Remco Evenepoel reflects on 'most beautiful victory of season' in Amstel Gold Race, after pipping 2025 champ Mattias Skjelmose
By Ben McAleer
Published 20/04/2026 at 08:42 GMT+1
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Remco Evenepoel has reflected on his "beautiful" Amstel Gold Race success, saying "it means a lot" to have bounced back from last year's disappointment.
Highlights: Evenepoel earns Amstel Gold redemption in Skjelmose showdown
Video credit: TNT Sports
The Belgian fell short in the Netherlands in 2025, ultimately finishing third to eventual winner Mattias Skjelmose and Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar.
Evenepoel, though, pipped defending champion Skjelmose in a two-up sprint to first place on Sunday to claim his first Amstel Gold Race triumph.
And after his victory, the 26-year-old was asked what the victory meant to him, to which he replied: "It means a lot.
"I've had a pretty good last month in the month of April in Catalunya and Flanders, but to take a win is always a bit different.
"I think I mentioned already that I really love this race. Lots of short hard climbs and the race more or less opened in the same place this year again, so I was really confident.
"I felt much better than I did last year in the final. I think it was shown in the sprint that my sprint was much better, that I had something left.
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'This is Remco's moment' - Evenepoel powers to Amstel Gold victory in thrilling sprint finish
Video credit: TNT Sports
"I'm just very proud to finish off all the teamwork. Danny van Poppel and Tim van Dijke had to control the whole race alone, then my other teammates as well dropped me off in a perfect position.
"With the rain, it was not easy to stay calm, but like I said, this is one of my favourite races in the season and to win it with my second participation feels amazing."
'Bit of a flashback'
Evenepoel's victory was similar to last year's finish where he had to sprint against Skjelmose again in order to pip the Dane to first.
"A bit of a flashback to last year," Evenepoel continued. "I have more confidence now.
"I felt on the climbs I was the strongest today and that he [Skjelmose] was on the limit when taking pulls, I felt it was not as strong as in the beginning when we were gone.
- Amstel Gold Race Men's recap - Evenepoel sprints past Skjelmose to claim stunning win
- Highlights: Evenepoel earns Amstel Gold redemption in Skjelmose showdown
"I had a lot of confidence I could finish it in the sprint. I'm happy with the result."
And on the Amstel Gold Race win, Evenepoel described it as "the most beautiful victory" of the season so far.
"It's the most beautiful victory of the season, that's for sure," he added. "Every win is a new one and is a beautiful one.
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'A bit of a flashback' - Evenepoel on redemption against Skjelmose in sprint finish
Video credit: TNT Sports
"Like I mentioned a few days ago, these races are just under the Monument, so it's really high on my ranking.
"It's in my top eight victories in my career. I'm one of the lucky guys to win quite a lot. To win this one means a lot, and I'm very proud of it."
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