Remco Evenepoel burst away from Mattias Skjelmose in the final sprint to take victory at Amstel Gold, the Netherlands’ most prestigious race.
The 26-year-old has shown impressive one-day form this Classics season, and will now face off with Tadej Pogačar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège next Sunday, a Monument he has won twice before.
Elsewhere, rookie UAE Team ADQ rider Paula Blasi took a shock win in the women’s race, an event she was not even supposed to be entering earlier this week, while American climber Matteo Jorgenson suffered a broken clavicle after crashing heavily in the race’s finale.
Here’s what unfolded in the rolling hills of Limburg on Sunday.
Remco Evenepoel rondt het af in stijl! 👏
Ice cold finish from Remco Evenepoel! 👏#AGR26 #FLCS pic.twitter.com/f0Op0VJTFR
— Amstel Gold Race (@Amstelgoldrace) April 19, 2026
Evenepoel gains revenge on Skjelmose to land first Amstel Gold title
One year ago, Evenepoel and Skjelmose were in a three-up sprint here with Pogačar — with the Dane pushing through late to seal the biggest win of his career.
Evenepoel, having taken on the mantle of the work, was deeply frustrated — and in 2026, found himself in a sprint with Skjelmose once again.
In many ways, the race progressed exactly as the Belgian would have expected — the early breakaway was reeled in calmly, and Evenepoel, with a series of impressive seated accelerations, was able to slowly whittle down the remaining riders as the finale neared.
The most significant move of the race was made by FDJ’s Romain Grégoire with just under 40km remaining, bringing Skjelmose and Evenepoel along with him. They caught NSN Cycling’s Marco Frigo, the last survivor of the break, before dropping the impressive Italian on the Keutenberg with 25km left.
Grégoire had looked sprightly all race, but was unable to match Evenepoel’s relentless pacing — with Skjelmose seemingly happy to sit on the wheel and wait for the sprint. However, in the event, Evenepoel’s snap was too great — as he exploded from Skjelmose’s wheel to win by five clear bike lengths.
Remco Evenepoel played Sunday’s race almost perfectly. (Vincent Kalut / BELGA MAG / Belga / AFP via Getty Images)
“It was a flashback to last year,” said Evenepoel. “I have more confidence now, I felt on the climbs I was the strongest today and that (Skjelmose) was on the limit when taking pulls. I had a lot of confidence I could finish it in a sprint.”
His adversary agreed. “Last year I was lucky,” said Skjelmose. “This year he beat me with legs.”
It perfectly sets up next Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège, in which Evenepoel and Pogačar have split the past four editions — with 19-year-old French phenom Paul Seixas also set to appear in just his second Monument, and Tom Pidcock, as revealed by The Athletic on Saturday, due to make an early return from injury.
Jorgenson crashes heavily to throw season into doubt
Jorgenson suffered a broken collarbone after crashing heavily with 41km remaining.
The American — who was racing for the first time in several weeks after a lengthy altitude training block in Tenerife — immediately abandoned after landing on his shoulder. He was visibly in extreme pain and unable to sit up.
The crash occurred in the lead group after INEOS Grenadiers’ Kévin Vauquelin slid out on a damp left-hander. Jorgenson, following the Frenchman’s wheel, was unable to avoid the fallen rider and was catapulted over his handlebars.
Vauquelin eventually remounted his bike and finished the race in 50th, almost three minutes down on Evenepoel.
Vauquelin gaat onderuit in de bocht en neemt Matteo Jorgenson & Huub Artz met zich mee.
Vauquelin goes down in the corner, taking Matteo Jorgenson and Huub Artz with him.#AGR26 #FLCS pic.twitter.com/ddNNUJuRms
— Amstel Gold Race (@Amstelgoldrace) April 19, 2026
A Visma-Lease a Bike spokesperson had no immediate update on Jorgenson’s condition after the crash, but on Sunday evening the team confirmed his clavicle had been fractured in the incident.
🇳🇱 #AGR26
Matteo broke his collarbone in his crash during the Amstel Gold Race. As a result, he will not start in the Flèche Wallonne or Liège–Bastogne–Liège.
We wish Matteo a good and speedy recovery! pic.twitter.com/c5UDOhpESk
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) April 19, 2026
The injury is a cruel blow for Jorgenson, who had tailored the first half of his season around the Ardennes Classics, with Liège-Bastogne-Liège next Sunday his principal goal.
If a fracture is confirmed, it also significantly affects his preparations for July’s Tour de France, which begins in 10 weeks. He is slated to be Jonas Vingegaard’s key mountain domestique — a broken collarbone can take from six to eight weeks to recover from, depending on its severity.
Jorgenson’s next scheduled race after the Ardennes was set to be the Tour de Suisse on June 17.
Matteo Jorgenson had looked lively before his unfortunate crash. (Vincent Kalut / BELGA MAG / Belga / AFP via Getty Images)
Blasi takes surprise win after holding off favorites in chase
Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney stood on the podium — but neither of the former Tour de France winners were on the top step.
Instead, UAE Team ADQ’s Blasi took the biggest win of her career — all the more remarkable for the fact that the former triathlete only began to solely concentrate on cycling in 2024. She graduated from the development team midway through last season.
🇪🇸 Paula Blasi, remember the name! 😍 #AGR26 #AGRwomen pic.twitter.com/WQrFW5pce1
— Amstel Gold Race (@Amstelgoldrace) April 19, 2026
“I was not even supposed to be here,” the 23-year-old Spaniard said. “I just signed up yesterday for the race because we had some injuries and some sickness. So it was not even on my mind to be racing here, so I need to take a breath and accept what happened.”
The other startling facts? It was Blasi’s first race in the Ardennes, she took a wrong turn at one stage, and did not know how many kilometres she had remaining to race.
Having forced a gap with Nienke Vinke on the second descent of the Bemelerberg, Blasi had previously been repeatedly dropped after struggling with her positioning on the undulating course — Blasi said after she decided to attack because it made her tactics simpler.
She dropped Vinke with 20km remaining and began time-trialling her way home — with Niewiadoma-Phinney and Vollering unable to bridge the gap in the closing kilometres.
Race resultsMen’s race
Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) 5:59:40
Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +1s
Benoit Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1m 59s
Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) +1m 59s
Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin-Premier Tech) +1m 59s
The podium in the men’s race. (Dirk Waem / BELGA MAG / Belga / AFP via Getty Images)
Women’s race
Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) 4:02:15
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon/Sram zondacrypto) +27s
Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) +27s
Letizia Paternoster (Liv Alula Jayco) +43s
Noemi Ruegg (EF Education-Oatly) +43s
Paula Blasi celebrates her surprise win. (Marcel Van Hoorn / ANP / AFP via Getty Images)