I spent my formative years growing up in the United States, hearing from all my Dutch and German relatives how crap American beer is and how fantastic Dutch and German brews are, respectively. By the time I started drinking it myself, the micro brew scene in the US had flourished and was giving the European beer icons swirlies in the locker room toilet.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Amstel Gold – a beer I assumed to be as prestigious as the race it sponsors – was every bit as shit as Miller or Budweiser. Nevertheless, the advertisers do get their way because anytime I’m in a Dutch bar where none of the beers available sound appealing, I’ll always default to this particular brand of piss.

Be that as it may, I love the fact that they’ve sponsored a race for so many years, and I love the fact that they’ve been doing a women’s edition for ages as well. And don’t be fooled by this racing being in the reputedly flat Netherlands; this particular province is very bumpy parcours and if you can’t get yourself over hills very well, you won’t feature very high on the results list.

Ponder the start list, get your picks in by the time the countdown timer goes to zero and good luck!
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