One year ago, Evenepoel and Mattias Skjelmose chased down a long-range attack by Tadej Pogačar with 12km to go in the finale of Amstel, but Evenepoel waited for the sprint and ended up third behind the winner Skjelmose and the world champion Pogačar.
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"In his place, I would stay with my teammates for as long as possible," Gilbert said, pointing out that with Van Aert, Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel all absent, he would carry the pressure as the top Amstel Gold Race favourite.
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