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There was something of a deja-vu when I tuned in to watch the finale of Easter Sunday’s Amstel Gold race in Valkenburg. In fact, I initially felt rather short-changed.
“So annoying,” I tweeted. “Set the timer for the Amstel Gold but it was just a re-run of the 2012 World Championships. Still none the wiser as to who won in Holland…”
You’re always going to get one or two people who take the bait – in this case, hook, line and sinker – especially on such a subtle platform as Twitter where playful sarcasm – the irony! – can often be taken for bumbling naivety.
“Sorry if you planned to watch it later on,” came a reply just minutes later (I won’t name names to save the chap the ignominy of having a cream egg cracked all over his face), “but just to fill you in – Philippe Gilbert had a stormer riding away on the Cauberg.”
The poor chap didn’t stop there. Some twenty minutes later – despite numerous people replying with a few “Haha”s and “Very funny”s.
“It was pretty much a carbon copy of his win in the world championships,” he said, digging an even deeper hole for himself. “Sorry for the spoiler! Well worth a watch though – good quality racing.”
Then the penny dropped.
“I suddenly see the error of my ways,” he said, adding the hashtag “facepalm”.
An active race over 34 peaks in the Dutch not-so-Lowlands saw numerous riders and lively breaks and counter-breaks form over 250 kilometres of frenetic racing. Joaquim Rodriguez and Andy Schleck, most notably, were involved in a nasty crash on the Schweiberg climb with 150 kilometres to go – with both riders being forced to retire. There may have been more carnage over the narrow roads had the looming rain clouds shed their load.
Meanwhile, the colossal figure of Magnus Burghardt controlled things in the pack for BMC who sent both Greg Van Avermaet and Sammy Sanchez up the road in the latter stages to pave the way for the in-form Ace of the well-shuffled pack.
Just as he had done in the 2010 and 2011 editions of the race – and, of course, in the 2012 World Championships – Philippe Gilbert unleashed his signature move on the 12 per cent slopes of the Cauberg climb.
It was fascinating to watch. Already, Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge), Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) had been forced to react to a dig by Gilbert’steammate Sanchez.
And when Gilbert surged from the pack on the opposite side of the road you could actually see Gerrans look to his left shoulder and try in vain to muster a response.
Gerrans had 10-odd metres on Gilbert but the laws of Cauberg gravity were against him. On this famous Dutch climb physics goes out the window; Gilbert basically becomes the fast upward-moving apple leaving his stewed rivals to pedal in strudel in his wake.
With the Australian and Kwiatkowski pole-axed, it was left to Gilbert’s compatriot Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol) to lead the subdued chase.
With his rabbit-in-the-headlights, bulging Mesut Ozil-style eyes, Vanendert was resigned to taking second place – his legs (along with those of everyone else in the pursuit) reduced to the wobbly homophonic equivalent of his Flemish first name. It was Vanendert’s second runner-up finish in Amstel Gold – this outdone in Poulidorian nearly-man terms by Gerrans, who secured his third third-place on the opening Ardennes classic.
As for Gilbert – the 31-year-old had the luxury of sitting up, pointing to his sponsor and savouring the moment that signalled his return to the top of the classics podium after his 2013 hiatus.
Perhaps Gilbert should bring his family to his races more often. After all, he admitted after his second classics win in less than a week that it was “particularly emotional” for him because his “wife and kids were here for the first time in two years” – and for the past two years, Gilbert’s only major win in a one-day race has been that 2012 victory in the World Championships.
So, what does a back-in-form Gilbert mean for the bigger picture?
Well, in the immediate future there’s the real possibility that Gilbert – having won Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold – may string another couple of wins together next week in the Ardennes to make it a historic quadruple by adding the Fleche Walloon and Liege-Bastogne-Liege titles to a palmares that is swelling in sync with the waistline of most of us Sunday afternoon viewers gorging ourselves silly on chocolate Easter eggs (washed down with a glass or three of the race sponsor’s lustrous brew).
That would in turn signal a second Ardennes triple following his clean-sweep in 2011 – back in a time where Gilbert’s name was synonymous with punchy uphill finishes.
So annoying. Set timer for the Amstel Gold but it was just a re-run of the 2012 World Championships. Still no idea who won in Holland…
— Blazin' Saddles (@saddleblaze) April 20, 2014
Looking further forward there’s the prospect of Gilbert livening up the Grand Tours in the way that Peter Sagan has done in his absence these past two years. The second stage of the Tour de France – over the bumpy Yorkshire dales – does now seem to have Gilbert’s name very much all over it.
As for us cycling fans, Gilbert’s return to form may simply mean that we’ll have to get used to watching quite a few re-runs in the months to come…
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