EF Education-Oatly’s Swiss superstar kicked off her party on the Cauberg with thousands of Dutch fans. She didn’t get to toast her 25th birthday with a giant mug of Amstel 0.0, but Noemi’s hopes for the rest of the Ardennes classics were raised by the way that she and her teammates raced in the short, steep hills of Zuid-Limburg. Noemi made the key selection on the Geulhemmerberg and marked moves around the final laps, after huge efforts from Cédrine Kerbaol and Alice Towers to set her up. Unfortunately, Magdeleine Vallieres punctured out of the group, so Noemi was alone by the end. She gritted her way around the final lap and hung tough on the Cauberg to stay with the chasing group, before launching a great sprint to finish fifth.

“It was a nice birthday party!” Noemi said after the finish. “The atmosphere – wow. The race was hard. There were a lot of things happening. Amstel is a relentless race with a lot of climbs, corners, wind, and narrow roads. The girls did an amazing job for as long as they could. It was just about the legs the last time up the Cauberg. I have to be happy with finishing fifth in the sprint from the remaining group.”

Our men’s squad drew encouragement from the Amstel Gold Race as well. EF Education-EasyPost had to adapt fast to the news that Ardennes captain Ben Healy had fractured his sacrum and wouldn’t be able to compete in his favorite races, but Alex Baudin stepped up and rode like the champion he is.

Alex made the first chase group when the race exploded on the Eyserbosweg and pulled hard all the way to the final circuit, driving the move to try to bring back the leading three and stay ahead of what was left of the pack. Alex left everything on the roads of Zuid-Limburg and fell off the back in the final kilometers. He had to settle for 11th in the end.

“I had nothing in the legs anymore,” he said once he had caught his breath. “If we didn’t pull, they would catch us, so I did, and I paid for it in the end, but at least I gave everything. The legs are good. I just emptied the tank.”

Well done, squads. And happy birthday, Noemi! We have lots to look forward to at La Flèche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.