Mathieu van der Pol was the favourite to win the Amstel Gold Race, but the world champion was unable to replicate the level of performance that led him to victory in the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and E3 Harelbeke in recent weeks.

Even when the winning move carried a nearly 40-second lead into the final lap of the finishing circuit, all eyes were on Van der Pol, who pulled off a stunning upset to win this race in his 2019 debut.

Houdini did not perform this time, and Van der Poel was caught in the pack in 22nd place, 11 seconds behind winner Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers).

Van der Poel's Alpecin Deceuninck patrolled the front of the peloton for most of the day, but when the 12-rider winning move began in Eiserbosweg and Fromberg, the Dutchman was rather isolated.

"It was a tough race. It was a tough race. I didn't feel super, but I was okay," Van der Pol told NOS. I was going to go over the Küttenberg with the best, but they got away before I could. It's a little disappointing, but overall it went well."

Van der Pol showed his strength by pouncing on a move by Richard Kalapas (EF Education-Easy Post) on the Eiserbosweg with 35km to go, but did not react when Marc Hirschke (UAE Team Emirates) forced a clear shortly thereafter. He did not react to Marc Hirschke's (UAE Team Emirates) attempted clearance and did not follow up on Pidcock's subsequent counterattack.

"I didn't have the legs to react to everything, so I had to gamble. And that can be punished in this race," Van der Pol said, according to Sporza.

"Of course it was a difficult situation and I had to make some choices. If I jumped, the other racers would immediately jump on my wheel.

Van der Pol also noted the difference between racing on cobblestones and the numerous hills on the winding Amstel route around Limburg.

"This is a different kind of race than the last few weeks, with different riders. We are doing very well as a team, but we have to gamble on this course. We didn't have the legs to run aggressively. That could be punished in this race."

However, Van der Pol admitted that he will continue his Classics campaign next Sunday until Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where Taddei Pogachar is lined up as the favorite to win. Van der Pol will be competing in La Doyenne for only the second time since finishing sixth in the 2020 edition, which was postponed due to the pandemic.

"I'm a practical person, I can't win everything. Next week could be even harder, but I'm going to give it my all once more," van der Pol said.

"Then I can rest. I'm off to Spain now to enjoy the nice weather and put the finishing touches on it."