Velominati Super Prestige: Mens Amstel Gold Race 2017

The first real race of the Ardennes classics

I spent my formative years growing up in the United States, hearing from all my Dutch and German relatives how crap American beer is and how fantastic Dutch and German brews are, respectively. By the time I started drinking it myself, the micro brew scene in the US had flourished and was giving the European beer icons swirlies in the locker room toilet.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Amstel Gold – a beer I assumed to be as prestigious as the race it sponsors – was every bit as shit as Miller or Budweiser. Nevertheless, the advertisers do get their way because anytime I’m in a Dutch bar where none of the beers available sound appealing, I’ll always default to this particular brand of piss.

Be that as it may, I love the fact that they’ve sponsored a race for so many years, and I love the fact that they’ve been doing a women’s edition for ages as well. And don’t be fooled by this racing being in the reputedly flat Netherlands; this particular province is very bumpy parcours and if you can’t get yourself over hills very well, you won’t feature very high on the results list.

Ponder the start list, get your picks in by the time the countdown timer goes to zero and good luck!
[vsp_results id=”104246″/]

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

Buck Rogers says:

Apr 12 2017 at 11:50 am
One more time Phil Gil ...with FEEEELING!

VSP PICKS:
1. Phil Gil
2. Malmerde
3. Komquatski
4. Greg Van Avermaet
5. Simon Gerrans
Geraint says:

Apr 12 2017 at 12:52 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. KWIATKOWSKI Michal
2. GILBERT Philippe
3. VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro
4. VAN AVERMAET Greg
5. GASPAROTTO Enrico
wiscot says:

Apr 12 2017 at 1:22 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Gilbert
2. Matthews
3. Benoot
4. Fuglsang
5. Valverde
Teocalli says:

Apr 12 2017 at 1:51 pm
I resisted Valverde all last season and paid for it so I'll put him in this season......with my form on picks I expect an email from him asking me to remove him!

VSP PICKS:
1. Gilbert
2. Valverde
3. Kwiatkowski
4. GVA
5. Colbrelli
Jansen says:

Apr 12 2017 at 1:58 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. A. Valverde
2. B. Swift
3. O. Naesen
4. P. Gilbert
5. R. Costa
GoldenGorilla says:

Apr 12 2017 at 3:25 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. KWIATKOWSKI Michal
2. VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro
3. SKUJINS Toms
4. ALAPHILIPE Julian
5. GILBERT Philippe
JonnyG says:

Apr 12 2017 at 3:46 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Alejandro Valverde
2. Philippe Gilbert
3. Greg van Avermaet
4. Sonny Colbrelli
5. Michael Matthews
cycleman3000 says:

Apr 12 2017 at 3:59 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. MATTHEWS Michael
2. COLBRELLI Sonny
3. GILBERT Philippe
4. VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro
5. KWIATKOWSKI Michal
Ccos says:

Apr 12 2017 at 4:30 pm
Another thing that can make piss beer taste better: you win a six pack of it in a sprint prime

VSP PICKS:
1. Valverde
2. Gilbert
3. Kwiatkowski
4. Matthews
5. Gasparotto
lokerola says:

Apr 12 2017 at 5:41 pm
I mean, they're terrible picks, but hey, logical picks haven't produced any winning results.

VSP PICKS:
1. Uran
2. Coquard
3. Bardet
4. Boom
5. Van Avermaet