2015 Amstel Gold Race

2015 Amstel Gold Race

2015 UCI World Tour, race 11 of 28
Cauberg during the 2015 race
Race details
Dates	19 April 2015
Stages	1
Distance	258 km (160.3 mi)
Winning time	6hr 31' 49"
Results
Winner  Michał Kwiatkowski (POL) (Etixx–Quick-Step)   Second  Alejandro Valverde (ESP) (Movistar Team)   Third  Michael Matthews (AUS) (Orica–GreenEDGE)
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	Winner	Michał Kwiatkowski (POL)	(Etixx–Quick-Step)
	Second	Alejandro Valverde (ESP)	(Movistar Team)
	Third	Michael Matthews (AUS)	(Orica–GreenEDGE)

The 2015 Amstel Gold Race was the 50th edition of the Amstel Gold Race one-day race. It took place on 19 April and was the eleventh race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The Amstel Gold Race is part of the Ardennes classics season, although it takes place in the Limburg region of the Netherlands rather than in the Belgian Ardennes. It takes place in the week before La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the other principal Ardennes classics. The defending champion in the 2015 edition of the race was Philippe Gilbert, who had won the race three times and had also won the 2012 world championships on a very similar course.

The race took place on a 258 kilometres (160 mi) route centred on the town of Valkenburg; the route included 34 short climbs, several of which were repeated. The decisive climb was the Cauberg, the fourth ascent of which came within 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) of the finishing line. The race typically suits puncheurs.

After several attacking groups were caught, the decisive action came on the final ascent of the Cauberg. A small group formed after the climb and sprinted for the race victory. The sprint was won by Michał Kwiatkowski, the reigning world champion; it was his first road race victory since he won the world championships. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) was second, with Michael Matthews (Orica–GreenEDGE) third.

The Amstel Gold Race is part of the UCI World Tour, which meant that the 17 UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited and obliged to send a team. The race organisers also made eight wildcard invitations to UCI Professional Continental teams. The peloton was therefore made up of 25 teams. With eight riders on each team, a total of 200 riders were entered. Two of these, IAM Cycling's Dries Devenyns and Thomas Degand, were forced to pull out before the start (Degand with a stomach upset and Devenyns with a sore back), so 198 riders started the race.