Outsiders range from Bora-Hansgrohe’s Bob Jungels and his speedy Colombian teammate Sergio Higuita to the ever-dangerous Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). Quite apart from Ineos Grenadiers' collectively powerful line-up, Benoît Cosnefroy’s narrow defeat in 2022 to Kwiatkowski and third place in Brabantse Pijl puts the Frenchman in the frame as well. Michał Kwiatkowski’s brace of victories and second place in the Netherlands’ top Classic makes him a rider to watch, for one thing, while his Ineos teammate Tom Pidcock’s narrow defeat to Van Aert of two years ago in Amstel means the Briton is another potential threat. But it would be not only disrespectful but a distortion of the truth to see the 2023 Amstel Gold as a one-man race. Neither Van der Poel nor Van Aert are racing on Sunday, nor yet Julian Alaphilippe, with his excellent Ardennes track record, or (to put that rumour to bed for one and for all) the Frenchman's Soudal-QuickStep teammate Remco Evenepoel.
