Rui Costa never disappoints, and every time that attaches a number on his back, he is always competitive. It does not matter if the course suits other riders as it was the case in the Tour of the Basque Country, or if the event is one of his goals (like Liege-Bastogne-Liege).

The latest demonstration of the professionalism and generosity of the Portuguese rider was given in the Amstel Gold Race (258 km). Despite a crash with 40km to go, Rui Costa  played his cards in the 18-rider sprint.

The captain of Lampre-MERIDA took a great 4th place, beaten fast riders  Kwiatkowski (1), Valverde (2nd) and Matthews (3rd).

In the early part of the race, six riders were on the attack. With attackers Bono and Polanc, Lampre-Merida sports directors Philippe Mauduit and Simone Pedrazzini could be sure to have at least one rider in sortie of the break and it was the young Slovenian who showed the blue-fuchsia-green colours until he was caugh 26km from the finish.

After counterattack of 8 had been caught, a big group hit the bootm of the Cauberg and only a decisive attack Gilbert was able to whittle down the peloton, leaving 18 riders in the lead to fight in the sprint. Rui Costa just missed the podium.

In addition to Polanc, Ulissi and Valls did a good race, supporting Costa until the bottom of the Cauberg. Durasek, Mori, Conti and Bono were there in the middle part of the race.

"Today I had a good feeling and, well supported by my teammates, I could avoid all the pitfalls of the route. In a race as complicated as the Amstel Gold Race, this is a very important factor," explained Rui Costa." It is a pity with the crash before the Eyserbosweg which forced me to spend energy to get back to the group. Two riders crasjed in front of me and while I managed to avoid the first, I could not do anything to avoid the second. I had no physical consequences and I still managed to rejoin o the group and to get into the top positions to address the final kilometers. 

"There was great selection, Gilbert was strong but he could not stay away and therefore my group got back to the Belgian. I knew that I still forces to do a good sprint, unfortunately I found myself a bit closed and I had to brake, losing a fraction of a second that, probably, cost me the podium, it would have been  a great result.

"The fourth place is still a very good feedback about my performance, considering the value of the opponents, and a great way to start an important week."