Team director shares bizarre story with Geraint Thomas about Amstel Gold Race: "Had to hide the team car from the Jury"

Tadej Pogacar wanted his team to grab the Amstel Gold Race by the horns early on. “The way UAE rode, it was so dominant. They just took off and basically said, ‘We’re going to destroy everyone,’” Rowe said. “We had a rider who was just sitting in the peloton, not even taking wind for the first two hours and he was pushing an average of 400 watts. Just in the wheels, mind you. Before the TV coverage even started, they were already going full gas. From the car, I was constantly passing riders who had been dropped. They tore the race apart.”

This is the first year Rowe is working as a directeur sportif. The 35-year-old from Cardiff now fills that role for Decathlon AG2R, and he's enjoying it, but admits his inexperience still shows at times, especially in the chaos of Limburg. “I was in the second team car for Amstel Gold Race. Since we were car number 17, we were so far back. So basically you’re car number 34, and then add in the medical cars and all that, you’re probably car number 50,” he said. Being so far back can be a real issue, especially when a major crash happens.

That exact scenario played out during the race. The aftermath of a crash led to a rather comical situation. “There was a big crash with about 100 kilometers to go. We had to stop, and then every car had to slowly squeeze past one by one. There were bodies everywhere. INEOS went through first, then we followed after being stopped for about five minutes. Because we had been standing still so long, we had to race full gas to catch up again. I followed the INEOS car. It went left, so I went left. And suddenly, we weren’t on the race route anymore. We were lost!”

After a detour through tiny Limburg villages, the two cars found their way back to the course. “We finally got back on the route, but we were ahead of the race. And that’s not allowed. I didn’t want to be seen, because if the jury spots you... So I reversed up a driveway and had to hide the car. I watched the entire race pass by and in the end, everything turned out fine. It was an honest mistake,” Rowe laughed, before jokingly blaming his former team for the mix-up: “You f*ckers!”

Plenty of chaos for AG2R, but INEOS Grenadiers have also been struggling in recent days, according to Laurens De Plus. Due to injuries, he’ll likely be called up last-minute for Liège–Bastogne–Liège. “We’re having a tough time at the moment. That’s probably why I got a late call, to fill a gap, I think. Magnus (Sheffield, ed.) is usually strong, and Axel (Laurance, ed.) was really good in the Basque Country. He struggled a bit at Amstel, but Liège is a different race. We’re definitely going in as underdogs.”

That makes perfect sense, with the dominant Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar both on the start list. De Plus sees his fellow Belgian as the slight favorite, especially after the Amstel Gold Race. “The way he gives his interviews, you can see he’s full of confidence. So yeah, why not? It’s good for cycling, too. If the same rider wins every time, that’s not good.”

So we’ll see Evenepoel and Pogacar, but not former winner Roglic—and no sign of Vingegaard either, who’s been silent for a while. Since his crash at Paris–Nice, where he broke his hand, it’s been radio silence from Visma | Lease a Bike. “This is the strange thing with Vingegaard,” said Luke Rowe. “Normally, with a broken hand, you’re on the rollers within two days and back on the road in a week. After three or four weeks, you can race again. But they’ve kept everything completely quiet.”

Still, the Welshman understands the decision made by the Dane and his team. Vingegaard has never started La Doyenne, and his focus is clearly on summer, not spring. “It’s obvious they’re going all in for the Tour de France. They just don’t want to take any risks by sending him to Liège. It’s Tour, Tour, Tour, nothing else.”