Some doubt at first, but it’s official: Tadej Pogacar will be at the start of the Amstel Gold Race

After a fantastic start to the spring, the focus is now on the hills of Belgium and the Netherlands. "We leave the cobbled Classics with our heads high," as stated on his team's website. "I think we can be happy with what we did there and there were some great battles on the road." After his victory in the Strade Bianche, the superstar was the best in the Tour of Flanders, before finishing second in his debut in Paris-Roubaix a week later.

Pogacar's winning streak will, therefore, continue in the Ardennes. He will be supported by Jhonatan Narváez, Brandon McNulty, Felix Grossschartner, Domen Novak, Pavel Sivakov, and Tim Wellens at the Amstel Gold Race. The latter will start in the Netherlands after skipping the Brabantse Pijl. "The Ardennes races will be a new challenge. They are three hard one-day races packed into a week, but I feel we have the team to be able to challenge each of them. But we will take it one race at a time, starting with Amstel Gold, and go from there."

In 2023, he lined up for the first time at the start of the one-day race in Limburg. He launched his characteristic breakaway there, later shaking off Tom Pidcock and Ben Healy on the Keutenberg. "In that race I have some great memories from two years ago when I managed to win, let’s see what’s possible this year." However, that victory was not without controversy: Leo van Vliet drove his jury car too close to the Slovenian just as Ben Healy was closing in.