The disastrous parcours along with the atrocious weather made Ride London a non-event - Riders were understandably cautious and I can never remember a woman's race failing to have a break away.
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Re:
While some have been setting their post-Giro race strategies around the World Tour, however, one of the season's revelations is back to racing closer to home, with Astana sending their team over to race the Vuelta a Costa Rica. Well, I say their team; they've sent three riders, but between them Arlenis Sierra, Sofia Bertizzolo and Sofia Beggin have laid down the law, with the Cuban rising star setting the fastest time in the prologue, ahead of Bertizzolo and the Chilean Paola Muñoz, normally racing for Bizkaia-Durango but representing her homeland here. Sierra doubled up to win the first road stage in the sprint, ahead of Lilibeth Chacón, the Venezuelan who used to race in Spain before returning to South America in 2015. The third stage was a cronoescalada, or MTT, of around 9km in length - although gradients were not too severe, the climb was tough enough to create significant timegaps, with the Colombian Blanca Liliana Moreno winning the stage ahead of Sierra by just enough - 12" - to take the leader's jersey. The Astana rider was the only rider to finish within a minute of the winning time, so still within touching distance quite comfortably coming into Saturday's queen stage.
If she's exhausted from her Giro exploits, however, Arlenis isn't showing it, as she comfortably won the hilly stage, with Beggin being tasked with controlling the race before her two teammates took the Latin American péloton by storm and completed a 1-2, Sierra winning by 4 seconds from Bertizzolo, with Beggin shepherding the elite group a few seconds later including Chacón and Moreno, the time gap proving sufficient for Sierra to take the lead of the race back from the Colombian with just the flat circuit race of a final stage to go.
That's something that did cross my mind - I had heard that Orica's funding was going to scale back, but then they have done so before as well - atm they're essentially Annemiek on top of the Aussie core, whereas three or four years ago in the Emma Johansson leadership days they were a much more international team which more closely resembled their male counterparts. Annemiek got her breakthrough at Nederland Bloeit with Vos, using her TT skills to get away from chases disorganized by not wanting to tow Marianne to the line; there are a couple of fairly high profile spots that may now be available for her if she does have to leave Orica; by most accounts she's happy there though, so if they do secure the sufficient funding she'll probably stay. Amanda Spratt's form this last 2-3 years has made her a more than sufficient lieutenant for Annemiek, although Garfoot's top form is becoming more sporadic as she gets older she's also more than capable. van Vleuten is, however, one of the few riders who is at sufficient level for WM3 to feel they can replace the hole in their results that losing Kasia will leave. There's also potentially a spot as a second(ary) leader at Wiggle coming up at both poles of the sport, with Claudia calling (imo premature, but only because I selfishly want her to keep racing) time on her career and Bronzini also potentially retiring after going back on her initial plan to do so last year.KarinL said:
While some have been setting their post-Giro race strategies around the World Tour, however, one of the season's revelations is back to racing closer to home, with Astana sending their team over to race the Vuelta a Costa Rica. Well, I say their team; they've sent three riders, but between them Arlenis Sierra, Sofia Bertizzolo and Sofia Beggin have laid down the law, with the Cuban rising star setting the fastest time in the prologue, ahead of Bertizzolo and the Chilean Paola Muñoz, normally racing for Bizkaia-Durango but representing her homeland here. Sierra doubled up to win the first road stage in the sprint, ahead of Lilibeth Chacón, the Venezuelan who used to race in Spain before returning to South America in 2015. The third stage was a cronoescalada, or MTT, of around 9km in length - although gradients were not too severe, the climb was tough enough to create significant timegaps, with the Colombian Blanca Liliana Moreno winning the stage ahead of Sierra by just enough - 12" - to take the leader's jersey. The Astana rider was the only rider to finish within a minute of the winning time, so still within touching distance quite comfortably coming into Saturday's queen stage.
If she's exhausted from her Giro exploits, however, Arlenis isn't showing it, as she comfortably won the hilly stage, with Beggin being tasked with controlling the race before her two teammates took the Latin American péloton by storm and completed a 1-2, Sierra winning by 4 seconds from Bertizzolo, with Beggin shepherding the elite group a few seconds later including Chacón and Moreno, the time gap proving sufficient for Sierra to take the lead of the race back from the Colombian with just the flat circuit race of a final stage to go.
On the contrary, my understanding is more dollars will be allocated to the Orica Scott squad for 2018 - No certainty Garfoot will continue in 2018 as she is feeling financial pressures that occur for a number of the female peleton.
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It's a long time since I heard that, though, so if something countering it has come since and the team is actually upping the budget and I've just missed or forgotten that news, then all the better.
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The No new team announcements before August 1. rule doesn't count for the women?
Libertine Seguros said:
The No new team announcements before August 1. rule doesn't count for the women?
- Feb 20, 2010
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Not sure, but we knew about Anna VDB's move to Boels mid-Giro last year! Maybe it was too difficult to keep a lid on, but at the same time, the team itself officially made the announcement yesterday.
I actually kind of like it, because most transfer news holding off until August 1st meant it was the big transfer news of the day.
I actually kind of like it, because most transfer news holding off until August 1st meant it was the big transfer news of the day.
- Feb 20, 2010
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As you'll all no doubt be aware, the European Championships are going on in Herning right now. As ever with this sort of championships, a mixed level kind of field, ranging from some of the elites of world cycling down to part-timers from places like Iceland. The course is... well, it's in Herning, Denmark, so you can anticipate that it's pretty damn flat. As a result, sprints are the most likely outcome, though even the smallest incline can mix things up, as we saw in the U23 race in Tartu (the last championships before they became open to all ages) in 2015 when an escape duo was chased down by another escape duo and Niewiadoma was able to win on a course wholly unsuited to her.
We've already had the time trials, with the Italians doing an impressive 1-2 in the Junior TT over 18,2km thanks to Elena Pirrone and Letizia Paternoster, with home favourite (and recent Cervélo signee) Emma Norsgaard coming in in 3rd. Much more home joy was to be had in the U23 race, however, which like the elites competition was undertaken over a mammoth 32km course, one of the longest championship TTs we've had in some time. And yet, over this mammoth distance, the podium was split by just 11 seconds, with Cervélo's pair of extremely promising young riders, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Lisa Klein, being pushed down to silver and bronze by Véloconcept's Pernille Mathiesen, the 19-year-old reversing the 5 second deficit she had to the more experienced Cille in the national TT in Grinsted in June. A 1-2 for Denmark, and they'll be very pleased with that - although Danish prospects shining like superstars at a young age is certainly nothing new and time will tell if Norsgaard and Mathiesen can convert themselves to the major stars of the sport like Ludwig and Dideriksen have. Cervélo will also be pleased as they also had 4th place with Clara Koppenburg, so their scouts should probably be a sought-after commodity, given the way they've strengthened the team with young riders recently.
In the elite TT, Ellen van Dijk, eternally the nearly woman at Olympic and World TTs, laid down a marker, thundering around the course for a time of 40'33, almost a minute faster than anyone else. The nearest to her was Ann-Sophie Duyck, the Belgian coming in 58" back and knocking World Cup leader Anna van der Breggen down to third, before another gap of nearly a minute to Lucinda Brand in 4th at +1'59". Interestingly, Mathiesen's time would have been good enough for second, 56" back, so Ludwig would also have been 4th and Klein 6th in a combined race, although weather conditions played a significant role in the difference in speed between the two races. There were some significant underperformances, such as Longo Borghini, and also Floortje Mackaij who was several minutes back in the U23 race, so suggests a crash or a mechanical and then easing up.
The Juniors and U23s have had their road races already; the junior race ended, as was predicted from the rather featureless nature of the course, in a sprint. The old GP Herning used to use some dirt roads to try to break up the fields but unlike other previous championships which have cloned the circuits used in smaller Europe Tour races (the Tartu championships used the course from the old GP Tartu which was subsumed into the Tour of Estonia, while Plumelec used the GP Plumelec-Morbihan course) we don't have that benefit, instead it's an all flat roads duel, albeit with a few technical corners and so positioning will be the key factor. The winner of said junior sprint was the young Dutchwoman, Lorena Wiebes, who according to rumour is linked to WM3. She outsprinted Emma Norsgaard to disappoint the home crowd once more, plus another pair of Italians; Letizia Paternoster was just able to score her second medal of the championships, pipping Martina Fidanza, younger sister of Astana's Arianna, to 3rd. But in the U23 RR, a bit of a surprise as Pernille Mathiesen doubled up from her TT title to win the road race, holding on from an attack just a few seconds ahead of the bunch. Susanne Andersen of Hitec won the sprint for the silver medal for Norway, with Alice Barnes continuing her run of form for bronze ahead of Rachele Barbieri and Lisa Klein.
So, who's in the main Road Race?
The Netherlands are going absolutely all out to win this. While the course isn't suited to a Van der Breggen defence, Anna's here anyway, in a formidable all-star team. Seriously, you wouldn't bat an eyelid if any of their 9 won the race; perhaps slightly more so for Roxane Knetemann or Janneke Ensing, but both are capable from the right move and if teams are wary of chasing moves down for fear of giving an easy ride to the likes of Vos and Wild, well, anything can happen. Seriously - this is the Dutch team: Anna van der Breggen, Chantal Blaak, Lucinda Brand, Janneke Ensing, Roxane Knetemann, Amy Pieters, Ellen van Dijk, Marianne Vos, Kirsten Wild. Scary firepower when you consider that's with no Annemiek, Stultiens, Mackaij, Koster or de Jong... Italy have ELB on the startlist but she's not in form and has no sprint, so it's most likely they're going to see this one as being one for their formidable sprinting corps which is led by Marta Bastianelli but also includes Giorgia Bronzini, Ilaria Sanguineti and Maria Giulia Confalonieri. If they can drill the troops into a solid leadout they will be very tough to stop. Poland have a full complement, mainly due to Niewiadoma's results last year, but the grimpeuse has elected not to enter this year on the less favourable course, and so they will be reliant likely on Pawlowska's or Bujak's sprint outcome, so will need this to be raced hard. Belgium's team isn't so deep but, bearing in mind this is likely to go to a sprint, they do have Jolien d'Hoore, plus some strong engines like Duyck to help ensure that outcome comes to pass, and a couple with a decent turn of pace like Valérie Demey and Kaat Hannes to help pilot Jolien to where she needs to be. The last full-size team is the host nation, Denmark, which is led by reigning World Champion Amalie Dideriksen. Due to their intent on maximising success in home races, however, the fact that Mathiesen and Ludwig, who would be two of their strongest riders, entered the U23 race, means they are not available for Amalie today, although in fairness she won the Worlds with a three-woman team of her, Cille and Julie Leth, the latter of whom is on guard for her again, along with a much larger core of domestiques including some very useful riders such as Christina Siggaard and Camilla Møllebro Pedersen.
There are threats in smaller teams too, though. France have some useful engines like Audrey Cordon-Ragot to marshal the troops, and in Roxane Fournier a dark horse candidate to win the sprint. Emilie Moberg for Norway has beaten many of these names in sprints at a good level, including her win at the Healthy Ageing Tour on a similar kind of route. Emilia Fahlin for Sweden is not a sprinter but has managed to fox the sprinters in her late season golden run last year; for Spain, Sheyla Gutiérrez has had a breakthrough season including a couple of significant wins sprinting from escapes, including at the Giro; for Luxembourg, though she only has the one helper, Christine Majerus is a very capable sprinter on a more technical route and is perfectly capable of stealing a march on people here. Rasa Leleivyte for Lithuania is always a wildcard for a placement although medals seem to be for the most part outside her remit now... but really, the obvious major candidate among the smaller teams is Lotta Lepistö, who has won World Cups this season and is clearly on form having been 2nd in RideLondon last week with the only rider able to outpace her not being eligible to enter the European Championships.
We've already had the time trials, with the Italians doing an impressive 1-2 in the Junior TT over 18,2km thanks to Elena Pirrone and Letizia Paternoster, with home favourite (and recent Cervélo signee) Emma Norsgaard coming in in 3rd. Much more home joy was to be had in the U23 race, however, which like the elites competition was undertaken over a mammoth 32km course, one of the longest championship TTs we've had in some time. And yet, over this mammoth distance, the podium was split by just 11 seconds, with Cervélo's pair of extremely promising young riders, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Lisa Klein, being pushed down to silver and bronze by Véloconcept's Pernille Mathiesen, the 19-year-old reversing the 5 second deficit she had to the more experienced Cille in the national TT in Grinsted in June. A 1-2 for Denmark, and they'll be very pleased with that - although Danish prospects shining like superstars at a young age is certainly nothing new and time will tell if Norsgaard and Mathiesen can convert themselves to the major stars of the sport like Ludwig and Dideriksen have. Cervélo will also be pleased as they also had 4th place with Clara Koppenburg, so their scouts should probably be a sought-after commodity, given the way they've strengthened the team with young riders recently.
In the elite TT, Ellen van Dijk, eternally the nearly woman at Olympic and World TTs, laid down a marker, thundering around the course for a time of 40'33, almost a minute faster than anyone else. The nearest to her was Ann-Sophie Duyck, the Belgian coming in 58" back and knocking World Cup leader Anna van der Breggen down to third, before another gap of nearly a minute to Lucinda Brand in 4th at +1'59". Interestingly, Mathiesen's time would have been good enough for second, 56" back, so Ludwig would also have been 4th and Klein 6th in a combined race, although weather conditions played a significant role in the difference in speed between the two races. There were some significant underperformances, such as Longo Borghini, and also Floortje Mackaij who was several minutes back in the U23 race, so suggests a crash or a mechanical and then easing up.
The Juniors and U23s have had their road races already; the junior race ended, as was predicted from the rather featureless nature of the course, in a sprint. The old GP Herning used to use some dirt roads to try to break up the fields but unlike other previous championships which have cloned the circuits used in smaller Europe Tour races (the Tartu championships used the course from the old GP Tartu which was subsumed into the Tour of Estonia, while Plumelec used the GP Plumelec-Morbihan course) we don't have that benefit, instead it's an all flat roads duel, albeit with a few technical corners and so positioning will be the key factor. The winner of said junior sprint was the young Dutchwoman, Lorena Wiebes, who according to rumour is linked to WM3. She outsprinted Emma Norsgaard to disappoint the home crowd once more, plus another pair of Italians; Letizia Paternoster was just able to score her second medal of the championships, pipping Martina Fidanza, younger sister of Astana's Arianna, to 3rd. But in the U23 RR, a bit of a surprise as Pernille Mathiesen doubled up from her TT title to win the road race, holding on from an attack just a few seconds ahead of the bunch. Susanne Andersen of Hitec won the sprint for the silver medal for Norway, with Alice Barnes continuing her run of form for bronze ahead of Rachele Barbieri and Lisa Klein.
So, who's in the main Road Race?
The Netherlands are going absolutely all out to win this. While the course isn't suited to a Van der Breggen defence, Anna's here anyway, in a formidable all-star team. Seriously, you wouldn't bat an eyelid if any of their 9 won the race; perhaps slightly more so for Roxane Knetemann or Janneke Ensing, but both are capable from the right move and if teams are wary of chasing moves down for fear of giving an easy ride to the likes of Vos and Wild, well, anything can happen. Seriously - this is the Dutch team: Anna van der Breggen, Chantal Blaak, Lucinda Brand, Janneke Ensing, Roxane Knetemann, Amy Pieters, Ellen van Dijk, Marianne Vos, Kirsten Wild. Scary firepower when you consider that's with no Annemiek, Stultiens, Mackaij, Koster or de Jong... Italy have ELB on the startlist but she's not in form and has no sprint, so it's most likely they're going to see this one as being one for their formidable sprinting corps which is led by Marta Bastianelli but also includes Giorgia Bronzini, Ilaria Sanguineti and Maria Giulia Confalonieri. If they can drill the troops into a solid leadout they will be very tough to stop. Poland have a full complement, mainly due to Niewiadoma's results last year, but the grimpeuse has elected not to enter this year on the less favourable course, and so they will be reliant likely on Pawlowska's or Bujak's sprint outcome, so will need this to be raced hard. Belgium's team isn't so deep but, bearing in mind this is likely to go to a sprint, they do have Jolien d'Hoore, plus some strong engines like Duyck to help ensure that outcome comes to pass, and a couple with a decent turn of pace like Valérie Demey and Kaat Hannes to help pilot Jolien to where she needs to be. The last full-size team is the host nation, Denmark, which is led by reigning World Champion Amalie Dideriksen. Due to their intent on maximising success in home races, however, the fact that Mathiesen and Ludwig, who would be two of their strongest riders, entered the U23 race, means they are not available for Amalie today, although in fairness she won the Worlds with a three-woman team of her, Cille and Julie Leth, the latter of whom is on guard for her again, along with a much larger core of domestiques including some very useful riders such as Christina Siggaard and Camilla Møllebro Pedersen.
There are threats in smaller teams too, though. France have some useful engines like Audrey Cordon-Ragot to marshal the troops, and in Roxane Fournier a dark horse candidate to win the sprint. Emilie Moberg for Norway has beaten many of these names in sprints at a good level, including her win at the Healthy Ageing Tour on a similar kind of route. Emilia Fahlin for Sweden is not a sprinter but has managed to fox the sprinters in her late season golden run last year; for Spain, Sheyla Gutiérrez has had a breakthrough season including a couple of significant wins sprinting from escapes, including at the Giro; for Luxembourg, though she only has the one helper, Christine Majerus is a very capable sprinter on a more technical route and is perfectly capable of stealing a march on people here. Rasa Leleivyte for Lithuania is always a wildcard for a placement although medals seem to be for the most part outside her remit now... but really, the obvious major candidate among the smaller teams is Lotta Lepistö, who has won World Cups this season and is clearly on form having been 2nd in RideLondon last week with the only rider able to outpace her not being eligible to enter the European Championships.
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I put my bet on Lotta Lepistö, last year if she managed to take Kirsten Wild's wheel in the last corner at Doha (great fight for this place with Dideriksen), she should have won the world title
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Last year's Doha sprint was uphill, this one as far as I can tell isn't.
Her chances are less in a flat sprint after a flat race.
That said, sprints are chaotic and anything can happen. I hope for a surprise as always.
Fahlin went down hard in the TT but seems to be sufficiently recovered to at least start
Her chances are less in a flat sprint after a flat race.
That said, sprints are chaotic and anything can happen. I hope for a surprise as always.
Fahlin went down hard in the TT but seems to be sufficiently recovered to at least start
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Looks like the Dutch team is intent on creating echelons and getting rid of as many as possible. And not letting attacks from the likes of Plichta or Fahlin gain any distance at all. Lotta's lost two of her three teammates now too, pulling out alongside the Icelandic entrant and one of the Israeli team. I know she's good at fending for herself but she will have to rely on the other big teams continuing to be reluctant to work with the Dutch.
- Now a group going, has Amy Pieters, Maria Giulia Confalonieri, Aude Biannic, Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Änna Zita Maria Stricker, Christine Majerus, Romy Kasper, Julie Leth, Ann-Sophie Duyck and Katarzyna Wilkos. From that group Pieters is one of the strongest sprinters, but Confalonieri and Majerus also being present means it's a tough decision for the team whether they back Amy from there or not. Chase seemingly led by van Dijk which suggests the Dutch aren't happy with the escape. Italy and France both having two riders might be a key factor in that.
- Now the Dutch team appears to have caught a particularly virulent strain of Rabobankitis, since Pieters is now doing the work in the breakaway, and they've sent van der Breggen to pull the break back. Sigh.
- 2 laps to go and the breakaway has been neutralized. Janneke Ensing counterattacks, drawing a Belgian and a Pole out of the bunch to try to join her. The Belgian is Demey, and she crashes as the péloton re-captures her. No rope given for Ensing, but the race is now in a long line splintering into twos and threes at the front.
- van Dijk attacks and when she's caught Chantal Blaak goes. Seems the Dutch are going to start to play the 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9. Blaaki has been joined once again by Majerus, and also Bravard, Lourdes Oyarbide, Camilla Møllebro Pedersen and ELB. Mechanical for Jolien in the bunch. Now an interesting battle for her to catch back on with no team helpers and the bunch upping the speed to prevent this sextet getting away.
- Plichta trying to go again, solo this time. Druyts chasing her in a chasse-patate. The bunch not seeming too fussed by the two as d'Hoore reconnects with the group.
- Now a group going, has Amy Pieters, Maria Giulia Confalonieri, Aude Biannic, Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Änna Zita Maria Stricker, Christine Majerus, Romy Kasper, Julie Leth, Ann-Sophie Duyck and Katarzyna Wilkos. From that group Pieters is one of the strongest sprinters, but Confalonieri and Majerus also being present means it's a tough decision for the team whether they back Amy from there or not. Chase seemingly led by van Dijk which suggests the Dutch aren't happy with the escape. Italy and France both having two riders might be a key factor in that.
- Now the Dutch team appears to have caught a particularly virulent strain of Rabobankitis, since Pieters is now doing the work in the breakaway, and they've sent van der Breggen to pull the break back. Sigh.
- 2 laps to go and the breakaway has been neutralized. Janneke Ensing counterattacks, drawing a Belgian and a Pole out of the bunch to try to join her. The Belgian is Demey, and she crashes as the péloton re-captures her. No rope given for Ensing, but the race is now in a long line splintering into twos and threes at the front.
- van Dijk attacks and when she's caught Chantal Blaak goes. Seems the Dutch are going to start to play the 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9. Blaaki has been joined once again by Majerus, and also Bravard, Lourdes Oyarbide, Camilla Møllebro Pedersen and ELB. Mechanical for Jolien in the bunch. Now an interesting battle for her to catch back on with no team helpers and the bunch upping the speed to prevent this sextet getting away.
- Plichta trying to go again, solo this time. Druyts chasing her in a chasse-patate. The bunch not seeming too fussed by the two as d'Hoore reconnects with the group.
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Puncture for Jolien D'Hoore, one of the favorites if it ends by a sprint
The dutch team tries to create breakaways, but there are always one or two girls who bother their plans
The dutch team tries to create breakaways, but there are always one or two girls who bother their plans
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Something that looks rather like an echelon on the road there as the bunch recaptures Ania and Martina Ritter who was riding across to her. Doesn't seem to be too much impetus though, and indeed it's all come back together while everybody has their final gel. Demey is wearing some rather delightful warpaint after her brush with the tarmac. Another couple of groups getting away a short distance, initiated by Sheyla Gutiérrez. Zabelinskaya follows her, and they're joined by Vos, Pawlowska, Longo Borghini, Becker and Bronzini. If any break is going to go from more than the last few kilometres it's this one, with the Netherlands having a gun they can truly back, Italy having two of their strongest riders in it, and Poland having one of their strongest finishers, so it will likely be down to Belgium and Denmark to chase. Although the French are joining in the fun.
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Re:
If Belgium and Denmark don't help France, it's over
Netherlands trust Vos, but with Bronzini and Gutierrez, nothing is done
What is your bet if this group comes together ?
Libertine Seguros said:
If Belgium and Denmark don't help France, it's over
Netherlands trust Vos, but with Bronzini and Gutierrez, nothing is done
What is your bet if this group comes together ?
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Always back Vos from the reduced group is the standing policy, especially when she has no teammates in the group to play one-two with. ELB has to go solo if she wants to win so that will be the acid test of whether the Italians believe in Giorgia. Sheyla is suffering in the cross-winds and has been dropped so she's not a factor anymore. Belgium now riding hard, but that gap is growing up to nearly a minute now with 15k to go.
Edit: 30 seconds with 8km left. Touch and go if they make it, especially as ELB and Olga Z won't want to take it to a sprint so it won't be 6 working cohesively until the last.
Edit: now it certainly won't as Pawlowska has crashed out of the break, which removes an engine that was willing to back the sprint from the group. Not too much impetus in the bunch though, the Dutch setting up an insurance policy in the form of a leadout for Wild, but soft-pedalling while others look at Denmark to do their share, since France and Belgium have spent most of their riders. The Danes have been trying to contribute, but it's still 30 seconds at 3km remaining, only now Vos is outnumbered by the two Italians, and you have two who will gladly sprint - Vos and Bronzini - and two who would prefer not to - Longo Borghini and Zabelinskaya.
Edit: Olga makes the inevitable attack at 1100m, Vos and Bronzini onto her wheel while Elisa sits up. Once more in a big event Zabelinskaya has found a way to secure a medal even when it doesn't suit her at all. It ought to be bronze again, but still, more than most would have anticipated pre-race, myself included. Vos wins the sprint from Bronzini with Olga Z rolling in for bronze, and the spent ELB is smothered by the specialist sprinters in the quest for fourth place.
It would have been disastrous had the insanely over-powered Dutch team not won that, but let's face it, it always helps having Eddy Merckx in the team.
Edit: 30 seconds with 8km left. Touch and go if they make it, especially as ELB and Olga Z won't want to take it to a sprint so it won't be 6 working cohesively until the last.
Edit: now it certainly won't as Pawlowska has crashed out of the break, which removes an engine that was willing to back the sprint from the group. Not too much impetus in the bunch though, the Dutch setting up an insurance policy in the form of a leadout for Wild, but soft-pedalling while others look at Denmark to do their share, since France and Belgium have spent most of their riders. The Danes have been trying to contribute, but it's still 30 seconds at 3km remaining, only now Vos is outnumbered by the two Italians, and you have two who will gladly sprint - Vos and Bronzini - and two who would prefer not to - Longo Borghini and Zabelinskaya.
Edit: Olga makes the inevitable attack at 1100m, Vos and Bronzini onto her wheel while Elisa sits up. Once more in a big event Zabelinskaya has found a way to secure a medal even when it doesn't suit her at all. It ought to be bronze again, but still, more than most would have anticipated pre-race, myself included. Vos wins the sprint from Bronzini with Olga Z rolling in for bronze, and the spent ELB is smothered by the specialist sprinters in the quest for fourth place.
It would have been disastrous had the insanely over-powered Dutch team not won that, but let's face it, it always helps having Eddy Merckx in the team.
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Marianne 
Always a great champion
And a good 4th place for our Roxane Fournier, winner of the sprint behind
Always a great champion
And a good 4th place for our Roxane Fournier, winner of the sprint behind
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1 Marianne Vos (NED)
2 Giorgia Bronzini (ITA)
3 Olga Zabelinskaya (RUS)
4 Roxane Fournier (FRA)
5 Amalie Dideriksen (DEN)
6 Jolien d'Hoore (BEL)
7 Kirsten Wild (NED)
8 Lotta Lepistö (FIN)
2 Giorgia Bronzini (ITA)
3 Olga Zabelinskaya (RUS)
4 Roxane Fournier (FRA)
5 Amalie Dideriksen (DEN)
6 Jolien d'Hoore (BEL)
7 Kirsten Wild (NED)
8 Lotta Lepistö (FIN)
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Feels like d'Hoore's horrible puncture timing played a factor. Belgium didn't lend a hand until she came back and that was too late to catch the break
Still, at least they managed to avoid a bunch sprint in a region where the lumpiest thing is Bjarne Riis' head.
In the end that sprint was only ever going to have one result, since Bronzini doesn't have the legs she used to have a couple of years ago (and even more so 5 years ago)
Still, at least they managed to avoid a bunch sprint in a region where the lumpiest thing is Bjarne Riis' head.
In the end that sprint was only ever going to have one result, since Bronzini doesn't have the legs she used to have a couple of years ago (and even more so 5 years ago)
- Jul 24, 2009
- 2,579
- 58
- 11,580
I see Lizzie will be riding some of the Revolutions
this winter ... I wonder if this means that she is
contemplating giving the Madison a shot?
The more road super-stars that ride a Madison in
the next couple of years, the more likely it is that
the UCI and IOC will try to accommodate riders that
want to ride both the road and the Madison in 2020.
this winter ... I wonder if this means that she is
contemplating giving the Madison a shot?
The more road super-stars that ride a Madison in
the next couple of years, the more likely it is that
the UCI and IOC will try to accommodate riders that
want to ride both the road and the Madison in 2020.
- Feb 20, 2010
- 33,064
- 15,272
- 28,180
At the weekend we have the Crescent Vårgårda GP, but its regular predecessor, the Vårgårda TTT, took place today, the only such event on the WWT calendar (and unique among World Tour races now that the Eindhoven TTT on the men's side of things has been no more for the last several years). This is the finest TTT challenge, a bit like the Chrono des Nations back in the day; a relatively unchanging course, obviously weather conditions vary but it allows for a fairly reliable year on year comparison and of course doesn't mess up any stage race GC with the TTT obviously favouring over-strength teams.
For many years, of course, the TTT was the specialist preserve of the team which is now Canyon-SRAM; first as HTC and then as Specialized-Lululemon, they were superb at the discipline. That dominance has rather waned somewhat in recent years, with the all-conquering Boels-Dolmans team having such a battalion of strong engines that, once they got their cohesion down pat, they became an unstoppable juggernaut. And a juggernaut they remain; they may have lost two of their strongest time triallists at the end of last season, with Ellen van Dijk moving on and Evelyn Stevens retiring, but when one of the replacements is Anna van der Breggen you don't lose much, especially as the short bursts required in a TTT are well-suited to adaptable power sprinters and rouleurs, and they have a glut of riders in this category, with Christine Majerus and Amalie Dideriksen to call on (Deignan was absent).
Behind them, last year's Cervélo squad managing to force their way onto the podium was seen as a major surprise for the undersized squad crystallized around Moolman-Pasio and Lotta Lepistö. This year, they've strengthened considerably and were considered among the favourites; replicating the podium position was much more understandable with the additions of Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Lisa Klein, both of whom are very young but very promising against the clock. And the former monsters of the discipline, Canyon-SRAM, shorn of one of their better TTers in Alena Amialiusik, and with PFP still preferring to race on the dirt, still have more than enough strength in reserve to round out the podium thanks to reliable engines like Cecchini and Brennauer along with improving stars like Hannah Barnes.
They squeezed another pre-race tip, Sunweb, off the podium; having strengthened considerably in the TT department with the signings of van Dijk and Lucinda Brand, they looked strong but lost a lot of time in the second half of the race after being trimmed to the minimum number of riders leaving two of their most inexperienced riders (albeit neither exactly rookies) in the remaining quartet. Wiggle were also below par, mainly thanks to lacking their strongest rider, Elisa Longo Borghini, and with their bare bones lineup set up for the road race on Sunday and little pre-race training in the TTT discipline, their sprinter-heavy lineup could only manage 5th.
The big impressive result this year was probably that of Véloconcept, who beat some more established teams to reach 6th place; with Pernille Mathiesen in some incredible form after her success at the European U23 races, she formed alongside with the veteran TT specialists Amber Neben and Linda Villumsen a powerful trio of riders for the rest of the team to build around, and solid tactics put them ahead of some teams far higher in the WWT pecking order, such as WM3, although it is worth noting that the Dutch team did only start with 5 riders en route to 7th place, and finished with all 5 intact as well - notably Tenniglo and Niewiadoma have been the riders dropped in Rabo TTTs here in previous years.
1 Boels-Dolmans (Anna van der Breggen, Chantal Blaak, Karol-Ann Canuel, Amy Pieters, Christine Majerus, Amalie Dideriksen) 52'39,1
2 Cervélo-Bigla (Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Lotta Lepistö, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, Lisa Klein, Nicole Hanselmann, Clara Koppenburg) +12,7
3 Canyon-SRAM (Hannah Barnes, Lisa Brennauer, Elena Cecchini, Trixi Worrack, Alexis Ryan, Mieke Kröger) +50,8
4 Sunweb (Leah Kirchmann, Floortje Mackaij, Sabrina Stultiens, Eleonora van Dijk, Lucinda Brand, Liane Lippert) +1'23,4
5 Wiggle-High 5 (Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Jolien d'Hoore, Annette Edmondson, Emilia Fahlin, Giorgia Bronzini, Julie Leth) +2'08,2
6 Véloconcept Women (Linda Villumsen, Sara Penton, Pernille Mathiesen, Amber Neben, Christina Siggaard, Louise Norman Hansen) +2'22,3
7 WM3 Energie (Anouska Koster, Riejanne Markus, Moniek Tenniglo, Anna Plichta, Katarzyna Niewiadoma) +2'25,8
8 FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope (Shara Gillow, Roxane Knetemann, Aude Biannic, Séverine Éraud, Eugénie Duval, Coralie Demay) +2'33,3
9 Hitec Products (Charlotte Becker, Thea Thorsen, Simona Frapporti, Susanne Andersen, Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen, Nina Kessler) +3'05,6
10 BTC City-Ljubljana (Eugenia Bujak, Hanna Nilsson, Corinna Lechner, Polona Batagelj, Urša Pintar, Maaike Boogaard) +3'08,4
11 Australia (Lucy Kennedy, Shannon Malseed, Grace Brown, Louisa Lobings, Alexandra Manly, Jessica Pratt) +3'16,6
12 BePink-Cogeas (Olga Zabelinskaya, Silvia Valsecchi, Ilaria Sanguineti, Katia Ragusa, Alison Jackson, Francesca Pattaro) +3'20,5
13 Cylance (Kirsten Wild, Rossella Ratto, Danielle King, Małgorzata Jasińska, Marta Tagliaferro, Sheyla Gutiérrez Ruíz) +3'24,6
14 Alé-Cipollini (Chloe Hosking, Romy Kasper, Janneke Ensing, Soraya Paladin, Anna Trevisi, Marta Bastianelli) +3'29,3
15 Lotto-Soudal (Élise Delzenne, Annelies Dom, Julie van de Velde, Trine Schmidt, Isabelle Beckers, Chantelle Hoffmann) +4'42,4
16 Drops (Alice Barnes, Anna Christian, Elizabeth Holden, Abby-Mae Parkinson, Hannah Payton, Abigail van Twisk) +4'57,4
17 Lensworld-Kuota (Maria Giulia Confalonieri, Annalisa Cucinotta, Tetyana Riabchenko, Nathalie Verschelden, Kim de Baat) +5'14,0
18 Servetto-Giusta (Anna Potokina, Kseniya Dobrynina, Ana Cristina Sanabria, Antri Christofourou, Alice Gasparini, Jennifer Mariana César) +5'28,5
19 Lares-Waowdeals (Bryony van Velzen, Monique van de Ree, Daniela Reis, Amélie Rivat, Saartje Vandenbroucke, Sarah Inghelbrecht) +5'30,3
20 Norway (Ingrid Mø, Stine Borgli, Malin Eriksen, Line Marie Gulliksen, Julie Solvang, Ingrid Lorvik) +5'36,7
21 Sport Vlaanderen-Guill d'Or (Jessy Druyts, Demmy Druyts, Nathalie Bex, Valérie Demey, Kelly van den Steen, Kelly Druyts) +6'36,5
For many years, of course, the TTT was the specialist preserve of the team which is now Canyon-SRAM; first as HTC and then as Specialized-Lululemon, they were superb at the discipline. That dominance has rather waned somewhat in recent years, with the all-conquering Boels-Dolmans team having such a battalion of strong engines that, once they got their cohesion down pat, they became an unstoppable juggernaut. And a juggernaut they remain; they may have lost two of their strongest time triallists at the end of last season, with Ellen van Dijk moving on and Evelyn Stevens retiring, but when one of the replacements is Anna van der Breggen you don't lose much, especially as the short bursts required in a TTT are well-suited to adaptable power sprinters and rouleurs, and they have a glut of riders in this category, with Christine Majerus and Amalie Dideriksen to call on (Deignan was absent).
Behind them, last year's Cervélo squad managing to force their way onto the podium was seen as a major surprise for the undersized squad crystallized around Moolman-Pasio and Lotta Lepistö. This year, they've strengthened considerably and were considered among the favourites; replicating the podium position was much more understandable with the additions of Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Lisa Klein, both of whom are very young but very promising against the clock. And the former monsters of the discipline, Canyon-SRAM, shorn of one of their better TTers in Alena Amialiusik, and with PFP still preferring to race on the dirt, still have more than enough strength in reserve to round out the podium thanks to reliable engines like Cecchini and Brennauer along with improving stars like Hannah Barnes.
They squeezed another pre-race tip, Sunweb, off the podium; having strengthened considerably in the TT department with the signings of van Dijk and Lucinda Brand, they looked strong but lost a lot of time in the second half of the race after being trimmed to the minimum number of riders leaving two of their most inexperienced riders (albeit neither exactly rookies) in the remaining quartet. Wiggle were also below par, mainly thanks to lacking their strongest rider, Elisa Longo Borghini, and with their bare bones lineup set up for the road race on Sunday and little pre-race training in the TTT discipline, their sprinter-heavy lineup could only manage 5th.
The big impressive result this year was probably that of Véloconcept, who beat some more established teams to reach 6th place; with Pernille Mathiesen in some incredible form after her success at the European U23 races, she formed alongside with the veteran TT specialists Amber Neben and Linda Villumsen a powerful trio of riders for the rest of the team to build around, and solid tactics put them ahead of some teams far higher in the WWT pecking order, such as WM3, although it is worth noting that the Dutch team did only start with 5 riders en route to 7th place, and finished with all 5 intact as well - notably Tenniglo and Niewiadoma have been the riders dropped in Rabo TTTs here in previous years.
1 Boels-Dolmans (Anna van der Breggen, Chantal Blaak, Karol-Ann Canuel, Amy Pieters, Christine Majerus, Amalie Dideriksen) 52'39,1
2 Cervélo-Bigla (Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Lotta Lepistö, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, Lisa Klein, Nicole Hanselmann, Clara Koppenburg) +12,7
3 Canyon-SRAM (Hannah Barnes, Lisa Brennauer, Elena Cecchini, Trixi Worrack, Alexis Ryan, Mieke Kröger) +50,8
4 Sunweb (Leah Kirchmann, Floortje Mackaij, Sabrina Stultiens, Eleonora van Dijk, Lucinda Brand, Liane Lippert) +1'23,4
5 Wiggle-High 5 (Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Jolien d'Hoore, Annette Edmondson, Emilia Fahlin, Giorgia Bronzini, Julie Leth) +2'08,2
6 Véloconcept Women (Linda Villumsen, Sara Penton, Pernille Mathiesen, Amber Neben, Christina Siggaard, Louise Norman Hansen) +2'22,3
7 WM3 Energie (Anouska Koster, Riejanne Markus, Moniek Tenniglo, Anna Plichta, Katarzyna Niewiadoma) +2'25,8
8 FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope (Shara Gillow, Roxane Knetemann, Aude Biannic, Séverine Éraud, Eugénie Duval, Coralie Demay) +2'33,3
9 Hitec Products (Charlotte Becker, Thea Thorsen, Simona Frapporti, Susanne Andersen, Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen, Nina Kessler) +3'05,6
10 BTC City-Ljubljana (Eugenia Bujak, Hanna Nilsson, Corinna Lechner, Polona Batagelj, Urša Pintar, Maaike Boogaard) +3'08,4
11 Australia (Lucy Kennedy, Shannon Malseed, Grace Brown, Louisa Lobings, Alexandra Manly, Jessica Pratt) +3'16,6
12 BePink-Cogeas (Olga Zabelinskaya, Silvia Valsecchi, Ilaria Sanguineti, Katia Ragusa, Alison Jackson, Francesca Pattaro) +3'20,5
13 Cylance (Kirsten Wild, Rossella Ratto, Danielle King, Małgorzata Jasińska, Marta Tagliaferro, Sheyla Gutiérrez Ruíz) +3'24,6
14 Alé-Cipollini (Chloe Hosking, Romy Kasper, Janneke Ensing, Soraya Paladin, Anna Trevisi, Marta Bastianelli) +3'29,3
15 Lotto-Soudal (Élise Delzenne, Annelies Dom, Julie van de Velde, Trine Schmidt, Isabelle Beckers, Chantelle Hoffmann) +4'42,4
16 Drops (Alice Barnes, Anna Christian, Elizabeth Holden, Abby-Mae Parkinson, Hannah Payton, Abigail van Twisk) +4'57,4
17 Lensworld-Kuota (Maria Giulia Confalonieri, Annalisa Cucinotta, Tetyana Riabchenko, Nathalie Verschelden, Kim de Baat) +5'14,0
18 Servetto-Giusta (Anna Potokina, Kseniya Dobrynina, Ana Cristina Sanabria, Antri Christofourou, Alice Gasparini, Jennifer Mariana César) +5'28,5
19 Lares-Waowdeals (Bryony van Velzen, Monique van de Ree, Daniela Reis, Amélie Rivat, Saartje Vandenbroucke, Sarah Inghelbrecht) +5'30,3
20 Norway (Ingrid Mø, Stine Borgli, Malin Eriksen, Line Marie Gulliksen, Julie Solvang, Ingrid Lorvik) +5'36,7
21 Sport Vlaanderen-Guill d'Or (Jessy Druyts, Demmy Druyts, Nathalie Bex, Valérie Demey, Kelly van den Steen, Kelly Druyts) +6'36,5
- May 5, 2010
- 51,678
- 30,226
- 28,180
What does the italiced names mean?
And Sport Vlaanderen essentially broughts the Druyts, only Lenny missing (and Gerry, obviously...)
And Sport Vlaanderen essentially broughts the Druyts, only Lenny missing (and Gerry, obviously...)
- Jun 27, 2013
- 5,217
- 9
- 17,495
Re:
Dropped riders I'm guessing.
Libertine, I'm confused about the Chrono des Nations reference. Did the women's version ever have a TTT?
RedheadDane said:
Dropped riders I'm guessing.
Libertine, I'm confused about the Chrono des Nations reference. Did the women's version ever have a TTT?
- Feb 20, 2010
- 33,064
- 15,272
- 28,180
No, it's just that in the days before the Worlds ITT, the Chrono des Nations gave an excellent year-on-year comparison of riders' progress because of the consistent course; the Vårgårda TTT therefore gives us a better indication of teams' improvement or regression in the format than the Worlds because the latter change each year.
The italicized riders are those that did not finish with the team.
The italicized riders are those that did not finish with the team.
- Jun 27, 2013
- 5,217
- 9
- 17,495
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