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Large numbers of runners, amateurs and professionals alike, participated in the first version of the Limburg classic virtual tour on Sunday, the day the “real” Amstel Gold Race should have taken place. Tom Dumoulin drove the 26 kilometers from a vacation home on top of the Cauberg.
Dumoulin had been brought to the vacation park by the organization to ensure that at least one rider always had picture and sound for the live broadcast.
De Limburger was not the only big name to reach the final of the Amstel Gold Race via the Bkool digital platform, including the Kruisberg, Eyserbosweg, Fromberg, Keutenberg and Cauberg hills.
Also (ex) riders Leontien van Moorsel, Chantal Blaak, Niki Terpstra and Marianne Vos, Olympic short track champion Suzanne Schulting and famous Dutch people like René Froger, Olcay Gulsen and Winston Gerstanowitsch got on their bike trainers.
This is what the digital version of the Amstel Gold Race looked like. (Photo: Amstel Gold Race)
Several thousand participants in the tour version
According to the organization, there were “several thousand” participants in total. “In less than a week we were able to set up a version of the virtual tour together with Bkool, we have been overwhelmed in the past few days with good positive reactions and records,” race director Leo van Vliet said in a press release.
“Of course, we hope that the ‘true’ Amstel Gold Race and tour version can continue this year. But health and safety are paramount. We are very pleased with this alternative interpretation for now.”
Van Vliet is discussing with the international cycling union UCI about a possible new date for the Amstel Gold Race in the fall. Due to the crown crisis, WorldTour races will not be held until August 1.
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