Amstel: good run stopped by tyre blast

VALKENBURG - Over 12, 000 riders took part in the Amstel Gold cyclotour last Saturday in the Southern Dutch province of Zuid-Limburg. The Amstel offers a great training opportunity before the cyclosportive racing season fully gets underway. Luckily, the weather was not too bad for a change: the rain only fell in the afternoon - bad luck for those who did the full 250km distance of course.

I had obtained a last-minute ticket thanks to a cancellation within the Agapedia team. It had been 3 years since I last did the Amstel, and I thought I could use the additional effort given the restricted training opportunities of late. On the agenda were 150km and 13 official climbs, but in reality the course constantly goes up and down. It is the same terrain as in the upcoming Shimano Fiets Challenge, which is held in Vaals in two weeks' time.

Morten left early for the desired 250 km, Guus was stuck in the traffic jam for the parking lot, so I took off with Henri, Ulli and Robert from Agapedia-Münsterland. Robert made sure we didn't fall back asleep with a solid pace, often touching the 40 km/h barrier. When Ulli suffered a puncture our run got interrupted but we were soon back up to speed. Passed the first official service point, at km 60, we hit the Loorberg, the third climb of the day: 1500 metres long and 5,5 % on average. Robert accelerated, but I took over and and went ahead full power. I wanted to use the Amstel to do some race simulation so I continued my effort after the hill.

Climb after climb went by, a.o. the Drielandenpunt, the border between Holland, Belgium and Germany. The legs felt quite good, I took a stop at the second ravitaillement to add some Isostar to my bidon, didn't see my teammates and continued. At km 110 we hit the Kruisberg, one of the more narrow and steeper climbs. The road surface in the descent was quite bad and somehow somewhere I must have hit something very hard, because suddenly there was a loud bang that caused my front tube to explode. I came to a standstill halfway the descent and was first glad to see that my new Campa Zonda wheel was not damaged. Not so much later two other guys stopped at the same spot, also with a flat tyre. Changing the inner tube took very long. My new wheel has a higher rim and my innertube has a standard valve. Not much space to attach the handpump. I hardly managed to get air in the new inner tube. Convinced it was the pump's fault I fooled around for quite some time, until I decided - upon recommendation from a local - to walk down the descent to the next village and ask for a footpump. I arrived at a farm and luckily the inhabitants were very understanding and helpful. Out comes the footpump, but to no avail. Then it hit me of course: the new innertube must have a hole already! Indeed. Quite amazing, though: this was a brand new Michelin innertube coming straight out of the box.

I always carry 2 spares for a long event, so I exchanged again and finally I was able to continue the tour. Obviously, the muscles were cold by now and didn't feel as comfy any longer. As the first raindrops began to fell, we had to set foot just before the Keutenberg - a short and steep climb 10km before the finish. As in Flanders, most people don't manage to climb up and crash down blocking the road. I waited a bit until a path became free, and climbed up the Keutenberg between dozens of walking riders :-) always a nice feeling. In pouring rain I approached Valkenburg and the famous Cauberg. I stated last week already that I consider the climb to be very much overrated and I proved it to myself by doing it on the 53x21 without a problem.

The Amstel is a nice event, but somehow the mass of riders is more disturbing than in Flanders. Is it because you are partially obliged to ride on cycling lanes next to the road? It's a minus point that the organisation erases, however, by providing great video (!) and photo material of each rider's day.

Morten had his share of problems and stuck to the 100 km in the end, so we were back home in Frankfurt around seven. It allowed me to join Lorenzo and Alex for the RTF in Gross-Gerau on Sunday morning. We did the very boring 115 km route at a convenient pace, ideal after the Amstel.

I am quite happy with my current form. Uphill I feel very good, but I haven't really been tested yet by others. That will certainly happen next weekend in Göttingen, my first genuine race of the season. Now that I got over my cold, I am looking forward to it. Göttingen is arguably my favourite German race and I have always done well there.