Gilbert was the strongest, I missed out a bit

As the defending champion, Roman finished in 18th place at the Amstel Gold Race while the Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert celebrated the victory. During the race Roman was nicely sheltered in the main bunch along with the biggest favourites but on the final ascent on Cauberg he missed out a little bit. “I started the climb from the back. When they hit the gas at the front, a gap opened up and I wasn’t able to follow.”

“When we reached the top, nobody helped me out but I do not want to make any excuses. I was hoping for a slightly better result but I can feel that I am not 100% there. I believe that I will do better at the La Fleche-Wallone and Liege,” said Roman. He is was full of praise for his Tinkoff-Saxo teammates. “The boys did a really great job both the young ones and the experienced. Unfortunately, after 120 km of racing we lost Nicki Sörensen who crashed and was taken to the hospital.”
“We all hope that it will be nothing serious because his elbow might be fractured but even after his withdrawal the boys kept doing an excellent job. Especially Karten Kroon was still around me and kept me out of trouble. Chris Anker Sörensen was the one who stayed with me until the very end. They were all great,” continued Roman and congratulated Gilbert on his victory. “He was the strongest rider and took a well-deserved victory.”