Friday 12 April 2013 at 09h36

This Sunday, the Dutch classic, the Amstel Gold Race, will take place between Maastricht and ... the Rijksweg in Vilt. Indeed, for the very first time in the history of the race, the finish will not be on top of the Cauberg in Valkenburg but at the same place as where the races of the 2012 World Championships finished.

The Amstel Gold Race 2013 race route has also been modified a bit compared to last year and these modifications make the number of climbs go up from 31 to 34 in the race route of this UCI WorldTour race (in 2011 it went up from 31 to 32 to drop back down in 2012 to 31). In this article you'll find the time- and route schedule, the race route on Google Maps and you can also download the map of the race route in Google Earth for example if you'd like to do a virtual flyover of the race.

The description of the Amstel Gold Race 2013 race route

After the start from the Markt in Maastricht the riders first go up north to Geulle where they turn right to get on the climb of the Slingerberg, rapidly followed by a succession of climbs: Adsteeg, Lange Raarberg, Bergseweg, Sibbergrubbe and Cauberg, followed by a first crossing of the finish line in Vilt (the orange on the map with the race route).

The riders then get on the first lap around the finish city, a 110.5 km long circuit which starts with the climb of the Geulhemmerberg followed by a descent south down to the border with Belgium which they'll follow to get onto the Wolfsberg and the Loorberg before going up north for a short time and get close to the Gulpenerberg without however getting on top of it because the trip continues back south via the Schweibergerweg before continuing along the border, with the climb of Camerig, a short incursion towards Vijlen before they go on towards the Drielandenpunt (a short climb where The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium touch each other), the climb of Gemmenich just on the other side of the Belgian border and Vijlenerbos once they're back in The Netherlands.
For the route getting back to Epen there's a difference between the official race map and the official time- and route schedule. The scedule indicates a short incursion in the Vijlenerbos forest while the map doesn't show that. On the map below you'll find the version as indicated in the time- and route schedule. In any case, this doesn't change much and the riders climb the Eperheide and then go up north on the same race route as when they went the other way, before changing routes in order to climb the Gulpenerberg followed by the Plettenberg, Eyserweg, Sint Remigiusstraat - Huls, Vrakelberg, Sibbergrubbe and the Cauberg which will be followed by the 2nd crossing of the finish line. This part of the race route is shown in bleu on the map.

The 2nd lap around the finish line, the purple part on the map, 68.7 kilometers long contains another climb of the Geulhemmerberg and after having visited Maastricht, the riders climb the Bemelerberg before going back south to join the race route of the bleu part of the race where, after the Loorberg, this time they go on straight on before turning left towards the Gulpenerberg from where they go find the Kruisberg (instead of turning on the Plettenberg like at the first crossing) followed by the Eyserbosweg and the Fromberg. The peloton then turns left to get on the Keutenberg followed by the third climb of the Cauberg which will this time be followed by a last lap which is similar to the circuit of the 2012 World Championships but in this race it uses the same routes as in the previous laps just after the start and thus contains the climb of the Geulhemmerberg in addition to the Bemelerberg.

The fictive start will be at 10.15AM and the finish is planned between 4.10PM (43 km/h) and 5.07PM (37 km/h). The total distance will be 4.7 kilometers shorter than last year: 251.8 kilometers.

The time- and route schedule, the profile and the Amstel Gold Race race route on Google Maps

Hereunder you'll find the race route on Google Maps, the profile (in which the red line indicated the differently coloured parts) and the time- and route schedule (with the times the peloton will visit the different cities and villages in the race route) of the Amstel Gold Race 2013. Click on the images to open them.

In order to help you "reading" the map, the race route is shown in four parts: the first part in orange, the second in bleu and the third in purple. The last lap, 18.7 kilometers long, is shown in black.

The Amstel Gold Race 2013 race route in Google Earth

Do you prefer to watch the race route in Google Earth and for example do a virtual fly-over of the race route? Download the KML file below to do so:

>> Download the Amstel Gold Race 2013 race route in Google Earth

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Classics | OpenStreetMap/Google Maps/Google Earth

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