Danish cyclist Mattias Skjelmose beat three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar to win the Amstel Gold Race via a thrilling photo finish.
In a three-way sprint to the finish line, double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel seemed to have secured the victory but 2023 champion Pogacar edged just ahead of him with metres to go, only for Skjelmose to attack from their left and win by less than half a wheel’s length.
Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock, who was defending his title in the Netherlands, finished ninth.
It was the biggest win of 24-year-old Skjelmose’s career but a second successive defeat for Slovenian Pogacar, who won the Tour of Flanders earlier this month before finishing second at the Paris-Roubaix last week.
Pogacar made his move to the front with around 40km to go of the 256km race, but was unable to break free from Skjelmose and Evenepoel, as they caught up with him with 8km remaining to force the sprint finish.
The third-placed finish marked another promising return for Evenepoel as he returns from a serious injury following a crash last year. The Belgian won the Brabantse Pijl in his first race back on Friday.
The women’s race saw a Dutch trio complete the podium as Mischa Bredewold took the title with her compatriots Ellen van Dijk and Puck Pieterse in second and third.
Bredewold finished the 157.3km course in just over four hours, with Van Dijk and Pieterse seven seconds behind.
