Evenepoel turns the tables on Skjelmose at Amstel: 'A bit of flashbacks, but I had more confidence'

When it became clear that Remco Evenepoel wouldn’t shake Mattias Skjelmose on the final ascent of the Cauberg, there was a sense of deja vu. The duo were set to battle it out in a sprint finish for the second consecutive edition of the Amstel Gold Race, albeit without Tadej Pogačar this time around. 

However, it was a different scenario from last year, with Evenepoel getting the better of the Dane, and at the finish, the Olympic Champion admitted to feeling much more confident in his chances compared to last year.

“Yeah, a bit of flashbacks to last year, but I had more confidence now. I felt that on the climbs, I was probably the strongest today, so I felt that he [Skjelmose] was a bit on the limit when he was taking the pulls,” said Evenepoel in his post-race interview.

“I felt that he was not as strong as in the beginning when we were gone. So yeah, I had a lot of confidence that I could finish it in a sprint," added Evenepoel.

The sprint that Evenepoel produced was one that Skjelmose was simply unable to match, and the Belgian believes that he has taken his sprint finish to a different level.

“I think it also showed in the sprint that my sprint was much better, that I had something left, and I'm just very proud to finish off all the teamwork."

Evenepoel made sure to highlight the importance of winning Amstel, ranking it as his biggest win of the season and in the top 10 of his entire career.

“For sure, it is the most beautiful victory of the season. 
That's for sure. But every win is a new one and a beautiful one,” said Evenepoel. “Like I mentioned a few days ago, I think for me, this race is just under the Monuments, so it's really high on my ranking. For sure, it's in my top eight of victories in my career, probably.”

“
I mean, I'm one of the lucky guys to win quite a lot, so I mean, to win this one means a lot, and I'm very proud of it,” added Evenepoel.

It’s the perfect result for Evenepoel ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège next Sunday, where Tadej Pogačar awaits, as well as the emerging star Paul Seixas, who will test himself against the very best. Evenepoel’s participation on Wednesday at La Flèche Wallonne is less set in stone, however.

“We're going to analyse the race and then decide tomorrow probably,” said Evenepoel when asked if he will ride Flèche Wallonne. ”
It's on the list, but it's not confirmed yet, so we'll see how I recover from today. I felt pretty strong."

The forecast for Wednesday’s race suggests the riders will avoid the inclement weather that plagued the 2025 edition, won by Pogačar.

“So I hope to race, they predict some nice weather, and it's always nice to have good weather in Flèche Wallonne, but first, I’m going to enjoy this one." concluded Evenepoel.