As the Amstel Gold Race is a UCI ProTour event, the 18 ProTour teams are automatically invited and obligated to send a squad. Six UCI Professional Continental teams round out the race's 24-team peloton.[2]
Several riders who planned to compete in the race were unable to make it to Maastricht because of the colossal ash cloud formed by the eruption of the Icelandic Volcano Eyjafjallajökull, which grounded flights throughout Europe. The team most affected was Caisse d'Epargne, whose leaders Alejandro Valverde and Luis León Sánchez, as well as several others, were all unable to make it to the race. They start the race with only José Vicente García, Imanol Erviti and David López available to ride instead of the customary eight riders, and needed special permission from the UCI to allow them such a small squad. Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins, Cervélo TestTeam captain Carlos Sastre, and the Team HTC-Columbia duo of Craig Lewis and Vicente Reynès, all of whom reside in Spain, were also unable to get to Maastricht in time for the race.[3][4]
There was also talk that helicopters providing live images of the race would be grounded because of the ash cloud,[3] but the race received special permission from the Dutch transportation minister for the helicopters to fly during the race.[5]
