All eyes will be on the home squad of Rabobank at the 42nd Amstel Gold Race Sunday, the biggest cycling event of the year in The Netherlands. Won last by Rabobank in 2001 by now-retired national hero Erik Dekker, the team brings Milan-San Remo winner Oscar Freire and his compatriot Juan Antonio Flecha, as well as 1999 winner Michael Boogerd, who beat Lance Armstrong to win Amstel in 1999. Boogerd – who this week announced plans to retire at the end of the season – has since finished on the podium seven times, a source of pride and also frustration for the Dutch national champion.

The Amstel Gold Race is an event that brings with it a mix of excitement and pressure, said Rabobank team director Erik Breukink at a pre-race meeting of team directors inside the Maastricht Markt Town Hall. Outside, cycling fans, largely wearing the orange and blue of Rabobank, stood close by, taking photographs and hoping for autographs.

“It’s every year the same,” Breukink said. “It’s a Dutch sponsor, and the only big classic in Holland, so with our team it’s a very important race, that’s for sure.”

But with races like Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix preceding Amstel, and Liége-Batogne-Liége following, Breukink said Amstel is not a race that overshadows the rest of the Classics for the Rabobank squad.

“The other classics are important also, from Milan-San Remo to Liége, we prepare for this period with our riders,” Breukink said. “The week before Amstel is very special for the team, but we can’t prepare only for the Amstel, it’s too big a risk.”

But Rabobank, conceded Breukink, finds itself in a unique position at Amstel, playing the role of “host," creating an atmosphere in which the rest of the peloton looks to the team to chase down moves and do the lion’s share of the work.

“Yeah, it’s a disadvantage, that’s for sure, but I think these days we don’t have the big favorite for this race,” Breukink said. “Other teams are with good riders like [Alejandro] Valverde [Caisse d'Epargne], [Paolo] Bettini [Quick-Step Inneregtic] and [Danilo] Di Luca [Liquigas], so I think those teams will want to win also, so there’s not only pressure on us, but they look to us like the other teams look to Quick Step in Flanders. That’s the way it is.”

Meanwhile, Discovery Channel assistant directeur sportif Dirk Demol said his team hopes to play the role of spoiler. Two years ago, Demol described the rolling, serpentine roads along the Amstel route as “a shit course with a thousand turns.” His opinion hasn’t changed.

Demol at the Maastricht Markt Town Hall

Photo: Neal Rogers

“Tomorrow they’ve announced good weather, and that makes a big difference,” Demol said. “Two years ago there it was foggy all the time, and last year there was rain, especially in the first part of the race, and it makes it twice as hard as normal. With good weather, it’s stays a shit course, but it’s better.”

Demol said that Discovery Channel brings just one rider — Yaroslav Popovych — capable of contending with favorites like Boogerd, Di Luca, Valverde, Bettini and 2004 winner Davide Rebellin (Gerolstiner).

“We have just one leader here and that’s Popovych,” Demol said. “Popovych is really focused on the Giro, but anyone who wants to be good in the Giro should already be good here. That’s why he wants to do all three races here [Amstel Gold, Fléche Wallone and Liége.] So for tomorrow he’s my leader.”

Demol also named Vladimir Gusev, who finished fifth at Flanders and 17th at Paris-Roubaix. “Gusev is a strong rider that can do well in one-day races all year long,” Demol said.

Demol said he expected the race to play as it had in years past.

In general I think it’s going to be a race like usual, with four or five top favorites, with the teams of top favorites taking control of the race — Rabobank, Gerolsteiner, Caisse d'Epargne and also Liquigas, I think they believe in the chances of Di Luca. I expect it’s going to be a usual early breakaway, and in the back a controlled race and then in the final some chances to try something if you have the legs. But it’s going to be the big guys who will be up front in the end.”

For the thousands of Dutch fans lining the course Sunday, the day will be a success so long as there’s a Rabobank jersey at the front on the final climb up the Cauberg. Should Boogerd take the win… well, that would be the best possible scenario.