The Amstel Gold Race is the first of the three Ardennes classics, and its 251km course is an endless series of climbs – 34 in total. 29-year-old Jürgen Roelandts of Team Lotto Soudal wasn’t a contender for the win, but as a strong classics rider he had an important role to play working for his teammates. It was his efforts at the beginning of the final ascent of the Cauberg that set Tony Gallopin up for an eventual sixth place, while Roelandts himself finished 66th, 1:32 down on winner Michal Kwiatkowski. After the race, we gave Roelandts' still-dirty bike the once over outside the team's hotel in Maastricht.
Despite the lumpy course, Roelandts rode the race (his first Amstel Gold, as it happens) on a Noah SL, the revised version of Ridley’s flagship aero bike launched at last year’s Eurobike. With no cobbles to contend with and a good weather forecast, this was a fairly standard build with a Campagnolo Super Record EPS electronic groupset, 50mm deep Bora Ultra wheels and 25mm Continental Pro Ltd tubulars. There were no concessions on the gearing either, with a standard double up front and an 11-25t cassette.
It was notable that while Roelandts' bike carried the cadence sensor, crank magnet and mounting bracket for an SRM power meter, the unit itself was not actually fitted. Asked about this, a team mechanic was quite blunt: the Noah SL frame isn’t light enough to hit the UCI minimum weight of 6.8kg with the team’s standard equipment, and on a testing parcours the extra weight of a power meter simply wasn’t worth having. BikeRadar wasn’t able to weigh this particular bike, but we were told it comes in at more than 7kg.
Check out the gallery above for more details.
Complete bike specifications
- Frameset: Ridley Noah SL (Large)
- Stem: Deda Zero 100 130mm
- Handlebar: Deda Zero 100 Shallow Drop 42cm (39.5cm c-c)
- Front brake: Campagnolo Super Record
- Rear brake: Campagnolo Super Record
- Front derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
- Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
- Shift levers: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
- Cassette: Campagnolo Super Record 11-25t
- Chain: Campagnolo Record 11
- Crankset: Campagnolo Super Record Ultra-Torque 53/39 w/PF30 adapter cups
- Pedals: Look Keo Blade 2 Cr 20
- Front wheel: Campagnolo Bora Ultra 50mm
- Rear wheel: Campagnolo Bora Ultra 50mm
- Front tubular: Continental Pro Ltd 25mm
- Rear tubular: Continental Pro Ltd 25mm
- Saddle: Selle San Marco Concor
- Seatpost: Ridley Noah SL aero post
- Bottle cages: Tacx Deva (x2)
- Accesories: K-Edge SRM Pro Road chain catcher w/crank magnet, SRM speed sensor, SRM head unit bracket
Critical measurements
- Rider's height: 1.85m (6ft 1in)
- Rider's weight: 78 kg (172b)
- Saddle height from BB, c-t: 78cm
- Tip of saddle to midpoint of bar: 60.5cm
- Saddle-to-bar drop: 10cm
