The Team Jumbo-Visma rider already felt good last Saturday in the Volta Limburg Classic. “I was able to test my legs in that race, but I also tried to win. It wasn’t stupid attacks because I tried to get away on the climbs.”

The rider of the Dutch province of Limburg hopes to be a little bit stronger in the Amstel. “There will not be a night and day difference in my level. I won’t have increased my level by ten percent in the last few days, but I hope to be better. I am not a top favourite, but hopefully I can ride the final. Without Wout we are missing an important rider, so maybe there will be more free racing in the final. If I have the legs, I won’t hesitate to attack.”

Dumoulin’s thoughts are not yet on the Giro. “I want to ride the Amstel as well as I can, so it doesn’t make sense to already think about the Giro. After the Amstel, I will go to Tenerife for three weeks of altitude training to prepare for the Giro. We have an excellent team there. We will have fun but also work hard. We want to put the finishing touches towards the Giro there.”

Last year Wout van Aert won the Amstel Gold Race after a nerve-wracking millimetre sprint. The defending champion will not be at the start after a corona infection but has already resumed training.

A significant number of climbs, 33 in total, also characterise this year’s Amstel Gold Race. The Cauberg is not the last obstacle for the riders, but they have to conquer it three times. The course is 254.1 kilometres long and the Bemelerberg is the final climb, six kilometres from the finish in Vilt.