Den Hartog, Dekker and Anderson talk about their winning rides
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The peloton races past a windmill during the 50th edition of the Amstel Gold Race
The peloton during Amstel Gold Race(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The peloton climb during Amstel Gold Race(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Amstel Curacao Race(Image credit: Amstel Curacao Race)
Michał Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) wins Amstel Gold Race 2015(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Juan Antonio Flecha gets a bottle from Eric Dekker in 2009 Tour of Qatar(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Gerrans, Phil Anderson and Cadel Evans were named in Cycling Australia's Tour de France team of the century in 2014(Image credit: John Veage / Cycling Australia)
Even at 50 years old, the Amstel Gold Race is one of the youngest among the spring Classics. The Dutch Ardennes race has its own storied list of winners and legendary stories, however, and World Champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) added to the lore this year when he out-sprinted the other race favourites to take the win.
Every edition of the race plays out in its own way, and in this video Arie Den Hartog, Phil Anderson and Erik Dekker relive the memories and emotions surrounding their own wins.
Den Hartog, the winner of the second Amstel Gold Race in 1967, recalled that the race was just as hard then as it is now, but it was not as well known. But by 1983, when Anderson won the race with a daring solo move, Amstel Gold was well established among the Classics.
"I was in a French team, and to the French the wins don't mean tat much outside of France, " Anderson recalls. "But to an Australian it was very important."
For Dekker, his winning ride in 2003 provided another chance to look for people he knew along the roadside.
"I was always seeing if I knew somebody in the public," he says.
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