Embed from Getty ImagesHes on form, hes on home soil and hes a past winner but Mathieu van der Poel wont have it easy here as the hilly terrain and a long list of challengers should make things harder.The Route: unchanged from last year, 253.6km and all in Limburg, the hilly part of the low country. Its relative as the race rarely gets beyond 200 metres altitude but there are 3,200 metres of vertical gain spread across 33 marked climbs.One difficulty you dont see from the profile nor map is the mix of narrow roads and tight corners. Those at the front get to chose their line while anyone beyond, say, 20th wheel is stuck in a cycle of braking and sprinting. This whiplash effect is huge, its probably the defining feature of the race and being able to save energy by staying up front helps build the win. Local knowledge and a couple of strong team mates help here, arguably more than the Ronde and Lige.The climbs are bunched towards the end of the race. The Eyserbosweg with 38km to go is where Tadej Pogaar forced a selection last year, the Keutenberg with 29km left is where he went solo.The Finish: The finishing circuit is not so technical, a wider road and well-known. Its via the Keutenberg and then the Cauberg to cross the finish line. Then its out into the apple orchards and and the Bemelerberg climb, a soft gradient but sometimes just enough to split the field. Over the top its via Mathieu van der Poel Alle and to the finish on a big wide road.The ContendersEmbed from Getty ImagesMathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is on a roll after wins in the Ronde and Roubaix. A past winner here, he seems the obvious pick but the hilly terrain doesnt suit. Its hard to see him take a flyer with 40km to go he might try and his advantage over others is his sprint. Also while his team have been very solid thats because they are solid types, this time theyll struggle to boss rival squads.UAE come with six riders who could win, and Sjoerd Bax who is going to be busy fetching food and drink for them all. Juan Ayuso is the form pick and while his lean build makes him look like a pure climber hes won time trial and sprints (pictured winning the Faun Ardche Classic). Marc Hirschi is a Flche Wallonne winner but from 2020 and if hes had plenty of wins since, nothing in the World Tour so far. Many teams will look to UAE to control the race.Embed from Getty ImagesEF Education-Eastpost bring a very strong team. Richard Carapaz is form unknown but building up. Second here last year, Ben Healy was remarkable in the recent Pays de Loire stage race, doing the work of three riders as he towed Marijn van den Berg to the win. Their problem is how to combine their strengths, with Healy not suited to the flat sprint so hell have to try and go solo whileVan den Berg is on the limit with all the climbing.Tom Pidcock (Ineos) is back to a race where he was less photogenic than Wout van Aert who beat him to the line and were Tadej Pogaar beat him last year, two podiums in three goes. Previous winner Micha Kwiatkowski has got the race craft and could surprise, if not hell be there to guide Pidcock.Visma-Lease a Bike have a home race and have Tiesj Benoot and Matteo Jorgenson as leaders, both on terrain to suit but at risk of being picked off by rivals in case of a sprint.Max Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe) looked himself again in the Basque Country after two seasons of illness and injury, a lot of lows and few highs. Matteo Sobrero should be worth watching too.Embed from Getty ImagesBenot Cosnefroy (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) is in form having just won the Brabantse Pijl and with ease, floating across to the breakaway before out-sprinting them. A runner-up here before this showed his challenge as hes great on short hills but in a flatter sprint things are harder. Basque stage winner Paul Lapeira is in form too and could try a flyer.Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) and Romain Grgoire give Groupama-FDJ two good chances, Madouas bravely stated he was all in for the Ronde but never featured while Grgoire looks custom-built for the Ardennes races.Embed from Getty ImagesLotto-Dstny bring Andreas Kron and Maxim Van Gils. Kron is one of those assassin-type riders with one bullet to fire but hes capable of a surprise. Van Gils can keep firing, hes not finished outside the top-10 this season except for Catalunya where it was feared a crash caused a broken wrist.DSM Firmenich-PostNL race on home soil. Their motto is keep challenging only theyre being challenged by a tough start to the season. Warren Barguil brings experience, Kevin Vermaerke has quietly had a good season so far but Oscar Onley looks their best bet, the Scot is climbing with the best.A hilly race for a punchy Dutch climber? Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek) can make a crowd-pleaser move but how to stay away? Mattias Skjelmose has made the Ardennes his goal for the first half of the year but he might prefer Lige next Sunday with more climbing. Andrea Bagioli is one to watch too.Michael Matthews (Jayco) can get over the climbs and packs a sprint of course but how to convert previous top-10 places into a win? Hes going to struggle to match the best climbers so hell have to hope they mark each other out.Astana have had a dire start to the season but Alexey Lutsenko supplied some cheer this week winning in Abruzzo. Hes resting but the squad looks decent on paper with Samuele Battistella due a big win and backed by Christian Scaroni, Ide Schelling and Anthon Charmig.IPT have Dylan Teuns and Stephen Williams for the climbs and maybe Corbin Strong as a sprint card to play although if he is there for the finish, so is Van der Poel.Uno-X bring Tobias Halland Johannessen and new signing Andreas Leknessund, outsiders again.Soudal-Quickstep are orphans without leader Remco Evenepoel but William Junior Lecerf is promising although converting that into a win on a trick course like this is tough. Mauri Vansevenant can feature, he is always easy to spot thanks to his pecking chicken styleVan der PoelAyuso, Cosnefroy, HealyVan Gils, Pidcock, Williams, Hirschi, Bilbao, McNultyBattistella, Grgoire, Matthews, Van den Berg, Schachmann, KronWeather: cloudy and 15C.TV: the race starts at 10.45am and the finish is for 4.50pm CEST. Its on NOS locally and Eurosport for most other territories.Ardennes? we often label the Amstel an Ardennes classic because its hilly, not far from the Ardennes and on at the same time as the real Ardennes races. Its a heuristic but its a wrong one. The Ardennes are a western part of the larger Eifel mountain range and are to be found far to the south of this race, think Lige of Limburg. The hills this weekend are mere clay and sand deposits rather than part of a genuine mountain range.Flanders Gold: this is the last edition of the race as an independent event as the race will be taken over by Flanders Classics next year, although still with Amstel Gold title sponsorship.Embed from Getty ImagesWomens Amstel: this starts at 10.15 CEST and finishes around 2.20pm with TV coverage from midday onwards. Itll be a climbing test for Lotte Kopecky and team mate Demi Vollering, they got the 1-2 last year but this week Vollering was dropped by Elisa Longo Borghini in the Brabantse Pijl to make the Italian the form pick with Marianne Vos the local hero. For a good preview, see procyclinguk.coms Amstel picksThe post Amstel Gold Race Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.