Despite witnessing Evenepoel win the Brabantse Pijl, Pogacar 'not impressed' ahead of the Amstel Gold Race

Pogacar's spring keeps gathering momentum. After the Strade Bianche, Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix last week, he is now at the start of the Ardennes trilogy. In the Hell of the North, he crashed and missed out on a chance to win. "I had to do three days slow and then travel already. So not much training this week but recovering," he told Sporza. "We will see today if I did too much or too less."

On paper, his biggest challenger in Limburg is Remco Evenepoel, even though he has only competed in one race so far. The Belgian rider from Soudal Quick-Step won that race, beating Wout van Aert in the sprint in Overijse. Did the Slovenian rider see the race? “I saw a little bit of it,” he says, but he is not worried. "No, I was not impressed by his comeback because this is what I expect of him, to come back at this level."

The Amstel Gold Race has once again moved its finish line to just after the Cauberg, as is the case with the women's race. The old finish, where the Cauberg was located about 20 kilometers from the finish line, is now a thing of the past. Pogacar thinks it's an excellent change. "This is nicer for everyone, the fans and the riders. It makes the race tougher, which is good for me."

In Limburg, the world champion will be joined by Tim Wellens, who is returning to racing after a break. That break was necessary, as it turns out: the Belgian rider from UAE Team Emirates - XRG suffered a serious injury in his crash in the Tour of Flanders. "I cracked a rib in my crash," he says. "It's bothering me quite a bit, although it's improving now. But my role changed: I will be a super-domestique., and I'm good enough to do that."

This means the hill specialist can still play an essential role for their leader. And the plan is clear. "We will control the race, and it's a luxury to do that in this race with so many narrow roads. It's the ideal position." That would allow the team to drop him off at the foot of the Cauberg, but his domestique doesn't see that happening. "I don't think Tadej needs to go as early as usual on that final climb, but we won't wait until the last climb."