Blackmore goes all in at Amstel Gold Race
After showing his form at Brabanste Pijl, where he was the only rider to follow the winning move from Remco Evenepoel and Wout Van Aert, Joe Blackmore showed once again that he is built for the Ardennes Classics with a gutsy ride at Amstel Gold Race today.
Blackmore battled to finish in 14th place, after showing his tenacity by fighting to rejoin the select chase group on the final ascent of the Cauberg, while teammate Alexey Lutsenko finished a few places behind in 17th.
Blackmore made his Amstel Gold Race debut in what was one of the most exciting and fastest editions in recent years, with the race eventually coming down to a three-man sprint with Mattias Skelmose (Lidl – Trek) taking the win, while Blackmore crossed the line 52 seconds later.
“I felt good after Brabanste Pijl,” said Blackmore. “I had a good recovery and felt ready to race today but it was definitely pretty hard for pretty long today. We all rode really well with Clarkey keeping us in good position from really far out so we worked well as a team. I dropped on the Cauberg [the second to last time] but I managed to come back and still managed to stay in that chase group of ten riders until the last time up the Cauberg through to the line.”
After turning pro halfway through last year, Blackmore is making his debut in all of the Spring Classics this season, with each one proving to be a learning opportunity.
“I finished at the back of the group and could barely pedal up the last climb so at that point I was just happy to reach the finish line. But I’m there and able to be competitive with the group for the top-ten and hopefully in the next races and next years, I find the edge to get that real big result.”
An attack from road captain Simon Clarke just over halfway through the race was unfortunately neutralized by the peloton’s determination to catch the breakaway, at which point Lutsenko started to find his legs and show himself at the front of the bunch.
“Today I was really suffering in the first two hours,” admitted Lutsenko. “After some caffeine gels I started to feel better and finally after the first three hours I was able to get up to the front of the peloton with Joe and Clarkey. I fought hard to stay in the first group and help Joe as much as possible. The small peloton split on the Cauberg and I was in the second group but I was able to do a last attack on the final time up the Cauberg to go alone from that group and finish in 17th place. I hope to have better legs for Flèche Wallonne and Liège – Bastogne – Liège.”
