Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) once again got close to a win at the Amstel Gold Race but as it has been the case several times in the past he came up against a stronger rider. The Spaniard admitted that Philippe Gilbert had been way superior but regretted the lack of cooperation in the chase group that had seen them miss out on second.

Second in 2013, third in 2008 plus bronze medalist in the Worlds held over the same finishing circuit of today's race... Alejandro Valverde keeps nailing victory in Valkenburg, finish of an Amstel Gold Race that witnessed the third career victory by Philippe Gilbert (BMC) in its 49th edition. The Movistar Team leader took 4th place after a consistent gamble by the whole telephone squad all the way through the 251km, with 34 small climbs, in the region of Limburg.

Iván Gutiérrez, Imanol Erviti and Jesús Herrada were the main three names by the Blues from the very start. Together, the Blue trio drove the pace into the bunch from the 80th kilometer, shrinking gaps of the early break, which got almost fifteen minutes. After several crashes -which left Joaquim Rodríguez, among others, out of contention- and the wear and tear caused by the Spanish team, Gorka Izagirre became the sole help for Valverde in the finale 25km. A late attack, including Van Avermaet, Voeckler and Fuglsang, wasn't brought back until the penultimate ascent, the Bemelerberg.

Valverde started the final Cauberg climb in very good position and rode through it on the wheel of Kwiatkowski  and Gerrans, but Gilbert's strong move diminished the opposition and forced the Spaniard to contest the final sprint for a podium ultimately occupied by Vanendert , who jumped away after the top, and Gerrans. Sour taste for Valverde, who will have two more shots next week at the Flèche Wallonne (Wednesday 23) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Sunday 27), which he has both won in the past.

“It’s clear that winning is always very difficult and we have to congratulate Gilbert, he was way superior to the rest of us,” he told Cyclingnews at the finish. “We knew that we weren’t ever going to catch Gilbert, we were watching each other too closely and Vanendert got past.

"We were watching each other and it was ‘you take a turn, go on,’ or ‘no you take a turn’ and then Vandendert was gone. We knew we couldn’t have got Gilbert back, but Vanendert would still have been reachable.”