For the second year in a row, the finish of the Amstel Gold Race was in the suburban and unassuming Rijksweg.

As in the 2021 race, the controversial photo finish in Limburg was by Ineos Grenadiers.

Kwiatkowski tried to gain the upper hand in a sprint battle with Benoit Kosnefrois, who was in the breakaway. However, his joy was short-lived as it was officially announced that the French rider had lost due to the depth of the Dura-Ace C50 rims.

While Koznefroe exploded with mixed emotions after the finish and fell on the wrong side of the finish, Kwiatkowski was the opposite. After the race he said that he felt defeated when he saw the AG2R team rejoicing. He suggested that the confusion might have been due to AG2R's Directeur Sportif. [At the post-race press conference, Kwiatkowski said, "It could be his DS. They were already celebrating their victory, but I wasn't sure if it was an official announcement."

"When I saw that my competitors were already celebrating, I was convinced I was screwed. Then all of a sudden, someone from the organization said, 'Oh, you won.' I thought he was joking. ' Honestly, it's a roller coaster of emotions. It's good to be on that side."

Kwiatkowski said he did not want to compare the situation to last year's race, in which Wout Van Aert beat Pidcock by a few millimeters. But he said the 2021 race and the 2017 Milan-San Remo, where he barely beat Peter Sagan and Julien Alaphilippe in a three-man photo finish, taught him to be patient on Sunday.

"Life and the situation last year with Tom [Pidcock] and VanArt taught me that you have to be patient to think about who won. At the end of the day, it's all about the photo finish." [At the finish line I didn't think about where I was, I just gave it my maximum effort and realized after the finish that I was a little faster than him. But at the end of the day, I had no idea."

"It was a very similar situation in Milan - San Remo in 2017. It was super close and we waited there for a few minutes before the winner was announced. Again, we were lucky with a photo finish.

Kwiatkowski found himself in a unique situation when the decisive split came on the Keutenberg, the 30th of 33 climbs during the 254km race. With the likes of Kosnefroe, Mathieu van der Pol, Tiesj Benoot, and Kasper Asgreen riding alone on behalf of the team, he was able to rely on Pidcock.

Following Ineos Grenadiers early in the race, the 22-year-old Pidcock attacked on the final climb of the Cauberg after 10 km, and Kwiatkowski caught him and jumped out on the start-finish straight with 22 km remaining. This attack proved to be the deciding factor in his victory, and when Kosnefroi crossed shortly thereafter, Kwiatkowski was able to handle more distance than he might otherwise have been able to, thanks to Pidcock's presence.

"Being with Kosnefroi allowed me to leave most of the work to him. Tom's presence in the lead group allowed us to get the numbers together at the right time. I was able to let the other guys do most of the work. Kosnefroe had the responsibility of maintaining the gap."

"I was there to secure the win for the team. I knew there was a headwind at the finish line, so I started my sprint very late. So when I found myself next to him, I think he still had something left. I threw the bike.

"When they said we lost, I was very sad. The team did a great job today and for us it was all about winning the race. Then a few minutes later they announced in the photo finish that I had won. I was genuinely happy and super emotional."

The emotion came not only from the dramatic nature of the victory, but also from the team's commitment to him and Pidcock throughout the race. Rather, Kwiatkowski said, the result was his first victory since the Tour de France in September 2020 and the culmination of a tough spring plagued by illness.

"For me, everything that happened yesterday and the weeks before is everything at this point. Looking back at that period, it's been a very difficult start to the season for me; I had COVID-19 in February, and more recently I had the flu. [As a result, I was not able to show my strength in the races. To be here as a winner of the Amstel Gold Race is very emotional. My family was sick, and I was sick too. I want to say thank you to my team because despite those difficult times, today I am one of the leaders. They really believed in me and it was really nice to close it out like that.

"I'm really happy to come back as a winner after such a difficult time this season, and I'm really happy that I was able to be one of the leaders today.