| 2025 UCI World Tour, race 17 of 36 | |||||||||||||
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| Race details | |||||||||||||
| Dates | 20 April 2025 | ||||||||||||
| Stages | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Distance | 255.9 km (159.0 mi) | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 5h 49' 58" | ||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||
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← 2024 2026 → | |||||||||||||
The2025 Amstel Gold Race was aroad cycling one-day race that took place on 20 April in the Netherlands. It was the 59th edition of theAmstel Gold Race and the 17th event of the2025 UCI World Tour.
The race was won byMattias Skjelmose, who out-sprintedTadej Pogačar andRemco Evenepoel to take what multiple cycling journalists called the biggest victory of his career.
The Amstel Gold Race marks the beginning of theArdennes classics, which typically favorpuncheur riders who excel on short steep climbs.Tadej Pogačar was seen as the top favorite for the 2025 edition, having won the race in 2023 and having shown strong form by winning the2025 Tour of Flanders. The other top contenders wereTom Pidcock, the reigning champion from 2024, andRemco Evenepoel, who was racing the Amstel Gold Race for the first time but has won other hilly classics likeLiège–Bastogne–Liège in previous years. Other riders mentioned in pre-race analysis wereWout van Aert,Michael Matthews,Ben Healy,Romain Grégoire,Tiesj Benoot,Neilson Powless,Thibau Nys,Maxim Van Gils andAlex Aranburu.[1][2]
All eighteenUCI WorldTeams and sevenUCI ProTeams participated in the race.[3]
UCI WorldTeams
UCI ProTeams
The 2025 race course was 255 km long and featured 34 climbs. An eight-rider breakaway went in the opening 40 km, and gained a gap of over four minutes from the main peloton. The gap was slowly reduced over the next 100 km, with the final member of the breakaway being caught with 69 km remaining.[4][5]
The first major action from a top contender came with 47 km to go whenJulian Alaphilippe attacked off the front, only followed byTadej Pogačar. The pair built a 13 second gap before Pogačar dropped Alaphilippe to go solo.Remco Evenepoel attacked multiple times from the peloton, eventually forming a chase group withMattias Skjelmose. With 8 km to the finish, Evenepoel and Skjelmose caught Pogačar, forming a group of three with a single climb remaining. Evenepoel started the sprint, with Pogačar coming around him before Skjelmose accelerated and beat Pogačar on the line in aphoto finish.[4][5]
The result was widely seen as an upset, with James Moultrie of CyclingNews calling Skjelmose's sprint "a true David and Goliath performance".[5] Skjelmose himself admitted after the race that he didn't believe he could win, and was only riding for a podium place, saying "I really didn't believe it" when he crossed the line ahead of Pogačar.[4]
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mattias Skjelmose (DEN) | Lidl–Trek | 5h 49' 58" |
| 2 |  Tadej Pogačar (SLO) | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 0" |
| 3 |  Remco Evenepoel (BEL) | Soudal–Quick-Step | + 0" |
| 4 | Wout van Aert (BEL) | Visma–Lease a Bike | + 34" |
| 5 |  Michael Matthews (AUS) | Team Jayco–AlUla | + 34" |
| 6 |  Louis Barré (FRA) | Intermarché–Wanty | + 34" |
| 7 | Romain Grégoire (FRA) | Groupama–FDJ | + 34" |
| 8 | Tiesj Benoot (BEL) | Visma–Lease a Bike | + 34" |
| 9 |  Tom Pidcock (GBR) | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 34" |
| 10 |  Ben Healy (IRL) | EF Education–EasyPost | + 34" |