Tinkoff-Saxo DS Steven de Jongh has told Cyclingnews that it will be much more difficult for Roman Kreuziger to defend his Amstel Gold title.

"He's a bit tired from Pais Vasco, but it was a really hard race this year and a lot of riders are complaining. I don't think he'll be superb at the beginning of the race but towards the end I think his fitness will show and he'll be good."

"It's possible that he can win again. After what he did last year though it's going to be difficult because now the rest of the peloton know that if he attacks he can hold on. He's a danger so he'll be watched. That's not to say we don't have a game plan. I can't share everything but we won't be waiting for the final climb up the Cauberg."

Kreuziger cannot climb with the best so wouldn’t be able to make it in the uphill sprint selection that featured only Gerrans, Gilbert and Valverde last year and he will not be allowed as much room to attack, which is why winning will be so difficult.

But the new course that was debuted last year definitely suits Kreuziger better as he showed last year. But he is not the only one in the race that the course suits.

"There are a lot of teams who have good guys who have a strong finish like [Philippe] Gilbert and [Simon] Gerrans and the new finish suits them. Let's hope we have a good race because this course is one that I like. It's a more open race since the organisers changed the finale," de Jongh said.

As de Jongh has said, the fact that Kreuziger will need to attack will make the race even better than it was last year.