Embed from Getty ImagesRemco Evenepoel accelerates up the Cauberg. Both he and Mattias Skjelmose are looking at the road ahead but Romain Grgoire is fixated on the two riders in front of him as he is about to be dropped. With Evenepoel able to ditch the Frenchman finisseur here, all that would be left would be to out-sprint Skjelmose and this time there was no surprise. This was the moment the race was won.Embed from Getty ImagesAn early breakaway of nine with Huub Artz (Lotto-Intermarch), Filip Maciejuk (Movistar), Marco Frigo (NSN), Warren Barguil (Picnic-PostNL), Siebe Deweirdt (Flanders-Baloise), Xabier Mikel Azparren (Pinarello-Q36.5), Joseba Lopez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Valentin Retailleau (TotalEnergies) and Abram Stockman (Unibet Rose Rockets).Embed from Getty ImagesRedBull-Bora-Hansgrohe led the bunch for a long time but less of a pursuit and more a chaperone role, containing their advantage with Tim van Dijke and Danny van Poppel on hand to prevent the lead going beyond four minutes. Textbook stuff.Indeed by the time the TV coverage started the status quo persisted. Having been spoilt by long range moves in the Ronde and a relentless Paris-Roubaix this was more subdued.Embed from Getty ImagesWith less than an hour to go Romain Grgoire attacked on the Kruisberg. Remco Evenepoel followed and along came Mattias Skjelmose, Matteo Jorgenson, Kvin Vauquelin, plus Mathieu Burgaudeau who soon vanished. It saw four of the top-five picks from this blogs preview were going clear. This isnt to seek applause for perception, more that the obvious names in the action.Embed from Getty ImagesThe plot twist came when Kvin Vauquelin crashed, seeming to resume pedalling too soon after taking a left hand bend and grounding his pedal causing him to wash out. This took out Artz whod come back from the early breakaway and Matteo Jorgenson to crash, the American broke a collarbone, ruining his long-held plans for the Ardennes. A surprise but not a shock on a tight course that often feels like its one turn away from taking an alley behind a row of houses.Embed from Getty ImagesThis left Grgoire, Skjelmose and Evenepoel clear. With the Frenchman the fastest on paper for a sprint, Evenepoel rode hard the penultimate time up the Cauberg to eject him. This climb is unremarkable but after 230km it was a mountain to climb for Grgoire. Evenepoel did not need to attack, just set a pace too high for Grgoire. Having been on the receiving end of this in the Ronde now it was Evenepoels turn to look back and adjust his pace accordingly to keep the rival at bay.It was dj vu with Evenepoel and Skjelmose away again in the finish of the Amstel. But how could the Dane win this time? His turns were looking shorter and less applied. They rode together up the Cauberg with nobody behind in sight to panic their sprint.Evenepoel had Skjelmose in front and as the finish got closer, a flicker of doubt: what if Skjelmoses lighter build could be an advantage in a late sprint, to go from low speed to high. Evenepoel was leaving it late but with 150m he launched in a low gear, almost too low for a sprint but this saw him accelerate, pass and go clear while Skjelmose looked to have the same kind of spaghetti legs endured by Pogaar in Roubaix and could barely sprint.Embed from Getty ImagesBenot Cosnefroy won the sprint for third, he joined a counter-move and was the quickest. This group eased on the last lap to give the lead two almost two minutes lead. A nod to Marco Frigo of NSN who was away all day but still able to latch onto this group and even had the audacity to launch the sprint.Embed from Getty ImagesThe VerdictThe course had plenty of twists and turns, alas the racing did not. The early break went, it splintered and Remco Evenepoel won from the breakaway. The host production seemed to have limited means one helicopter, fewer motos as well which meant viewers saw less of the other parts of action at times.If Evenepoel made it look easy, its a credit to him and his team. They controlled before he rode the perfect race, covering Grgoires move, towing the break clear, ejecting Grgoire on the part of the course where their differences were exposed the most and then sapping Skjelmose to ensure the sprint was barely contested.Evenepoel was expressing an interest in the upcoming Flche Wallonne, and having worked on his sprint and short efforts over the winter itll be interesting to see what he can do, does he bank on this or is his speciality of going clear before a tactic to be tried even in the Flche, a race that has ended more often in a bunch sprint this century than the Scheldeprijs? Trying to convert the Amstels plan into next Sundays Lige will be harder too given more opposition. All this though feels eminently possible but hes changed teams over the winter with the stated aim of tackling the Tour de France.Skjelmose is in a similar situation to Evenepoel only with a fraction of the pressure and public scrutiny. A career project on the team to take him towards grand tour success has been derailed by injury but also results and now hes on a team invested in Juan Ayuso so has to find results at other times too.Grgoire impressed for the audacity to launch the move but seems to have a ceiling when it comes to competing with the very best but if the team wanted more theyll bank on his fourth place and the 275 UCI points with a further 100 for Ewen Costiou covering in ninth place. Cosnefroy put UAE on the podium again and having been plagued by knee injuries apparently its all gone. Albert Withen Philipsen made the counter move and the finished 8th, impressive for a 19 year old even in these times.The post Amstel Gold Race Review first appeared on The Inner Ring.