Mathieu van der Poel was the resounding favourite to win Amstel Gold Race, but the world champion was unable to replicate the level of performance that carried him to victory at the Tour of Flanders,

When Mathieu van der Poel announced his spring race program earlier this year, the fact that Amstel Gold Race was definitely on his schedule, that Flèche Wallonne was definitely off it and that Liège-Bastogne-Liège was ‘definitely maybe’ didn’t feel irrelevant. But almost.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège is probably the hardest of the non cobbled Classics. We look at the favourites, the history and the course.

Mathieu van der Poel is aiming to maintain his excellent form as he targets victory at the Amstel Gold Race, adding that he is "not very concerned" by the concept of rivals ahead of the race. Van der Poel is looking to win his home country Classic after already securing victory at De Ronde and Paris-Roubaix.

His Canyon Aeroad CFR, which has received its fair share of criticism during its tenure as Van der Poel's race bike, flawlessly saw him through 259km of Northern France's finest terrain between Compiegne and Roubaix, complete with 55km of cobbled terrain.

Mathieu van der Poel towered above his rivals to retain the  "Hell of the North" Paris-Roubaix bike race title on Sunday, a week after burnishing his reputation with his third victory at the revered Tour of Flanders.

Mathieu van der Poel's magnificent sequence of classic wins has been halted as British star Tom Pidcock raced to victory in the Amstel Gold Race.