'It's a bit of a shame' - Evenepoel on missing Pogacar and Van der Poel at Amstel Gold Race

Twelve months ago at the Amstel Gold Race, Remco Evenepoel, alongside Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), managed to reel in Tadej Pogačar, who had attacked and looked to be soloing to victory. In the three-man sprint that followed, Evenepoel had to settle for third, with Skjelmose taking a significant victory. 

It was a positive performance from Evenepoel in only his second race day of the season after a training crash delayed the start of his campaign.

The Olympic champion headlines the start list once more this year, with Skjelmose also featuring, and Evenepoel has indicated that he will look to try and avoid a sprint finish in Valkenburg if possible, as he looks to add a new Classic to his glittering palmarès. 

"It is a very beautiful race that should suit me and that I would very much like to win in my career; better sooner than later,” Evenepoel told the media, including Sporza, at the start.

"Last year I had a lot of bad luck and had to chase for a long time. I was a bit worn out in the final. I hope I get through today with fresh legs, and then I will try to make it a good race. Although it is better to finish alone than with three of us."

Evenepoel will be looking to build on a promising debut at the Tour of Flanders, where he finished third behind Pogačar and Van der Poel. 

With both Pogačar and Van der Poel, former winners of the Amstel Gold Race, absent this year, Evenepoel’s name features more prominently on Sunday's start list.

The Belgian was asked how he feels about said absences, and he suggested that it could influence the race dynamics as other teams may look closely at him and Red Bull’s game plan. 

"That is a bit of a shame," said Evenepoel about the absences of Pogačar and Van der Poel. "It is easier to race with multiple favourites. Then the attention is somewhat divided. Now, many teams are going to wait for our moves."

"We will see how it goes. We have our plan and are going to try to execute it as well as possible,” added Evenepoel. 

Evenepoel has never had more than six individual victories, which he currently has at this stage of a calendar year, and based on his Tour of Flanders performance, he will be in the mix to add a seventh on Sunday.