Start list below
By VeloNews Interactive
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The spring-classics season comes to an end on Sunday with the Amstel Gold Race, a 254.4km war of attrition on a 33-hill course that VeloNews editorial director John Wilcockson says is “by far the most difficult” in the race’s 36-year history.
The Amstel Gold takes place in the hilly Limburg region of the southeast Netherlands, beginning and ending in the city of Maastricht, and its final 47km include no fewer than eight hills, mostly on narrow farm roads. The steepest, the Eyserbosweg (900 meters of 11.5-percent grade), comes with 39km to go. Next comes the longest , the Fromberg (1.6km at 5 percent); then the most crucial, the Keuterberg (1.2km at 8 percent); followed by the Cauberg (1km at 8 percent), just 19km from the finish.
Last year, the incessant climbing chipped away at the peloton until just two riders remained: Erik Dekker (Rabobank) and Lance Armstrong (U.S. Postal Service), second-best here twice in the past three years. Despite an indifferent performance at last Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the three-time Tour de France winner could once again be in the final break on Sunday … and this time, he won’t have to worry about getting outkicked by Dekker, who remains on the sidelines with a broken leg.
However, Armstrong will want to have George Hincapie by his side. Armstrong’s classics-focused teammate is the only rider to have scored points in each of the 2002 World Cups to date, and another good showing could bump him into the top three in the10-race series, which continues in August.
Others to keep an eye on include last Sunday’s L-B-L winner, Paolo Bettini of Mapei-Quick Step; Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo); Peter Van Petegem (Lotto-Adecco); and Fred Rodriguez (Domo-Farm Frites), who soon will take a break from racing before beginning his preparations for defending his USPRO Championship at Philadelphia and tackling the Tour de France.
Start List – as of Friday – 6:00 p.m.
Acqua & Sapone – Cantina Tollo
101 Gabriele Colombo
102 Claudio Astolfi
103 Martin Derganc
104 Cristian Gasperoni
105 Alexandr Kolobnev
106 Miguel Angel Martín
107 Guido Trenti
108 Santos González
Reserve
R Massimo Giunti
R Simone MasciarelliAlessio
81 Pietro Caucchioli
82 Laurent Dufaux
83 Andrea Ferrigato
84 Martin Hvastija
85 Ruslan Ivanov
86 Cristian Moreni
87 Dario Pieri
88 Alexandr Shefer
Reserve
R Andrea Brognara
R Davide Casarotto
R Alberto Vinale
R Alessandro BertoliniBankGiroloterij – Batavus
211 Bert Hiemstra
212 Vincent van der Kooij
213 Bram Schmitz
214 Coray Sweet
215 Jan van Velzen
216 Remco van der Ven
217 Bart Voskamp
218 Pieter Vries
Reserve
R Bas van Dooren
R Thijs Al
Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone
51 Peter Farazijn
52 Claude Lamour
53 Nico Mattan
54 Chris Peers
55 Jo Planckaert
56 Jean-Michel Tessier
57 Guido Trentin
58 Cédric Vasseur
Reserve
R Angelo Lopeboselli
R Massimiliano LelliCSC Tiscali
151 Geert Van Bondt
152 Tristan Hoffman
153 Paul Van Hyfte
154 Nicolas Jalabert
155 Danny Jonasson
156 Bjarke Nielsen
157 Jakob Piil
158 Martin Rittsel
Reserve
R Raphaël Jeune
R Arvis PiziksDomo – Farm Frites
41 Dave Bruylandts
42 Enrico Cassani
43 Servais Knaven
44 Tomas Konecny
45 Johan Museeuw
46 Axel Merckx
47 Fred Rodriguez
48 Max van Heeswijk
Reserve
R Bram Tankink
R Leon van BonTeam Fakta
241 Marcus Ljungquist
242 Kurt-Asle Arvesen
243 Lennie Kristensen
244 René Jørgensen
245 Michael Skelde
246 Allan Johansen
247 Bjørnar Vestøl
248 Manu L’Hoir
Reserve
R Roberto Lochowski
R Scott SunderlandFassa Bortolo
31 Michele Bartoli
32 Ivan Basso
33 Sergei Ivanov
34 Kim Kirchen
35 Nicola Loda
36 Alessandro Petacchi
37 Roberto Petito
38 Matteo Tosatto
Reserve
R Fabio Baldato
R Gorazd StangeljGerolsteiner
161 Gianni Faresin
162 Federico Morini
163 Ellis Rastelli
164 Davide Rebellin
165 Ronny Scholz
166 Marcel Strauss
167 Fabian Wegmann
168 Peter Wrolich
Reserve
R Saulius RuskysiBanesto.com
71 Dariusz Baranowski
72 Tomasz Brozyna
73 Juan Antonio Flecha
74 Xavier Zandio
75 Eladio Jiménez
76 Pablo Lastras
77 Francisco Mancebo
78 Javier Pascual Rodríguez
Reserve
R Jon Odriozola
R Unai Osa
R José Ivan GutierrezIndex Alexia
191 Dario Andriotto
192 Bo Hamburger
193 Eddy Serri
194 Sebastiano Scotti
195 Mauro Zinetti
196 Corrado Serina
197 Antonio Salomone
198 Mario Manzoni
Reserve
R Paolo Savoldelli
R Paolo Valoti
R Daniele Righi
R Alberto ElliJean Delatour
201 Laurent Brochard
202 Gilles Bouvard
203 Cyril Dessel
204 Christophe Edaleine
205 Stéphane Goubert
206 Patrice Halgand
207 Laurent Lefèvre
208 Eddy Seigneur
Reserve
R Christophe Laurent
R Laurent RouxKelme
131 Angel Vicioso
132 José Enrique Gutiérrez
133 Toni Tauler
134 José Angel Vidal
135 Alejandro Valverde
136 Constantino ZaballaLampre – Daikin
181 Raimondas Rumsas
182 Alessandro Cortinovis
183 Ludo Dierckxsens
184 Gabriele Missaglia
185 Zbigniew Spruch
186 Max Sciandri
187 Marco Serpellini
188 Johan Verstrepen
Reserve
R Raivis Belohvosciks
R Jan SvoradaLandbouwkrediet – Colnago
221 Rolf Sørensen
222 Oscar Cavagnis
223 Lorenzo Bernucci
224 Yaroslav Popovych
225 Michel Van Haecke
226 Marc Streel
227 Filip Meirhaeghe
228 Kurt Van Landeghem
Reserve
R Masahiko Mifune
R Steven Van MalderghemLotto – Adecco
21 Peter Van Petegem
22 Mario Aerts
23 Serge Baguet
24 Aart Vierhouten
25 Stefan van Dijk
26 Christophe Brandt
27 Kurt Van Lancker
28 Guennadi Mikhailov
Reserve
R Christophe Detilloux
R Thierry MarichalMapei – Quick Step
11 Paolo Bettini
12 Pedro Horrillo
13 Fabien De Waele
14 Stefano Zanini
15 Óscar Freire
16 Daniele Nardello
17 Andrea Tafi
18 Luca Paolini
Reserve
R Laszlo Bodrogi
R Paolo FornaciariPalmans – Collstrop
231 Thierry De Groote
232 Roger Hammond
233 Björn Leukemans
234 Geert Omloop
235 Erwin Thijs
236 Hendrik Van Dijck
237 Wim Vansevenant
238 Peter Wuyts
Reserve
R Eric De Clercq
R Bart LeysenPhonak Hearing Systems
141 Roger Beuchat
142 Matthias Buxhofer
143 Martin Elmiger
144 Bert Grabsch
145 Stefan Kupfernagel
146 Daniel Schnider
147 Massimo Strazzer
148 Sven Teutenberg
Reserve
R David DerepasRabobank
1 Michael Boogerd
2 Jan Boven
3 Bram de Groot
4 Karsten Kroon
5 Marc Lotz
6 Geert Verheyen
7 Marc Wauters
8 Markus Zberg
Reserve
R Mathé Pronk
R Levi LeipheimerSaeco Macchine per Caffé – Longoni Sport
121 Danilo Di Luca
122 Igor Astarloa
123 Mirko Celestino
124 Salvatore Commesso
125 Biagio Conte
126 Torsten Nitsche
127 Fabio Sacchi
128 Alessandro Spezialetti
Reserve
R Christian Wegmann
R Jörg LüdewigTacconi Sport
171 Eddy Mazzoleni
172 Gianluca Bortolami
173 Gabriele Balducci
174 Paolo Bossoni
175 Diego Ferrari
176 Mauro Radaelli
177 Mauro Gerosa
178 Andrej Hauptman
Reserve
R Stefan Rütimann
R Steve ZampieriTeam Coast
91 Niki Aebersold
92 Anton Chantyr
93 Bekim Christensen
94 Mauro Gianetti
95 Fabrizio Guidi
96 Rolf Huser
97 Thorsten Rund
98 Alex Zülle
Reserve
R Daniel Becke
R Frank HøjTelekom
61 Rolf Aldag
62 Udo Bölts
63 Jens Heppner
64 Kai Hundertmarck
65 Matthias Kessler
66 Andreas Klier
67 Steffen Wesemann
68 Erik Zabel
Reserve
R Danilo Hondo
R Andreas KlödenU.S. Postal Service
111 Lance Armstrong
112 David Clinger
113 George Hincapie
114 Floyd Landis
115 Pavel Padrnos
116 José Luis Rubiera
117 Christian VandeVelde
118 Matthew White
Reserve
R Victor Hugo Peña
R Antonio Cruz
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