Following his fourth victory of the season at Wednesday’s Brabantse Pijl, the bridging race between the cobbled Classics and the upcoming Ardennes triple, Benoît Cosnefroy believes Mathieu van der Poel could be overwhelmed on the Amstel Gold Race.
The largest race within the Netherlands is the subsequent on the world champion’s hitlist forward of a tilt at a 3rd Monument victory of the season at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Five years in the past, van der Poel gained at Amstel Gold Race with a shocking come-from-behind experience, whereas in 2022, his most up-to-date participation on the race, he was fourth, two spots behind Cosnefroy, who was pipped to the road by Michał Kwiatkowski.
The Frenchman, who has been in fantastic kind this spring, instructed L’Equipe that despite the added problem posed by Van der Poel racing, his presence also can present alternatives for others to make strikes.
“The circumstances made this win doable,” Cosnefroy stated of his Brabantse Pijl triumph. “When Mathieu is in a race, he is watched rather a lot by different riders and it is maybe simpler for riders who’re outsiders to precise themselves.”
Cosnefroy, now in his eighth season at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and one of many staff leaders, famous that the hilly parcours of Amstel Gold Race is a world away from the flat, brutal cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.
Could that imply the race can be more durable to regulate for Van der Poel’s Alpecin-Deceuninck staff?
“In Paris-Roubaix, Van der Poel had an distinctive staff who did a variety of the work for him,” Cosnefroy stated.
“But there it is a very flat race whereas Amstel Gold Race is rather less straightforward to regulate and it is maybe more durable to make massive gaps too.
“I do not actually know, however in my head, I believe it is doable,” he concluded on the query of as soon as once more having the ability to beat the Dutch star on dwelling floor.
Cosnefroy is ready to guide a Decathlon AG2R staff together with Dorion Godon, Paul Lapeira, and Oliver Naesen at Saturday’s race, whereas Nicolas Guillé can be among the many staff’s directeurs sportifs in Limburg.
“I will not get overexcited. We’ll first savour this victory,” Guillé instructed L’Equipe when requested concerning the staff’s probabilities on the weekend.
“It’s nonetheless a race and we’ll additionally see a variety of the riders who have been racing right here,” he concluded, hinting on the different contenders who may also be current, together with Dylan Teuns and Michael Matthews in addition to those that did not race Brabantse Pijl, resembling Tom Pidcock, Matej Mohorič, and Richard Cararpaz