2016 Amstel Gold Race

2016 Amstel Gold Race

2016 UCI World Tour, race 11 of 28[1]
Race details
Dates	17 April 2016
Stages	1
Distance	248.7 km (154.5 mi)
Winning time	6h 18' 02"
Results
Winner  Enrico Gasparotto (ITA) (Wanty–Groupe Gobert)   Second  Michael Valgren (DEN) (Tinkoff)   Third  Sonny Colbrelli (ITA) (Bardiani–CSF)
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The 2016 Amstel Gold Race was a one-day classic cycling race that took place in the Limburg region of the Netherlands on 17 April 2016. It was the 51st edition of the Amstel Gold Race and the eleventh event of the 2016 UCI World Tour. It was also the first of the Ardennes classics, although it is technically not in the Ardennes region. The race took place over a 258-kilometre (160 mi) route that starts in Maastricht and ends in Berg en Terblijt on the outskirts of Valkenburg. The key difficulty in the race came from the 34 short but steep climbs. The central climb, the Cauberg, was crossed four times, with 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) between the final summit and the finish line. The favourites for victory in the race included the three-time winner Philippe Gilbert (BMC), the defending champion Michał Kwiatkowski (Sky), and Simon Gerrans and Michael Matthews (both Orica–GreenEDGE).

There were numerous attacks in the first part of the race, but no group had a significant advantage in the last part of the race. Tim Wellens (Lotto–Soudal) had a small lead on the final climb of the Cauberg, but he was caught before the summit by a large group led by Orica–GreenEDGE. Towards the summit of the climb, Enrico Gasparotto (Wanty–Groupe Gobert), the 2012 champion, attacked; he was joined by Tinkoff's Michael Valgren and the two came to the finish together, with Gasparotto winning the sprint for victory. Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani–CSF) was third in the main group, which finished four seconds behind.