
| 9 | Loic Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
| 10 | Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
| 11 | Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | |
| 12 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team | |
| 13 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| 14 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
| 15 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
| 16 | Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton | |
| 17 | Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida | |
| 18 | Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
| 19 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ | |
| 20 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team | |
| 21 | Floris De Tier (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise | |
| 22 | Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
| 23 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
| 24 | Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team | |
| 25 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal | |
| 26 | Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
| 27 | Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) BMC Racing Team | |
| 28 | Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Team Sky | |
| 29 | Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky | |
| 30 | Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
| 31 | Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step | 0:00:08 |
| 32 | Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling | 0:00:34 |
| 33 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data | |
| 34 | Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
| 35 | Oliver Naesen (Bel) IAM Cycling | 0:00:41 |
| 36 | Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
| 37 | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
| 38 | Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
| 39 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge | |
| 40 | Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre – Merida | |
| 41 | Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky | |
| 42 | Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
| 43 | Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx – Quick-Step | |
| 44 | Lawrence Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling | |
| 45 | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Astana Pro Team | |
| 46 | Pieter Weening (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton | |
| 47 | Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
| 48 | Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:01 |
| 49 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
| 50 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| 51 | Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team | |
| 52 | Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky | |
| 53 | Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step | 0:01:36 |
| 54 | Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
| 55 | Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:02:05 |
| 56 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data | 0:02:07 |
| 57 | Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:02:12 |
| 58 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step | 0:03:20 |
| 59 | Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:03:37 |
| 60 | Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling | 0:04:18 |
| 61 | Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data | 0:04:33 |
| 62 | Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data | |
| 63 | Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
| 64 | Mario Jorge Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida | |
| 65 | Aleksei Tcatevich (Rus) Team Katusha | |
| 66 | Huub Duyn (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton | |
| 67 | Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
| 68 | Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre – Merida | |
| 69 | Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff Team | |
| 70 | Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Team Katusha | |
| 71 | Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie | |
| 72 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team | |
| 73 | Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| 74 | Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team | |
| 75 | Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – Merida | |
| 76 | Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) IAM Cycling | |
| 77 | Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
| 78 | Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky | |
| 79 | Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ | |
| 80 | Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
| 81 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
| 82 | Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha | |
| 83 | David Tanner (Aus) IAM Cycling | |
| 84 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | |
| 85 | Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha | |
| 86 | Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
| 87 | Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| 88 | Gianni Meersman (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step | |
| 89 | Michel Kreder (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton | |
| 90 | Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Team Katusha | |
| 91 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
| 92 | Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
| 93 | Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge | |
| 94 | Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ | |
| 95 | Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | 0:05:39 |
| 96 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:05:56 |
| 97 | Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Team Katusha | 0:06:19 |
| 98 | Bjorn Thurau (Ger) Wanty – Groupe Gobert | 0:07:35 |
| 99 | Matej Mohoric (Slo) Lampre – Merida | 0:08:03 |
| 100 | Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise | |
| 101 | Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Team Katusha | 0:08:49 |
| 102 | Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
| 103 | Benjamin King (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
| 104 | Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
| 105 | Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise | |
| 106 | Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
| 107 | Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton | |
| 108 | Berden De Vries (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton | |
| 109 | Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre – Merida | |
| 110 | Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie | |
| 111 | Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team | |
| 112 | Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff Team | |
| 113 | Daniele Colli (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| 114 | Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team | |
| 115 | Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| 116 | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Tinkoff Team | |
| 117 | Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:09:11 |
| 118 | Chad Haga (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin | 0:11:24 |
| 119 | Marinus Cornelis Minnaard (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert | 0:15:49 |
| 120 | Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise | 0:17:16 |
| DNF | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky | |
| DNF | Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky | |
| DNF | Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky | |
| DNF | Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step | |
| DNF | Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step | |
| DNF | Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team | |
| DNF | Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team | |
| DNF | Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | |
| DNF | Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge | |
| DNF | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
| DNF | Fredrik Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
| DNF | Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal | |
| DNF | Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal | |
| DNF | Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
| DNF | Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
| DNF | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
| DNF | Jay Mccarthy (Aus) Tinkoff Team | |
| DNF | Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Team | |
| DNF | Yury Trofimov (Rus) Tinkoff Team | |
| DNF | Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo | |
| DNF | Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo | |
| DNF | Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
| DNF | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Trek-Segafredo | |
| DNF | Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
| DNF | Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo | |
| DNF | Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek-Segafredo | |
| DNF | Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team | |
| DNF | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
| DNF | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
| DNF | Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha | |
| DNF | Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| DNF | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| DNF | Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| DNF | Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| DNF | Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ | |
| DNF | Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ | |
| DNF | Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ | |
| DNF | Kévin Reza (Fra) FDJ | |
| DNF | William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ | |
| DNF | Jerome Coppel (Fra) IAM Cycling | |
| DNF | Stef Clement (Ned) IAM Cycling | |
| DNF | Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) IAM Cycling | |
| DNF | Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling | |
| DNF | Nathan Brown (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
| DNF | Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Dimension Data | |
| DNF | Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data | |
| DNF | Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data | |
| DNF | Youcef Reguigui (Alg) Dimension Data | |
| DNF | Sander Helven (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise | |
| DNF | Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise | |
| DNF | Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise | |
| DNF | Jens Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise | |
| DNF | Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton | |
| DNF | Sjoerd Van Ginneken (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton | |
| DNF | Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert | |
| DNF | Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert | |
| DNF | Kenny De Haes (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert | |
| DNF | Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert | |
| DNF | Marco Marcato (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert | |
| DNF | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie | |
| DNF | Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie | |
| DNF | Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie | |
| DNF | Tony Hurel (Fra) Direct Energie | |
| DNF | Ryan Anderson (Can) Direct Energie | |
| DNF | Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
| DNF | Adrian Kurek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
| DNF | Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
| DNF | Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
| DNF | Simone Ponzi (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
| DNF | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| DNF | Grega Bole (Slo) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| DNF | Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| DNF | Yuma Koishi (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| DNF | Kazushige Kuboki (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| DNF | Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini | |
| DNF | Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
| DNF | Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
| DNF | Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
| DNF | Luca Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
| DNF | Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF |
Race report by TBL – The Bike Lane
Related: 2016 Amstel Gold Race Preview
