Amstel Gold Race Men LIVE: Race being opened up after first passage of the Cauberg

Mosca back riding. He’s having the grit his teeth to do it, though.

Reinderink is now 45″ behind the leading trio with the peloton at 1’08”.

Multiple teams come to the front of the peloton as several teams look to position their main leaders.

Barguil dropped from the break as well. It is his first race since the start of February.

Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) dropped and will likely abandon.

As expected, the attackers are brought back.

Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) dropped on the first ascent of the Cauberg on his second race back since coming back from his crash.

Frigo is leading the break as Stockman, Lopez and Deweirdt all dropped from the front.

Maciejuk is dropped from the break.

NSN come alongside Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe as they head to the Sibbergrubbe.

The peloton splits into four groups as Denz continues his high pace with Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) getting caught out.

The riders back into the spring sunshine again.

One of the very characteristic views of these races…

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have retaken complete control in the peloton with Nico Denz leading the way.

The peloton are now just 1’37” off the back of the peloton that are currently led by Frigo.

The injection of pace in the peloton by the new teams joining the front has seen the break’s advantage completely disintegrate with just 1’50” splitting them now.

Climbs 15, 16, 17, and 18 all come thick and fast now. The Plettenberg, Eyserweg, Schanternelsweg, and Vrakelberg before a brief hiatus from climbing then another cluster beginning with the Sibbergrubbe that will take us to the first passage of the Cauberg and the finish line.

Climb 14 now, the Gulperberg. Under a kilometre long but kicks over 12% in gradient.

The most likely rider that Decathlon-CMA CGM are riding for today is Paul Lapeira. The former French champion hasn’t raced since Milan-San Remo, where he took 17th place. What can he produce today?

As the rain joins the party for the men’s race, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s tactic has worked and they are joined by Visma-Lease a Bike and, interestingly, Decathlon-CMA CGM on the front to set the tempo.

Now onto climb number 13, the Eperheide. Around 4% in gradient and just over 2km long.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe may be trying to get other teams to bite the bullet and work with them on the front of the bunch as it has all been up to the German team thus far.

Three hours in and the average speed dips under 43kph. The peloton losing grip on the break, perhaps deliberately, as the gap grows again to 4’40”. The largest the gap has been all day.

Amstel Gold Race is always a great way to kick of the trio of Ardennes Classics with La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège following. It feels like the difficulty level grows as they go on. And, with the Ronde van Limburg and Brabantse Pijl now bridging the gap between the cobbles and hills, the Classics feel like a big group rather than two separate classifications of Classics. This is helped, of course, by the likes of Pogačar and Evenepoel doing both.

The race is roughly at the half way marker today.

It is sunny for the men at the moment but, as the women finish in Valkenburg, the rain falls. Classic April weather.

Still not very much going on in this race, and still over 130km to go.

The riders are really heading into the thick of it now with hardly any moment of rest bite from here to the finish. The race is up and down on narrow and twisty countryside roads and traffic island filled towns.

Now on climb number eight of 33, the Schweibergerweg.

The riders are on the seventh climb of the day, the Loorberg.

After two hours of racing the average speed is 43kph.

Evenepoel is being guided by his team on the front of the peloton with Jorgenson’s Visma-Lease a Bike and Skjelmose’s Lidl-Trek close behind.

López and Barguil in the break today ride for the only teams in this race that are without a win this season. Caja Rural-Seguros RGA have come very close with Fernando Gaviria, but Picnic-PostNL have struggled with only a couple of podiums with the likes of sprinter Pavel Bittner.

After an hour of racing the average speed is at 47kph.

The gap for the break goes to 2’10” over the peloton.

The first climb of the day is out of the way…

20 minutes in and the average pace has shot up to over 48kph with the break trying to get a good gap on the bunch.

Nine riders go clear and swiftly get a gap of 30″ on the peloton. I’ll confirm who they as soon as I can.

Multiple attacks are being launched in the peloton.

The first climb of the day is the Maasberg, which comes after 10km of racing and is just 300 metres long. Maybe a launchpad for the break to finally go?

The first 10 minutes of racing sees the riders average 42kph.

No attacks are getting any gap as of yet.

Several big name riders who were originally down to ride but aren’t due to a variety of issues have meant that the startlist isn’t quite as stacked as originally expected. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) are both ill, Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) is coming back from injury and has opted for the Tour of the Alps as prep for Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) has a broken sacrum after crashing at Itzulia Basque Country.