Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) finished second at the Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition on April 19 in Valkenburg, 27 seconds behind solo winner Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ), her third runner-up result in a major spring Classic this season.
This was quite the result for the Polish rider who beat her arch rival Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) in a two-up sprint to the line in Valkenburg. Granted, not for the win. However, Vollering was going flat out all the way to the line, so it is a big achievement for the rider who is normally bettered by the European champion in a sprint.
Blasi, a 23-year-old Spaniard racing Amstel Gold Race for the first time as a late replacement in the UAE Team ADQ lineup, attacked with roughly 20–25 kilometres remaining, bridged to an earlier move, then rode clear on the Cauberg and held off the chase all the way to the line. Niewiadoma-Phinney finished best of the chasers, just ahead of Vollering in third.
Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition 2026 Results
Apr 19 • 158.1km
| Pos | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Paula Blasi | UADUAE Team ADQ | 4:02:15 |
| 🥈 | Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney | CSRCANYON//SRAM zondacrypto | +0:27 |
| 🥉 | Demi Vollering | FSTFDJ United-SUEZ | +0:27 |
| 4 | Letizia Paternoster | LAJLiv AlUla Jayco | +0:43 |
| 5 | Noemi Rüegg | EFOEF Education-Oatly | +0:43 |
| 6 | Karlijn Swinkels | UADUAE Team ADQ | +0:43 |
| 7 | Sarah Van Dam | TVLTeam Visma | Lease a Bike | +0:43 |
| 8 | Riejanne Markus | LTKLidl-Trek | +0:43 |
| 9 | Anna van der Breggen | SDWTeam SD Worx-Protime | +0:43 |
| 10 | Puck Pieterse | FPTFenix-Premier Tech | +0:43 |
| 11 | Ashleigh Moolman Pasio | AGSAG Insurance-Soudal Team | +0:43 |
| 12 | Fleur Moors | LTKLidl-Trek | +0:43 |
| 13 | Mavi Garcia | UADUAE Team ADQ | +0:43 |
| 14 | Mischa Bredewold | SDWTeam SD Worx-Protime | +1:01 |
| 15 | Thalita de Jong | HPWHuman Powered Health | +1:01 |
Blasi went clear moments after being dropped by the peloton. Fortunately for her, no-one wanted to follow or, for that matter, chase. The reduced peloton behind did not coordinate a response quickly enough, and by the time Niewiadoma-Phinney and Vollering launched their effort on the final ascent of the Cauberg, Blasi's lead was already too large to close. The late move secured the podium places but never threatened the leader.
Afterward, Niewiadoma-Phinney framed the result through the lens of Wout van Aert's (Visma-Lease a Bike) Paris-Roubaix victory a week earlier. Van Aert had told TNT Sports that he had "stopped believing a lot of times" before finally winning a race that had eluded him through years of punctures, crashes, and failed attempts. Van Aert's breakthrough after repeated near-misses gave her belief that patience still has value, even when second places are accumulating.
Niewiadoma-Phinney told TV interviewers: "Honestly I think just seeing Wout [van Aert] pulling it off in Roubaix gave me so much faith for what's next, so I'm doing what I have to do, staying patient, and I believe it's going to come."
Third second place of the spring
The Amstel result extends a pattern that has defined Niewiadoma-Phinney's 2026 Classics campaign. At Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, she crested the Muur van Geraardsbergen with the fastest time of the day and escaped with Vollering in the finale, only to lose the sprint. At Strade Bianche, she said she was strong enough to win but finished second again after a final-kilometre tactical sequence went against her.
The common thread across all three races is that Niewiadoma-Phinney is consistently making the decisive selection. She is not fading in the final kilometres or missing key moves. At Omloop, she lacked the sprint speed to beat Vollering. At Strade, a positioning error cost her. At Amstel, she responded too late to an attack that the entire peloton underestimated. Each loss has a different tactical explanation, but the underlying form is constant.
Cover image credit: Thomas Maheux
