On paper, the Dutch crew was by far and away the strongest for the elite girls’s highway race on the World Championships on Saturday. There was a double world champion in Marianne Vos, a Tour de France Femmes winner in Demi Vollering, stable domestiques who is also leaders in Riejanne Markus and Pauliena Rooijakkers, and the approaching issues in Puck Pieterse and Mischa Bredewold.
With 20km to go of the race, the Dutch had been in a wonderful place. Vollering, Markus and Vos had been nonetheless there, and infrequently does anybody guess in opposition to the latter in a dash. Nevertheless, 20km later, Lotte Kopecky of Belgium received the dash, and Vollering completed fifth. Vos and Markus completed eighth and ninth. There was comfort in Pieterse successful the race for the under-23 jersey, however this may do little to cease the thought that the Worlds was there to be received.
There was usually Dutch orange on the entrance, however strikes had been usually chased down by riders in the identical jerseys, all within the obvious hope of delivering Vollering to victory. Maybe one other tactic would have resulted in success, however we’ll by no means know.
The world champion, Kopecky, predicted some confusion forward of the race: “They’re beginning with a really sturdy crew, nevertheless it has already been proven a number of occasions that they don’t all the time get alongside properly,” she mentioned.
“You see that on paper there’s one clear chief, however there are additionally others who’re eyeing the world title. There are a number of girls within the Dutch crew who can and need to win.”
Regardless of showing to be onto one thing, post-race, she was much less keen to place the boot in, graciously.
“I’m now actually questioning the way it seemed from tv, as a result of I’m getting so many questions on this,” Kopecky mentioned. “There have been riders with clear roles. Tactically they didn’t do it that dangerous, but in addition you already know if Demi is the chief she will not be going to be the one within the break.
“Having Marianne within the break, she was most likely the quickest ,they might have performed it otherwise, however that additionally means you must have Demi sitting within the bunch, which may be very exhausting to do. I’ve to see the race myself to say one thing about it, however I feel the way in which they rode was fairly logical.
“I don’t know if there’s one thing actually completely different. Demi was simply making an attempt to eliminate us [with her attack on Zurichbergstraase on the final lap] and journey solo to the end.”
Nevertheless, all Vollering’s assaults did had been drop Vos and Markus, who did not return to the entrance of the race once more.
“We had been in an excellent good scenario with me and Marianne within the breakaway, and naturally Demi behind,” Markus mentioned after ending ninth. “We tried to make it over the massive climb, we knew that the favourites would assault on the final climb, we simply tried to make it over the climb so we might be there within the final group with three, however I feel we simply missed it by like 5 or ten seconds. It is actually disappointing as a result of I feel if now we have three within the last then it is a completely different recreation, however Demi was alone, and it was just a bit bit too exhausting for her.
“It was all the time the plan for her to assault on the climb, I feel for her the race must be as exhausting as potential, so I do not suppose it is a mistake, however the preferrred scenario can be that we make it in my view, so it is simply shit that we’re not there.”
For Ruby Roseman-Gannon, the Australian who completed sixth, it’s a “blessing and a curse to have such a dominant crew, as a result of everybody seems to be to them”.
“It is an actual problem for the Dutch to win with Kopecky there, she’s an actual all-rounder and it is actually actually tough,” she mentioned.
“I feel generally the Dutch can work very properly collectively, and I feel generally they do not,” Chloé Dygert of the USA, who completed second, added. “I feel their greatest strengths are generally their greatest weaknesses. I feel everybody on that crew needs to win, and that generally means all people loses.”
Viewers and pundits weren’t the one ones startled by the Dutch ways. Each time you seemed on the tv, it appeared that the Dutch had been on the entrance of the break and in addition of the chase. One thing needed to give, and it did.
“I used to be stunned with how the race performed out as I anticipated fireworks from the Dutch from the beginning and in addition that they’d assault full,” Liane Lippert of Germany, who completed fourth, mentioned. “Nevertheless it was actually not tremendous exhausting till the final lap so I used to be a bit stunned about that.
“I used to be stunned by their ways, nevertheless it’s not the primary time it’s like this.”
If the ways had come off, if Vollering or Vos had received, then there can be much less dialogue over how unusual it seemed. As it’s, the Dutch left the elite race empty handed, and with confusion reigning over what occurred. It is just two years since a Dutchwoman received the rainbow jersey, however because the winners of 5 of the earlier six, this looks like an eternity.
