In his cycling news roundup, Amstel Gold 2026 is shaping up to be one of the spring’s most unpredictable one-day races. With Pogačar, Wout, and Van der Poel all absent, Remco Evenepoel heads to the Dutch hills hungry for revenge against defending champion Mattias Skjelmose. Elsewhere, Tim Merlier stamped his authority on the Flemish sprints with a dominant Tour of Limburg double, O Gran Camiño’s early stages have thrown up some surprise names in the GC, and 80% of PEZ readers believe Tadej Pogačar will eventually conquer Paris-Roubaix. Plus: what the new Eschborn-Frankfurt course means for the May 1st classic, and an important tariff refund update for the bike industry.
TOP STORY
- Race Preview: Amstel Gold — Remco Plots His Revenge Against Skjelmose
RACE NEWS
- Reader Poll Results: It’s Just a Matter of Time for Pog at Paris-Roubaix
- Merlier Masters the Cobbles: A Dominant Double at the Tour of Limburg
- The Road to Glory: Local Heroes and Time Trial Shocks in Galicia
- Bigger Names Means a Bigger Race at Eschborn-Frankfurt 2026
TEAM, RIDER AND CYCLING NEWS
- Cyclists and Bike Industry: New Process to Reclaim Tariff Refunds
MIKE’S RIDE OF THE WEEK:
Race Preview: Amstel Gold — Remco Plots His Revenge Against Skjelmose
Typically when Remco Evenepoel loses a one-day race, it’s to Tadej Pogačar. That’s what happened last year at Amstel Gold.
Problem was, he also lost to Mattias Skjelmose. In fact, Amstel ’25 was the rarest of phenomena: Pogačar lost a hilly race. It was Evenepoel who dragged Skjelmose back to Pogačar’s wheel, but Skjelmose who eked out the narrowest of wins, later saying he’d have been thrilled just to land on the podium.
Amstel Gold is a very tough race to predict — especially with Pogačar not on the startlist (which he’s not). Looking back at past winners, we see the full range of rider strengths: There’s Pog himself, but also rouleurs like Wout and van der Poel; all-rounders like Kwiatkowski and Philippe Gilbert (four times)…
plus nearly-pure sprinters like Erik Zabel, not to mention…Frank Schleck?
This race is wide open.
While this Dutch race doesn’t boast either the cred nor the iconic bergs of the Tour of Flanders, it does offer a mad mix and a very circuitous route that yield this eclectic range of winners.
The near-randomness that the route yields notwithstanding, Remco’s remains our (obvious) pick, especially now that he’s begrudgingly becoming a one-day specialist.
Neither Wout nor MVDP is on the startlist either, so threatening Remco’s dominance are former winners Skjelmose (again, obviously), plus Visma’s Laporte and Jorgenson; Ben Healy, who’s looking to make some noise after a quiet spring; and Romain Grégoire, who’s been knock-knock-knocking on the podium door for some time now.
Tier three? Quinn Simmons has declared his strong desire to podium at this race, though will defer to teammate Skjelmose under dire circumstances. My real dark-horse picks: Ion Izagirre, who’s riding more strongly in 2026 than ever before; this season’s breakout rider Tim van Dijke (should teammate Evenepoel encounter trouble); and Tim Wellens, who’s back for his first post-injury race.
A Dutch race named after a beer doesn’t have the cachet as a Belgian race named for a region — let alone a battlefield — but Amstel Gold promises some edge-of-your-morning-couch racing.
Want an inside view into riding Amstel Gold? Check out Richard’s account of riding the Amstel Gold CycloSportif here.
RACE NEWS
Reader Poll Results: It’s Just a Matter of Time for Pog at Paris-Roubaix
It seems that, once again, I’m rowing against the popular tide (or riding into the popular wind, perhaps).
You ask me, Tadej Pogačar just won’t ever pull off a Paris-Roubaix win: He’s a generational talent, but even his awe-inspiring power isn’t enough to win what will always be a strongman’s race.
You, however, disagree. Some 80% of you believe he’ll pull it off at some point, with nearly 1 in 5 of you predicting he’ll do it next year.
You may have a point: He’s come close both times he’s ridden Paris-Roubaix; if not for multiple mechanicals (including a short stint on a Shimano service bike), he may well have had enough left to outsprint Wout van Aert. His chief rivals, meanwhile, are older than him, and the next crop of top talent seems mostly to be cut from a climber/GC cloth.
At least we only have to wait 360 days to get our next data point.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
Merlier Masters the Cobbles: A Dominant Double at the Tour of Limburg
Tim Merlier has confirmed his status as the king of the Flemish sprints, securing his second career victory at the Tour of Limburg. Entering the race as the heavy favorite, the Soudal Quick-Step fastman delivered a masterclass in timing, launching a devastating long-range sprint that left his rivals fighting for mere scraps in his wake.
The race, recently repositioned in the calendar, saw an early breakaway featuring the tireless 19-year-old Albert Withen Philipsen. While Philipsen held a solo lead deep into the finale, the peloton — thinned by a wave of punctures that hampered contenders like Sam Bennett and Milan Menten — gradually reeled him in with 19 kilometers remaining.
Late attacks from Cedric Beullens and a dangerous five-man move led by a powerful Dries De Bondt threatened to disrupt the expected outcome. However, the collective might of the sprint teams ensured a gallop in Tongeren. With 300 meters to go, Merlier hit the wind. His acceleration was immediate and insurmountable, opening a gap that no one could close.
An ascendant Fernando Gaviria placed second, and Floris Van Tricht rounded out the podium, but they were ultimately spectators to Merlier’s dominance. Helped by the absence of Dylan Groenewegen, who withdrew due to injury, Merlier’s performance proved that he remains the man to beat as the peloton heads toward the Giro d’Italia.
Top Ten, Tour of Limburg, courtesy of Pro Cycling Stats
The Road to Glory: Local Heroes and Time Trial Shocks in Galicia
O Gran Camiño is one of those second-tier, oddly named races that often serves up compelling racing. Thus far, the 2026 version fits that description. The five-day Galician tour kicked off on April 14 with a 15km individual time trial in A Coruña, where the gloriously coiffed and mustachioed Danis rider Julius Johansen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) stormed to his first professional victory. Clocking a time of 17:43, Johansen bested specialist Rafael Reis by 15 seconds, while GC favorite Adam Yates limited his losses to finish sixth, 40 seconds back.
Welcome to the newest member of Pez’ all-mustache team!
As typically happens the day after a time trial, the excitement kicked up during Stage 2, a 148.6km trek from Vilalba to Barreiros. The day was defined by a chaotic finale on the coastal roads of A Mariña. While Johansen struggled to defend the yellow jersey, Movistar’s Carlos Canal capitalized on his local knowledge. Following a relentless solo attack by teammate Nelson Oliveira that neutralized the late attackers, Canal powered out of a thinned lead group to a emotional sprint victory—his first as a pro — on home soil.
The result reshuffled the standings: while Canal took the stage glory, the consistency of Rafael Reis (Anicolor/Campicarn) allowed him to take over the overall lead. As the peloton heads into the hills of Stage 3, the race remains wide open, proving that this “oddly named” event remains a premier stage for up-and-coming talent.
General Classification Top Ten after Two Stages, 5th O Gran Camiño (courtesy of Pro Cycling Stats)
Bigger Names Means a Bigger Race at Eschborn-Frankfurt 2026
The 2026 edition of Eschborn-Frankfurt is shaping up to be the most demanding in recent memory. With 21 teams confirmed for the May 1st German WorldTour classic — including 16 WorldTour squads — the field reflects a race that has genuinely raised its ambitions.
This year’s course covers 211.4 kilometres with over 3,300 metres of climbing, featuring two ascents of the Feldberg and a redesigned Taunus section. The result is a route built to punish sprinters and reward the complete rider.
The startlist mirrors that philosophy. Julian Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Pello Bilbao, and 2023 winner Søren Kragh Andersen headline a field stacked with climber-classics hybrids — exactly the profile this new course demands. Max Schachmann and Nils Politt add strong German interest alongside veterans like John Degenkolb, who faces a genuine test of whether experience can compensate for a more selective route.
Sporting Director Fabian Wegmann, a two-time winner himself, put it plainly: the new course raises the demands significantly, and the team selections prove it.
With wildcards awarded to Unibet Rose Rockets and TotalEnergies, expect an aggressive, unpredictable race into Frankfurt’s Alte Oper.
TEAM, RIDER AND CYCLING NEWS
Cyclists and Bike Industry: New Process to Reclaim Tariff Refunds
If you work in the bike industry or follow cycling advocacy, here’s an important update on IEEPA tariffs. U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced on April 10 that it will begin accepting tariff refund requests through a new automated system — the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) — starting April 20, 2026. Valid refunds are expected to be issued within 60–90 days of acceptance.
Bike industry importers may request refunds in Phase 1 on certain unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within the past 80 days (on or after January 30, 2026). Reconciliation entries, drawback claims, entries under active protest, and entries subject to AD/CVD are not covered.
CAPE does not change your legal rights or deadlines. PeopleForBikes strongly recommends filing protests on applicable entries and exploring litigation options ahead of the February 2027 deadline, as Phase 1 alone is unlikely to recover all tariffs paid.
For guidance, contact PeopleForBikes’ Dr. Ash Lovell (ash@peopleforbikes.org) or Matt Moore (matt@peopleforbikes.org).
As many of our reader/riders dig deep into the meat of their 2026 training plans, we thought we’d reshare this vital bit of advice on how to keep it real, goal-focused, and FUN.
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