Tom Pidcock had a moment of uncanny deja vu. He was sprinting for victory in the Amstel Gold Race against the yellow and black Vimaris A bike riders, and he couldn't help but recall his narrow loss to Wout Van Art three years earlier.

At the time, Pidcock was convinced he had won, but after a lengthy scrutiny of the photo finish, the race jury decided that Van Aert had won. This time, Pidcock, of Ineos Grenadier, was in a sprinting duel with Van Aert's teammates Tiesj Benoot, Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates), and Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-Quickstep).

"When I went and Teesuji and I were next to each other, I saw that I was next to another jumbo athlete. 'But I figured I'd just go and try to widen the gap. I didn't have a photo finish today. ......"

Pidcock won the race ahead of Hirschi, while Benoot finished third ahead of Van Sevenan. The foursome broke away from a 12-man breakaway group on the final climb of the Goal Hemmerberg and nearly held off the rest of the field as Vansevenant sprinted for distance.

"It was a headwind sprint, so I was lucky that Mauri went early. I'm grateful to him and to the team."

"Michal Kwiatkowski was super today. Everyone gave their all for me and I was happy to return the favor. Especially in this race, Kwiat and I work very well together, so he put me in the perfect position."

The turning point of the race came at the top of Eiserbosweg with 35km to go. While many were waiting for a reaction from pre-race favorite Mathieu Van der Pol, Pidcock sensed the danger and bridged up to the front on Fromberg with Benoot.

The decision to race at the front paid off. Van der Pol, who had lost his teammate Alpecin Deceuninck, was caught at the back of the lead group, which consisted of more than 11 teams. He finished the day in 22nd place, 11 seconds behind Pidcock.

"Everybody is human. He had two big goals and he achieved both of them. I think it's good for him to give other players a chance," Pidcock said of Van der Pol.

"You can't always race based on him. If he is not very good today, it will cost me my race."

"We knew it was going to be tactical in the finale. It's always easier to go from the front in these races. When I was racing I was trying not to have any regrets.

Pidcock attacked in the final Bemelerberg to avoid a group sprint.

"I couldn't hold the bars properly and my shoulder was in a lot of pain.

Pidcock's Amstel Gold Race win follows podiums in 2021 and 2023. It was also his first win of the season, and Pidcock himself was relieved.

The Englishman started the season with a 6th place in Algarve Volta and a 4th place in Strade Bianche, but was forced to abandon the race in Ituriá Basque after crashing while scouting the opening time trial.

"It's pretty big. I've been on the podium twice before, so it means a lot," Pidcock said. I've been on the podium twice before," Pidcock said. I had some doubts about myself earlier in the spring, so to win a big race is really nice."