While most have their eyes on the cobbles in Flanders, another group of riders are preparing themselves for the races that will take center stage in just a few weeks. In just two weeks, the Amstel Gold Race will start the series of Ardennes classics and on Saturday some of the contenders will test themselves in the perfect preparation event, Volta Limburg Classic.

 

The Netherlands has been a powerhouse in professional cycling for several decades. However, the country has never had many big races. The mostly flat terrain means that it has been hard to provide challenging courses and most of the races in the country have a relatively low-key status.

 

One event stands out. The Amstel Gold Race is one of the most prestigious one-day races in the world and kicks off the series of Ardennes classics. At the moment, it’s hard to focus much on the hilly races later in the month as all eyes are on the big events on the cobbles. For the riders that aim for victory in the Amstel Gold Race, however, it is time to put the final touches to their preparation.

 

Most of the biggest stars head to the Vuelta al Pais Vasco to fine-tune their condition but there’s actually an opportunity to test the legs on the same roads that will be used for the Dutch classic in just two weeks. Saturday’s Volta Limburg Classic is held on many of the same roads and climbs that will be used later this month and this makes it the perfect event to gear up for the big event.

 

The Vlta Limburg classic wasfirst held in 1973 when it was an amateur event for Dutch riders and it had that status until 1993 when the first pro event was held. Back then it was known as the Hel Van Het Mergelland and it was still a largely Dutch affair. It had its first international winner in 2000 when Bert Gransch rode to victory on a day when all riders on the podium were foreigners.

 

The race has mostly been a chance for lesser known riders to excel but in recent years it has become more prestigious. The organizers have been keen to turn it into a preparation event for the Amstel Gold Race and this has clearly paid off. The name has been changed and it is now known as the Volta Limburg Classic, signaling its close ties to the hilly Limburg province. Furthermore, the course has been made more challenging and this has opened the eyes for more international stars.

 

Despite its similarity to Amstel Gold Race, the Ardennes stars mostly skip the event. The Vuelt al Pais Vasco starts just two days later and the Spanish race is still the preferred road to the Ardennes. However, f or riders from the pro continental teams, the race is a perfect alternative path and this year the race has been given a further boost as the dominant Amstel rider of recent years Philippe Gilbert has been a late addition to the start list.

 

The course has varied a bit from year to year but the riders usually do a lot of the well-known climbs from the Amstel Gold Race before they descend to a few laps of a flat circuit in Eijsden. The race is definitely not as hard as the Gold Race and it has usually been decided in a sprint from a smaller group. However, the organizers have now reduced the number of laps in the end which has made it harder for the strong sprinters to get to the finish with the best. Moreno Hofland and Rudiger Selig showed how fast rider can win the race as they came out on top in 2014 and 2013 respectively bit last year the harder course made it possible for Stefan Küng to ride to a solo win.

 

The course

As said, the course was changed in 2015 when the organizers decided to incorporate parts of the old Hel Van Het Mergelland course. Instead of doing three laps of a hilly 60km circuit and three laps of the flat finishing circuit, they decided to design a new 90km circuit that was covered twice. Furthermore, they skipped two laps of the finishing circuit and this had a big effect. In the past, the final climb came 30km from the finish but now there are still four climbs inside the final 20km. Apparently, they liked what they saw as nothing has been changed for 2016.

 

The 198km race is held around the city of Eijsden. After a 3.9km circuit in the city, the riders will leave the city via the Kampeweg cimb and then tackle two laps of an 86.6km circuit that includes no less than 12 climbs. Some of them are well-known ascents like Camerig, Loorberg and Gulperberg that are usually on the Amstel Gold Race course too.

 

With 48km to go, the riders hit the Gulperberg for the second time and this is where the final really starts. From there, the riders still have to tackle the Roodbosch, De Panck, Kutersteenweg, Mheerelindje, Huisberg and Kalleberg before they get to the end of the circuit. The top of the latter comes just 16.6km from the finish and then the riders will head back to Eijsden via the Moerslag climb whose summit is located with 13.9km to go. They will cross the finish line after 192km of racing and then there’s just one lap of the flat 6km circuit at the end of the race. The finishing straight is cobbled which makes it a tricky sprint.

 

 

The weather

The Netherlands is known for the windy conditions but there won’t be many challenges from the weather on Saturday. Spring has arrived early in the country as it will be a sunny day with an impressive maximum temperature of no less than 20 degrees. There will barely be any wind, with just a light breeze blowing from a southeasterly direction. This means that it will mainly be a headwind in the first part of the second and a tailwind in the final part. On the finishing circuit, it will first be a cross-tailwind and then a cross-headwind for the final few kilometres.

 

The favourites

The new course has only been used once but it is evident that it has had a big effect on the race. While rather big groups sprinted for the win in 2013 and 2014, the race was a lot harder in 2015. Stefan Küng attacked from an early break and rode solo to the finish while only nine riders were left in the group that sprinted for second place, with only four riders making up the next group. In general, the race was much harder, the peloton exploded to pieces and you had to be a pretty good climber to be there in the end.

 

As it is only the second edition with the new course, it is still a bit of an unknown what will happen. However, there is no reason to suggest that things will be less selective in 2016. The field is clearly not as strong as it was 12 months ago and this means that there will be fewer riders left in the end.

 

In general, one team is much stronger than the rest. BMC and LottoNL-Jumbo are the only WorldTour teams in attendance and while the home team doesn’t have their best riders here, BMC have a formidable line-up of Ardennes specialists. There is a big chance that the American team can dictate proceedings and their tactic will largely determine how the race will pan out.

 

The team have lots of strong riders who can attack like Küng did 12 months ago. Their big star is Philippe Gilbert but he will of course be a marked man. He will be the riders that is protected for the sprint while the rest of the team will probably ride offensively.

 

There are some strong rivals in the race, most notably Sonny Colbrelli who will be the favourite in a sprint. However, nobody wants to sprint against the fast Italianw ho is likely to be isolated in the finale. If he is up against a bunch of BMC riders, it is hard to imagine that we will get a sprint. It seems that this will be a day for a successful attack and with BMC having strength in numbers, they can’t allow themselves to miss the move.

 

This will open the door for Ben Hermans. The Belgian benefited from Gilbert’s presence to win last year’s Brabantse Pijl. In that race, everybody was looking at Gilbert and this opened the door for Hermans to launch a move in the finale. No one was able to bring him back and we could very well see a repeat of that scenario.

 

Hermans has flown under the radar as an Ardennes contender as he has always been working for his captains but his performance last year proves that he is very strong. He won the queen stage at the Arctic Race of Norway and a stage at the Tour of Yorkshire and he is ready to win a lot more if he gets more freedom. He has been in reasonable condition for most of the year and will only get better as we get closer to the classics. He will be a great rider to send up the road as he is one of the best in this terrain and if he has some company, he has the sprint to beat most. Hermans is our favourite to win the race.

 

If it comes down to a sprint, Sonny Colbrelli will be the man to beat. He was second in both 2013 and 2014 when the race was held on an easier course but last year he missed out in a spring that was a complete failure due to health issues. This year he has been climbing better than ever. He has been very strong in the Italian one-day races and was up there in Milan-Sanremo too. He has tested himself on the cobbles but is much better suited to a race like this. With his improved climbing, he should be able to handle this race and he will be very hard to beat in a sprint from a small group. The big challenge will be to control the race as he won’t get much support.

 

The big star of the race is of course Philippe Gilbert who has dominated the Amstel Gold Race in the past. However, the Belgian will be a marked man and he simply has to be stronger than everybody else to ride away from the rest. This makes it more likely that one of his teammates will take the win but of course you can never rule Gilbert out. He has been ill at Paris-Nice but showed solid form in Catalonia and will be a lot stronger now. On paper, he is the best rider here and he may be strong enough to ride to a solo win. Furthermore, he is fast in a sprint so with a strong team at his side he may be able to beat Colbrelli in a final dash to the line.

 

BMC are loaded with in-form climbers who can do well on this course. Youngsters Loic Vliegen and Dylan Teuns will be ready to take their chance in a race that suits them well. Vliegen has been in great form all year, most recently in De Panne where he won the mountains jersey. Teuns was third here in 2015 and is back in solid form after a bout of illness. Both will be ready to grab their opportunity when the BMC attacks start in the finale.

 

Davide Rebellin is showing no sign of tiredness yet and has had a strong start to the year. He rode great in Oman and was up there in the finale of the hard stages at Tirreno and at Milan-Sanremo. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to be at the same level now but he is still very competitive on this kind of course. He won’t win a flat sprint but he is one of the best climbers here and will be ready to follow the attacks.

 

Damiano Cunego crashed in Strade Bianche and only made his return at Coppi e Bartali. He was clearly not in his best form at that race but he was better than expected. He should be at a higher level now and this race suits him well. Even though he is fast, he won’t win a sprint but he could be the fastest from a breakaway in the end.

 

Roompot have a few cards to play. Maurits Lammertink, Michel Kreder, Huub Duijn and Nick van der Lijke can all do well in a race like this. Lammertink is their best card as he is strong in this terrain and fast in a sprint but he is still not in his best form after he broke his collarbone in a cyclo-cross race. Duijn is a very aggressive rider with solid climbing skills but he is not fast. Kreder can win a sprint from a breakaway but he hasn’t really been climbing at his best level for more than a year. Van der Lijke’s form is uncertain as he had to abandon in Catalonia.

 

On paper, the race suits Fabian Wegmann really well but apart from his good performance in Lugano, he has been far from his best. The same goes for Rasmus Guldhammer who is also suited to this kind of race. Gerald Ciolek may be able to survive for a sprint but he has been set back by illness and so Stölting’s best card could be an in-form Alex Kirsch.

 

LottoNL-Jumbo are here with sprinters Moreno Hofland and Dylan Groenewegen but even though the former is a past winner of the race, the new course is probably too hard for them.

 

Finally, we are looking forward to seeing talented youngsters Lilian Calmejane, Floris De Tier and Iuri Filosi who can all attack in this kind of terrain. Olivier Oardini, Eliot Lietaer and Evgeny Shalunov will also be strong on this kind of course.

 

***** Ben Hermans

**** Sonny Colbrelli, Philippe Gilbert

*** Loic Vliegen, Dylan Teuns, Davide Rebellin

** Damiano Cunego, Maurits Lammertink, Huub Duijn, Fabian Wegmann

* Rick Zabel, Michel Kreder, Nick van der Lijke, Rasmus Guldhammer, Eliot Lietaer, Olivier Pardini, Gerald Ciolek, Moreno Hofland, Lilian Calmejane, Floris De Tier, Alex Kirsch, Iuri Filosi, Evgeny Shalunov, Xandro Meurisse, Martijn Tusveld