2012 Amstel Gold Race: Enrico Gasparotto Suprises Favourites to Take Victory

Enrico Gasparotto overcame the odds today to beat the favourites and claim victory in the Amstel Gold race.

The Italian, who finished third in 2010, won with a well-timed push to the finish, beating Jelle Vanendert into second and Peter Sagan into third.

A group of nine riders, including two from Team Garmin, took the bull by the horns early, gaining an advantage of more than 12 minutes on the field.

The field too a while to react, but after work from RadioShack, BMC and Katusha at the front of the peloton, the gap began to drop.

The action remained fairly quiet as the race rolled through Holland, but as they reached the climb up the Vrakelberg, the strain started to show.

As the pace increased, numbers of riders began to fall off the back of the peloton, most notably Tour De France champion Cadel Evans.

While Evans was struggling with the speed of the race, his team were tightening the screw, looking to set the race up for two-time winner Philippe Gilbert.

Evans then decided to call it a day early. He abandoned, having lost contact with the main bunch.

With Gilbert looking strong riding at the head of the bunch, there were concerns for some of the other favourites.

Alejandro Valverde was seen riding at the back of the group, leaving himself vulnerable to crashes, while Slovakian Peter Sagan was paced back to the peloton by a teammate after a flat tire.

Lotto rider Jurgen Van den Broeck went down in a crash and used a lot of energy to make it back to the main group.

Meanwhile, at the head of the race, France's Romain Bardet was looking to split the leaders up, attacking twice and taking just Garmin's Alex Howes with him.

With the race heading into the final 20 kilometres, the favourites began to fall by the wayside.

Van den Broeck and Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez were both dropped as Gilbert's Team BMC set a blistering pace for the group.

With none of the favourites willing to show their hands, it was left to Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen to make the first attack, jumping from the front of the group with less than 15 kilometres to go.

After so long at the head of the race, Bardet was caught just inside of 10km. They didn't make it to the end, but it was an excellent effort by the AG2R rider and fellow escapee Howes.

After a move from Sagan and Thomas Voeckler being shut down by Katusha, Oscar Freire took the initiative and broke away.

He made it to the foot of the final climb (the Cauberg) alone, while Gilbert chased along with Gasparotto, Sagan and Vanendert.

As they caught Freire, the cost of the chase was apparent on Gilbert, who cracked, leaving the other three to battle it out for the win before eventually finishing sixth.

In the end, it was Gasparotto who had the most left in the tank, sprinting past Sagan for one of the biggest wins of his career. After the race, he told reporters, "It's my biggest win since the 2005 Italian National Championships."

The top eight finishers were:

1. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 6:32:35
2. Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
3. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
4. Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Katusha Team
5. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
6. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
7. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
8. Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin - Barracuda