Amstel Gold Race

Amstel Gold Race
Local name	Amstel Gold Race
Region	Mostly Limburg (Netherlands)
Date	Middle of April
Type	One-day race
History
First Edition	1966
Editions	40
First Winner	Jean Stablinski
Most Recent	Danilo Di Luca
Most Wins	Jan Raas 5 wins

The Amstel Gold Race is a road bicycle racing race held (mostly) in the southern part of the province of Limburg, The Netherlands. It is held every spring. As of 2005, it is part of the UCI ProTour. Prior to that it was part of the Road Cycling World Cup. The name does not (directly) refer to the river Amstel, which is far away from the course, but to the sponsor, Heineken-owned beer brand Amstel.

History

The first race, organized by Herman Krott, took place on April 30 1966, chosen by Krott because it was the Queen's birthday, which he thought would help draw crowds^[1]. Unfortunately, in many villages the festivities blocked the roads, meaning that the course had to be changed several times when the race was already underway. As a result, it became over 300 km long, which led an infuriated Jacques Anquetil to leave the race prematurely.

Course

As is not unusual for road cycling races, the course has changed many times over the years. In 2005 the race took place almost entirely within the boundaries of the province of Limburg, but there have also been editions that covered significant parts of Belgium. Since 2003 the finish is at the top of the Cauberg hill, in the Valkenburg municipality. Before 2003 the finish used to be in Maastricht.

Results

Amstel Gold Race Winners (since 1966)
Date | Winner | Nationality
1966	Jean Stablinski
1967	Arie den Hartog
1968	Harry Steevens
1969	Guido Reybrouck
1970	Georges Pintens
1971	Frans Verbeeck
1972	Walter Planckaert
1973	Eddy Merckx
1974	Gerrie Knetemann
1975	Eddy Merckx
1976	Freddy Maertens
1977	Jan Raas
1978	Jan Raas
1979	Jan Raas
1980	Jan Raas
1981	Bernard Hinault
1982	Jan Raas
1983	Phil Anderson
1984	Jacques Hanegraaf
1985	Gerrie Knetemann
1986	Steven Rooks
1987	Joop Zoetemelk
1988	Jelle Nijdam
1989	Eric van Lancker
1990	Adri van der Poel
1991	Frans Maassen
1992	Olaf Ludwig
1993	Rolf Järmann
1994	Johan Museeuw
1995	Mauro Gianetti
1996	Stefano Zanini
1997	Bjarne Riis
1998	Rolf Järmann
1999	Michael Boogerd
2000	Erik Zabel
2001	Erik Dekker
2002	Michele Bartoli
2003	Alexandre Vinokourov
2004	Davide Rebellin
2005	Danilo Di Luca
2006	Fränk Schleck
2007	Stefan Schumacher
2008	Damiano Cunego

References

• Graat, John (April 16, 2005). De Gold Race is allang geen 'poenkoers' meer. Trouw (newspaper), p. 21.

External links

• Official site