(Sportcom) – Quebec’s Hugo Houle was one of just two members of Israel – Premier Tech to complete Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race, a Dutch classic marked with a another triumph for Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar.

Pogacar was the big favorite at the start of the day and put on a show on Sunday. His final attack came thirty kilometers from the finish on Britain’s Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), who let the UAE Team Emirates leaders slip away to victory on the Keutenberg climb.

Ireland’s Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) tried his luck at the end of the race but Pogacar fought back, he who had also won Paris-Nice and the Tour of Flanders in recent weeks.

Healy was second, 38 seconds off the lead while Pidcock was third and 2 minutes and 14 seconds behind the two-time Tour de France champion.

Hugo Houle helped his Australian teammate Simon Clarke to 20th (+3m40s) while five teammates including Guillaume Boivin entered the 253.6km course.

“It’s been a complicated day for us,” shared Houle, 68th of the day. Difficult for Woods who had a puncture and unfortunately had no opportunity to comment. Clarke was also slowed down by a puncture. He managed to come back later, but he came here to do better.

goals not achieved

Team goals were not met for the Israel-Canadian roster. From a personal point of view, Hugo Houle, like his entire team, was satisfied with the work done.

“My job was to protect Michael Woods and Simon Clarke. On a very demanding day with rain, small roads and several corners, my work was important. I did perfectly what was asked of me. Unfortunately, bad luck robbed us of the opportunity to achieve a good result.”

Houle will be on the starting line of the Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday and take part in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Memorial on Sunday before resting.

For her part, Olivia Baril was the only Canadian to finish Sunday’s women’s race. She was the 80th cyclist to cross the finish line in a group of around 30 riders who finished 7 minutes and 47 seconds behind the winner, Dutch rider Demi Vollering (SD Worx). Sherbrooke’s Magdeleine Vallières-Mill withdrew from the event along with 57 other participants.

Vollering attacked from just under two kilometers and edged out a group of 12 cyclists led by Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky, also a member of the SD Worx formation, by 8 seconds. Third place went to Shirin Van Anrooij (Trek-Segafredo) from the Netherlands.