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Despite two years passing since the most recent edition of the Amstel Gold Race, the day still sticks in the memory.

Yes, there was Mathieu van der Poel’s breathless, jaw-dropping victory, but a couple of hours earlier Kasia Niewiadoma had set the Cauberg alight with a stunning win of her own.

Having tested the water on the previous lap, Niewiadoma dropped Marianne Vos the last time up the Dutch race’s signature climb, before the most nail-biting of final kilometres. Behind the Canyon-SRAM rider, Annemiek van Vleuten was closing in, metre by agonising metre, with each revolution of a massive gear.

But Niewiadoma gritted her teeth and summoned every ounce of strength. With 25m to go, she looked around for the first time, raised her