Re: Re:
Fair enough - Not that Holland needed AVV - They have so many cards to play at the World's.
eric_vv said:
Fair enough - Not that Holland needed AVV - They have so many cards to play at the World's.
- Feb 20, 2010
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Well, in fairness, after last year's Olympics Annemiek has really been on the rampage to try to make up for that loss and get the really big win that she could - nay, would - have had. I don't think many could begrudge her some rainbows, and given just how many cards the Dutch have to play... it would certainly be a popular win, too. Hoping that Deignan is ok, too, obviously that's pretty sudden to have gone from racing in the daytime to having the appendix removed that evening, so hopefully the onset of appendicitis or whatever it was wasn't too severe as to have been too dangerous for her.
Ellen will probably have to seek some bonus seconds in the next couple of days as she will certainly have a disadvantage in relation to Annemiek in the weekend stages in the Limburg hills (although she did get to wear the QOM jersey here last year, laughing at how her in such a jersey could only happen in the Netherlands), but she seems the most obvious threat here, being just 9" behind. Brennauer's at +40" but like van Dijk needs to make use of the flatter stages, van der Breggen at +47" is the most obvious threat, but with Deignan out and Dideriksen and Majerus losing time, she has fewer weapons at her disposal to outnumber van Vleuten; Blaak is the most handy weapon, at just +1'01", but this year's penultimate stage is noticeably harder than last year's Sittard-Geleen stage, while the final stage is similar, so we'll see how she can interject herself. Not sure how Villumsen will go as it's a while since we saw much of her in European stage racing, but she'll be targeting the Worlds TT so should be improving form here; I'd expect Kröger and Duyck to lose time on the final weekend, though. Longo Borghini (+1'24"), Cecchini, Brand (+1'33"), Niewiadoma (+1'49"), Gillow (+2'09") and de Jong (+2'21") are perhaps the most likely to be active on those final two days to get into the GC mix, but given she's just got her maiden World Championships selection we will surely see plenty of Janneke Ensing (+2'36") too.
Ellen will probably have to seek some bonus seconds in the next couple of days as she will certainly have a disadvantage in relation to Annemiek in the weekend stages in the Limburg hills (although she did get to wear the QOM jersey here last year, laughing at how her in such a jersey could only happen in the Netherlands), but she seems the most obvious threat here, being just 9" behind. Brennauer's at +40" but like van Dijk needs to make use of the flatter stages, van der Breggen at +47" is the most obvious threat, but with Deignan out and Dideriksen and Majerus losing time, she has fewer weapons at her disposal to outnumber van Vleuten; Blaak is the most handy weapon, at just +1'01", but this year's penultimate stage is noticeably harder than last year's Sittard-Geleen stage, while the final stage is similar, so we'll see how she can interject herself. Not sure how Villumsen will go as it's a while since we saw much of her in European stage racing, but she'll be targeting the Worlds TT so should be improving form here; I'd expect Kröger and Duyck to lose time on the final weekend, though. Longo Borghini (+1'24"), Cecchini, Brand (+1'33"), Niewiadoma (+1'49"), Gillow (+2'09") and de Jong (+2'21") are perhaps the most likely to be active on those final two days to get into the GC mix, but given she's just got her maiden World Championships selection we will surely see plenty of Janneke Ensing (+2'36") too.
- Feb 20, 2010
- 33,064
- 15,272
- 28,180
So the fourth stage of the Boels Rentals Ladies Tour went to the expected sprint, although a few sprint candidates were out of position/place - most notably Hannah Barnes who was one of only a handful of riders not to finish with the péloton, so may have had an ill-timed mechanical or crash. Or even served as leadout, since it was her Canyon-SRAM teammate Lisa Brennauer who beat the more pure sprinters in a drag race to the line, the German TT queen coming in ahead of Chloe Hosking, Roxane Fournier and Kirsten Wild, with the time bonuses being particularly valuable for the Swabian following her strong TT performance and with her least favourite discipline, climbing, on the menu for the weekend. It was also valuable because there was a split in the péloton that meant several potentially significant riders for the GC lost eight seconds on the line as well as those bonuses - among them Ensing, Longo Borghini, Gillow, Duyck, Brand, Ratto and Kröger - but crucially, Annemiek got in front of the split, as did van der Breggen, van Dijk and Niewiadoma. Trixi Worrack was quietly becoming a threat in the race, having been the right side of every split and with 5th and 11th in the two TTs.
This set us up for the 'queen stage' in the Limburg hills, into Vaals featuring a number of climbs. Here, some serious selection was made, and there was a bit of a reverse game from the Giro Rosa going on, as this time it was Anna van der Breggen (in the World Tour leader's jersey, which she wasn't back then, but it was the race she took it in) having to attack Annemiek van Vleuten in the hills with the latter leading the GC; no matter what the Olympic Champion threw at her more experienced compatriot (who would have been the Olympic Champion but for her spectacular horror crash, of course), the Orica rider stood firm. Elisa Longo Borghini wasn't able to make it a true Giro re-run by being there, her form is clearly not at 100%, but she was ably kept in the chase by the work of super-domestique Claudia Lichtenberg, in what may be her final World Tour race, and domestique supreme Audrey Cordon-Ragot.
The pace of chasing such an elite duo did trim the chase rather significantly, and only 20 riders were able to come home within two and a half minutes of the lead duo; Anna took the stage in front of Annemiek, but with her lead significant in the GC and only the one stage to go, the latter was happy enough with the outcome. Amy Pieters won the sprint for 3rd place, benefiting from the fact that Boels had no reason to chase the group ahead with Anna up the road, and isolated riders' reluctance to spend their forces with Wiggle having 3 riders in the group and FDJ having 2. This denied bonus seconds to Janneke Ensing, who made it an all-Dutch top 4 before one of the season's surprise revelations, Ruth Winder on the US national team. Most of her results have been on the US domestic circuit, but a very successful tour of Europe with United Healthcare in July merited a win in the Tour de Féminin Krásná Lipá and a top 10 in the Thüringen Rundfahrt, so she's definitely one to watch. Most of the key players were also in the group - in addition to the Wiggle trio and Janneke, there was Gillow, Guderzo (finally showing some form this year), Blaak, Brennauer, Villumsen, Cecchini, van Dijk and Niewiadoma, plus also some pleasing signs of life from Rossella Ratto as the season wears on - if Elisa can sort her form out the Italians may be a bigger threat than we think at the Worlds. Hannah Barnes was part of the group but dropped off it. Worrack was in the next group back, just shy of 3 minutes down, while Dideriksen and Majerus led home a group including Lucinda Brand and Pernille Mathiesen at four and a half minutes. Three riders missed the time cut, while Floortje Mackaij and Lauren Kitchen were among those unable to finish the stage.
Coming into the final stage, around Sittard-Geleen with about a thousand mini-hellingen, Annemiek has stretched her lead from a slender 9" over van Dijk to a rather more commanding 43", although having Boels as your nearest rivals in a race where they have all the stops to pull out and it is a home race for them, sponsored by their team sponsor, is in and of itself a burden, and 43" over Anna van der Breggen is never truly enough to feel safe given her prowess on both the climbs and the time trial mileage - even if Annemiek herself has shown herself to be absolutely one of the best all year in these disciplines. Van Dijk is now at 1'03" with Brennauer 4th (+1'24") and Villumsen 5th (+1'49"). Aside from Anna, Annemiek can probably feel her advantage is pretty secure over those she can fear in the hills - Longo Borghini is at +2'27 and Niewiadoma at +2'43. It should be enough, but we've seen some unusual things happen over the years in this terrain and in women's cycling in general.
This set us up for the 'queen stage' in the Limburg hills, into Vaals featuring a number of climbs. Here, some serious selection was made, and there was a bit of a reverse game from the Giro Rosa going on, as this time it was Anna van der Breggen (in the World Tour leader's jersey, which she wasn't back then, but it was the race she took it in) having to attack Annemiek van Vleuten in the hills with the latter leading the GC; no matter what the Olympic Champion threw at her more experienced compatriot (who would have been the Olympic Champion but for her spectacular horror crash, of course), the Orica rider stood firm. Elisa Longo Borghini wasn't able to make it a true Giro re-run by being there, her form is clearly not at 100%, but she was ably kept in the chase by the work of super-domestique Claudia Lichtenberg, in what may be her final World Tour race, and domestique supreme Audrey Cordon-Ragot.
The pace of chasing such an elite duo did trim the chase rather significantly, and only 20 riders were able to come home within two and a half minutes of the lead duo; Anna took the stage in front of Annemiek, but with her lead significant in the GC and only the one stage to go, the latter was happy enough with the outcome. Amy Pieters won the sprint for 3rd place, benefiting from the fact that Boels had no reason to chase the group ahead with Anna up the road, and isolated riders' reluctance to spend their forces with Wiggle having 3 riders in the group and FDJ having 2. This denied bonus seconds to Janneke Ensing, who made it an all-Dutch top 4 before one of the season's surprise revelations, Ruth Winder on the US national team. Most of her results have been on the US domestic circuit, but a very successful tour of Europe with United Healthcare in July merited a win in the Tour de Féminin Krásná Lipá and a top 10 in the Thüringen Rundfahrt, so she's definitely one to watch. Most of the key players were also in the group - in addition to the Wiggle trio and Janneke, there was Gillow, Guderzo (finally showing some form this year), Blaak, Brennauer, Villumsen, Cecchini, van Dijk and Niewiadoma, plus also some pleasing signs of life from Rossella Ratto as the season wears on - if Elisa can sort her form out the Italians may be a bigger threat than we think at the Worlds. Hannah Barnes was part of the group but dropped off it. Worrack was in the next group back, just shy of 3 minutes down, while Dideriksen and Majerus led home a group including Lucinda Brand and Pernille Mathiesen at four and a half minutes. Three riders missed the time cut, while Floortje Mackaij and Lauren Kitchen were among those unable to finish the stage.
Coming into the final stage, around Sittard-Geleen with about a thousand mini-hellingen, Annemiek has stretched her lead from a slender 9" over van Dijk to a rather more commanding 43", although having Boels as your nearest rivals in a race where they have all the stops to pull out and it is a home race for them, sponsored by their team sponsor, is in and of itself a burden, and 43" over Anna van der Breggen is never truly enough to feel safe given her prowess on both the climbs and the time trial mileage - even if Annemiek herself has shown herself to be absolutely one of the best all year in these disciplines. Van Dijk is now at 1'03" with Brennauer 4th (+1'24") and Villumsen 5th (+1'49"). Aside from Anna, Annemiek can probably feel her advantage is pretty secure over those she can fear in the hills - Longo Borghini is at +2'27 and Niewiadoma at +2'43. It should be enough, but we've seen some unusual things happen over the years in this terrain and in women's cycling in general.
- Feb 20, 2010
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- 15,272
- 28,180
Final day drama in the epic length (over 150k) stage to Sittard-Geleen, finishing with a 10% ramp in the Tom Dumoulin bike park (no, really).
The action began with the formation of a 13-woman attack group which pulled a lead out of over a minute, and including some very strong names from every top team bar Orica who obviously were protecting Annemiek's GC lead. Boels had Christine Majerus in the group, Wiggle had Amy Cure, Canyon had Alexis Ryan, plus from other teams you had Marta Tagliaferro, Winanda Spoor, Nathalie van Gogh and Roxane Knetemann. Perhaps most intriguingly, three major teams had two riders in the bunch, each having a rider well placed on GC. WM3 had the best GC position, with Kasia Niewiadoma just outside the top 10 and joined by Jeanne Korevaar, but Sunweb had Lucinda Brand accompanied by Rozanne Slik, and Alé had the best sprinter in the group with Chloe Hosking as well as the ever-combative Janneke Ensing. Given the 10% ramps at the line, once intermediates were dispensed with Hosking's value was primarily as a domestique, and with Ensing the second-best-placed rider in the group, it was therefore the Australian speedster along with Korevaar who did most of the pacing duties. The group was formed by an 8-woman breakaway that went 3km into the stage being bridged to by a three-woman counterattack. With Brand then up there, Kasia and Janneke went together with just over 50km to go and bridged the gap to the break quickly over the favourably hilly terrain. With 35km remaining, Korevaar's work for the day was done and she swung off, at which point Niewiadoma attacked, because the road went uphill so of course she did. Ensing countered in chase of the Pole, and quickly made mincemeat of most of the break, with only Majerus and Brand going with her to bridge the gap giving us a leading quartet with a few seconds' advantage as the rest of the break tried to consolidate. The lead quartet wasn't working well though, as Brand and Majerus had their teammates van Dijk and van der Breggen and their podium GC positions to think about, so weren't going to co-operate with the threatening duo that rode across to them earlier. The quartet was then being chased by a second quartet, of Knetemann, Cure, Ryan and Slik but then, conscious of giving Sunweb an advantage of numbers, Niewiadoma attacked again shortly after the junction was made, realising that in addition to Slik and Brand having the advantage for the stage win, their gap to the péloton was being affected by the games being played and she could ill afford to continue to haemorrhage time, as not only would losing their advantage neutralise her GC gains but her lack of a sprint would limit her stage winning options. So, when the road went uphill again, for the fifth QOM points of the day, Katie Unknown said goodbye to the bunch for good, and hit for home.
Once more, the same trio chased the WM3 rider, Ensing, Brand and Majerus. Again Janneke was doing almost all the work, and pegged Kasia's lead at around 15" with the bunch's disadvantage restored to 1'45". With Brand and Majerus not contributing, Alexis Ryan was able to pull her way across to the Ensing trio, but Niewiadoma's lead was increasing, reaching 25" on the final points-paying climb of the day before stretching out to its maximum of 45". The time gaps were becoming a real cat and mouse game; the péloton were starting to creep back towards the leader while the chasers drifted back, with the second chasing group getting closer and closer. And then, in a cruel echo of the Tour of Norway, the péloton was stopped at a crossing for a train. It wasn't a long stop, but the fact that Niewiadoma and the chasing quartet got through but the péloton didn't really changed the dynamic of the stage as the catch became increasingly unlikely, and instilled fresh hope into the chasers that the stage win was on. Part of the risk of having a course more complex than the Amstel Gold Race and repeatedly crossing the same train line at different points on the route. Sensing that Kasia was tiring, Janneke went again and shook Ryan and Majerus off her wheel for good, but couldn't get rid of Lucinda Brand. And she's a terrifying rider to have on your wheel like that, with all-terrain capability and great tactical nous. Janneke gives no damns whatsoever though, and the two kept plugging away, whittling down the Unknown one's advantage as time ticked away. 8km, 8". 5km, 6". Could she hang on? She was right in the eyeline of the chasing duo now. At 3km remaining, Brand put in a herculean turn, knowing she would be at the disadvantage on the final ramps and not wanting to leave anything to chance. But no sooner had she pulled Kasia back than Ensing went again and this time brought herself daylight against an exhausted Niewiadoma and a Brand who'd just put in a max effort turn.
Yea, I know, this stage was the Kasia & Janneke show. Ensing has been so aggressive and added a lot to races all year since breaking through to the top level, but apart from obviously the Worlds selection has disappointingly little to show for it compared to what she deserves for the job she's done animating the events. With the péloton fast approaching she knew it was now or never and made a gap of 10-15 seconds on the chasing duo; Brand and Niewiadoma collaborated at first but once the bunch got inside a minute and it seemed Ensing was away, Brand stopped working, noting that she was now not going to win the stage, so continued collaboration with Kasia would jeopardise van Dijk's podium. A frustrated Niewiadoma trid to drop the Sunweb rider, but her former teammate was too strong and rode back to the exhausted Pole's wheel, before dropping her in the last few metres, taking advantage of not having had to ride in the chase until there was only her and Ensing left. But having rode across to the break with Niewiadoma and then taken charge of every counter attack until there was nobody left to counter, then attacking herself, Ensing took what as far as I'm aware is her first ever professional win, certainly her first win above the national calendar level.
In the end, Ensing's margin of victory over her completely empty adversaries was 30", with Brand making it at that point and Kasia at 35". The bunch was led home by Marta Bastianelli and Roxane Fournier at +1'10" so overall the GC gains made by the main players didn't impact the top places on the GC, unfortunately, but it gave us some great drama while it lasted, and a very good subplot about the stage win with three of the most aggressive riders in the péloton filling the first three places on the stage. For their efforts, Niewiadoma and Ensing moved into the overall GC top 10.
Final GC:
1 Annemiek van Vleuten (Orica-AIS) NED
2 Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) NED +43"
3 Ellen van Dijk (Team Sunweb) NED +1'03"
4 Lisa Brennauer (Canyon-SRAM) GER +1'24"
5 Linda Villumsen (Team Véloconcept Women) NZL +1'49"
6 Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans) NED +1'55"
7 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (WM3 Energie) POL +2'04"
8 Janneke Ensing (Alé-Cipollini) NED +2'18"
9 Amy Pieters (Boels-Dolmans) NED +2'19"
10 Elena Cecchini (Canyon-SRAM) ITA +2'27"
The action began with the formation of a 13-woman attack group which pulled a lead out of over a minute, and including some very strong names from every top team bar Orica who obviously were protecting Annemiek's GC lead. Boels had Christine Majerus in the group, Wiggle had Amy Cure, Canyon had Alexis Ryan, plus from other teams you had Marta Tagliaferro, Winanda Spoor, Nathalie van Gogh and Roxane Knetemann. Perhaps most intriguingly, three major teams had two riders in the bunch, each having a rider well placed on GC. WM3 had the best GC position, with Kasia Niewiadoma just outside the top 10 and joined by Jeanne Korevaar, but Sunweb had Lucinda Brand accompanied by Rozanne Slik, and Alé had the best sprinter in the group with Chloe Hosking as well as the ever-combative Janneke Ensing. Given the 10% ramps at the line, once intermediates were dispensed with Hosking's value was primarily as a domestique, and with Ensing the second-best-placed rider in the group, it was therefore the Australian speedster along with Korevaar who did most of the pacing duties. The group was formed by an 8-woman breakaway that went 3km into the stage being bridged to by a three-woman counterattack. With Brand then up there, Kasia and Janneke went together with just over 50km to go and bridged the gap to the break quickly over the favourably hilly terrain. With 35km remaining, Korevaar's work for the day was done and she swung off, at which point Niewiadoma attacked, because the road went uphill so of course she did. Ensing countered in chase of the Pole, and quickly made mincemeat of most of the break, with only Majerus and Brand going with her to bridge the gap giving us a leading quartet with a few seconds' advantage as the rest of the break tried to consolidate. The lead quartet wasn't working well though, as Brand and Majerus had their teammates van Dijk and van der Breggen and their podium GC positions to think about, so weren't going to co-operate with the threatening duo that rode across to them earlier. The quartet was then being chased by a second quartet, of Knetemann, Cure, Ryan and Slik but then, conscious of giving Sunweb an advantage of numbers, Niewiadoma attacked again shortly after the junction was made, realising that in addition to Slik and Brand having the advantage for the stage win, their gap to the péloton was being affected by the games being played and she could ill afford to continue to haemorrhage time, as not only would losing their advantage neutralise her GC gains but her lack of a sprint would limit her stage winning options. So, when the road went uphill again, for the fifth QOM points of the day, Katie Unknown said goodbye to the bunch for good, and hit for home.
Once more, the same trio chased the WM3 rider, Ensing, Brand and Majerus. Again Janneke was doing almost all the work, and pegged Kasia's lead at around 15" with the bunch's disadvantage restored to 1'45". With Brand and Majerus not contributing, Alexis Ryan was able to pull her way across to the Ensing trio, but Niewiadoma's lead was increasing, reaching 25" on the final points-paying climb of the day before stretching out to its maximum of 45". The time gaps were becoming a real cat and mouse game; the péloton were starting to creep back towards the leader while the chasers drifted back, with the second chasing group getting closer and closer. And then, in a cruel echo of the Tour of Norway, the péloton was stopped at a crossing for a train. It wasn't a long stop, but the fact that Niewiadoma and the chasing quartet got through but the péloton didn't really changed the dynamic of the stage as the catch became increasingly unlikely, and instilled fresh hope into the chasers that the stage win was on. Part of the risk of having a course more complex than the Amstel Gold Race and repeatedly crossing the same train line at different points on the route. Sensing that Kasia was tiring, Janneke went again and shook Ryan and Majerus off her wheel for good, but couldn't get rid of Lucinda Brand. And she's a terrifying rider to have on your wheel like that, with all-terrain capability and great tactical nous. Janneke gives no damns whatsoever though, and the two kept plugging away, whittling down the Unknown one's advantage as time ticked away. 8km, 8". 5km, 6". Could she hang on? She was right in the eyeline of the chasing duo now. At 3km remaining, Brand put in a herculean turn, knowing she would be at the disadvantage on the final ramps and not wanting to leave anything to chance. But no sooner had she pulled Kasia back than Ensing went again and this time brought herself daylight against an exhausted Niewiadoma and a Brand who'd just put in a max effort turn.
Yea, I know, this stage was the Kasia & Janneke show. Ensing has been so aggressive and added a lot to races all year since breaking through to the top level, but apart from obviously the Worlds selection has disappointingly little to show for it compared to what she deserves for the job she's done animating the events. With the péloton fast approaching she knew it was now or never and made a gap of 10-15 seconds on the chasing duo; Brand and Niewiadoma collaborated at first but once the bunch got inside a minute and it seemed Ensing was away, Brand stopped working, noting that she was now not going to win the stage, so continued collaboration with Kasia would jeopardise van Dijk's podium. A frustrated Niewiadoma trid to drop the Sunweb rider, but her former teammate was too strong and rode back to the exhausted Pole's wheel, before dropping her in the last few metres, taking advantage of not having had to ride in the chase until there was only her and Ensing left. But having rode across to the break with Niewiadoma and then taken charge of every counter attack until there was nobody left to counter, then attacking herself, Ensing took what as far as I'm aware is her first ever professional win, certainly her first win above the national calendar level.
In the end, Ensing's margin of victory over her completely empty adversaries was 30", with Brand making it at that point and Kasia at 35". The bunch was led home by Marta Bastianelli and Roxane Fournier at +1'10" so overall the GC gains made by the main players didn't impact the top places on the GC, unfortunately, but it gave us some great drama while it lasted, and a very good subplot about the stage win with three of the most aggressive riders in the péloton filling the first three places on the stage. For their efforts, Niewiadoma and Ensing moved into the overall GC top 10.
Final GC:
1 Annemiek van Vleuten (Orica-AIS) NED
2 Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) NED +43"
3 Ellen van Dijk (Team Sunweb) NED +1'03"
4 Lisa Brennauer (Canyon-SRAM) GER +1'24"
5 Linda Villumsen (Team Véloconcept Women) NZL +1'49"
6 Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans) NED +1'55"
7 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (WM3 Energie) POL +2'04"
8 Janneke Ensing (Alé-Cipollini) NED +2'18"
9 Amy Pieters (Boels-Dolmans) NED +2'19"
10 Elena Cecchini (Canyon-SRAM) ITA +2'27"
- Feb 20, 2010
- 33,064
- 15,272
- 28,180
Quite a few pre-Mondial short stage races going on at the moment.
The most significant in terms of star power is the Lotto Belgium Tour, which consists of a prologue and three road stages which all take a single town as the base, the last of which is usually the most important, featuring the Kapelmuur. The big star attractions were the Wiggle team, which admittedly featured some of their less experienced riders but was led by Belgian national champion Jolien d'Hoore, the WM3 squad led by Marianne Vos, with an all-Dutch lineup also featuring Anouska Koster and Riejanne Markus, an undersized Canyon-SRAM team led by Tiffany Cromwell, Lensworld with Tatiana Guderzo, Lares with Thalita de Jong, a full-strength Lotto team with Kopecky and Delzenne, a good BTC team led by Eugenia Bujak, and some decent national teams, most notably a very strong American national team including Megan Guarnier, Katie Hall, Coryn Rivera and Ruth Winder.
The opening 4km prologue was won by d'Hoore by a fraction of a second ahead of Vos, the two being among the main favourites for the race owing to the selectivity of bonus seconds; especially Marianne being able to combine good riding on the cobbled bergs with sprinting for bonuses. Rivera in 3rd was a full 8 seconds behind Vos, but all the big names were present and correct on the first page of the results sheet - except for Hall, who like a good pure climber lost a good many seconds. The first road stage, looping around Ninove, was characterized by a 13-woman breakaway that got away from the clutches of the bunch to settle the stage. Again, most of the riders involved were the stars - Vos, Korevaar and Koster from WM3, Bronzini and the race leader d'Hoore for Wiggle, and no fewer than four Team USA riders - Winder, Rivera, Guarnier and Skylar Schneider - were joined by interlopers Trine Schmidt for Lotto, Abby-Mae Parkinson for Drops, Eugenia Bujak for BTC and Kaat Hannes for Lensworld. WM3 were keenest to drive the pace, to try to pressurize Wiggle and to distance the field, and although they paid for it by losing Korevaar late on, they reaped the reward, the technical sprint being won by Merckx ahead of d'Hoore and Rivera in an all-star podium. Only they, along with Bujak and Hannes, were able to come in at the sprint speed, with a 2 second gap before the remainder of the break trickled in. The following stage's pan-flat loop around Hersele saw a much bigger péloton duke out the finish, but the same riders at the front, with Jolien getting her revenge on Vos and, with the help of the bonus seconds, moving back into the race lead. Rivera took another 3rd, which could have proven crucial later.
So the race was set up for the final stage, with loops of the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Last year this was where Annemiek van Vleuten announced that she wouldn't let anything as insignificant as a spinal injury stop her, this year the mighty Dutchwoman wasn't here, so it was instead another Dutch star who all eyes were on. Marianne wasn't going to move too early though, since WM3 monitored the early move with Anouska Koster. Wiggle and Team USA weren't keen on letting the eleven riders have too much space, however, so worked hard to pull them back, only for Vos to make the catch, shortly before the first passage of the Kapelmuur, her platform to attack, which shredded the field. 40km from the finish, Coryn Rivera tried her luck, with Koster the first to react and get onto the American's wheel. With Vos behind and Rivera better placed on GC, however, Koster did not work fluently with her breakmate, enabling a further five riders behind to make the junction. Finally, the decisive move was made on the final lap, with Ruth Winder being the next of the Americans to try their luck, but again it was Koster that sprang across to her wheel; now being the better-placed rider on the GC, the WM3 rider was happy to share the load, and this prevented the luckless Lotte Kopecky from being able to join them, the Belgian trapped in a hopeless chasse-patate ahead of the Vos/Guarnier/Delzenne/d'Hoore/Lippert group. From the two-up duel that ensued, Koster proved the stronger rider and came through to win the stage and with it the GC, while Vos managed the gap to safeguard the podium behind the two escapees, meaning WM3 was able to put two riders on the podium.
Final GC:
1 Anouska Koster (WM3 Energie) NED
2 Ruth Winder (USA National Team) USA +20"
3 Marianne Vos (WM3 Energie) NED +47"
4 Jolien d'Hoore (Wiggle-High 5) BEL +50"
5 Megan Guarnier (USA National Team) USA +1'17"
6 Coryn Rivera (USA National Team) USA +1'20"
7 Eugenia Bujak (BTC City-Ljubljana) POL +1'21"
8 Lotte Kopecky (Lotto-Soudal) BEL +1'41"
9 Liane Lippert (Germany National) GER +2'08"
10 Élise Delzenne (Lotto-Soudal) FRA +2'12"
The most significant in terms of star power is the Lotto Belgium Tour, which consists of a prologue and three road stages which all take a single town as the base, the last of which is usually the most important, featuring the Kapelmuur. The big star attractions were the Wiggle team, which admittedly featured some of their less experienced riders but was led by Belgian national champion Jolien d'Hoore, the WM3 squad led by Marianne Vos, with an all-Dutch lineup also featuring Anouska Koster and Riejanne Markus, an undersized Canyon-SRAM team led by Tiffany Cromwell, Lensworld with Tatiana Guderzo, Lares with Thalita de Jong, a full-strength Lotto team with Kopecky and Delzenne, a good BTC team led by Eugenia Bujak, and some decent national teams, most notably a very strong American national team including Megan Guarnier, Katie Hall, Coryn Rivera and Ruth Winder.
The opening 4km prologue was won by d'Hoore by a fraction of a second ahead of Vos, the two being among the main favourites for the race owing to the selectivity of bonus seconds; especially Marianne being able to combine good riding on the cobbled bergs with sprinting for bonuses. Rivera in 3rd was a full 8 seconds behind Vos, but all the big names were present and correct on the first page of the results sheet - except for Hall, who like a good pure climber lost a good many seconds. The first road stage, looping around Ninove, was characterized by a 13-woman breakaway that got away from the clutches of the bunch to settle the stage. Again, most of the riders involved were the stars - Vos, Korevaar and Koster from WM3, Bronzini and the race leader d'Hoore for Wiggle, and no fewer than four Team USA riders - Winder, Rivera, Guarnier and Skylar Schneider - were joined by interlopers Trine Schmidt for Lotto, Abby-Mae Parkinson for Drops, Eugenia Bujak for BTC and Kaat Hannes for Lensworld. WM3 were keenest to drive the pace, to try to pressurize Wiggle and to distance the field, and although they paid for it by losing Korevaar late on, they reaped the reward, the technical sprint being won by Merckx ahead of d'Hoore and Rivera in an all-star podium. Only they, along with Bujak and Hannes, were able to come in at the sprint speed, with a 2 second gap before the remainder of the break trickled in. The following stage's pan-flat loop around Hersele saw a much bigger péloton duke out the finish, but the same riders at the front, with Jolien getting her revenge on Vos and, with the help of the bonus seconds, moving back into the race lead. Rivera took another 3rd, which could have proven crucial later.
So the race was set up for the final stage, with loops of the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Last year this was where Annemiek van Vleuten announced that she wouldn't let anything as insignificant as a spinal injury stop her, this year the mighty Dutchwoman wasn't here, so it was instead another Dutch star who all eyes were on. Marianne wasn't going to move too early though, since WM3 monitored the early move with Anouska Koster. Wiggle and Team USA weren't keen on letting the eleven riders have too much space, however, so worked hard to pull them back, only for Vos to make the catch, shortly before the first passage of the Kapelmuur, her platform to attack, which shredded the field. 40km from the finish, Coryn Rivera tried her luck, with Koster the first to react and get onto the American's wheel. With Vos behind and Rivera better placed on GC, however, Koster did not work fluently with her breakmate, enabling a further five riders behind to make the junction. Finally, the decisive move was made on the final lap, with Ruth Winder being the next of the Americans to try their luck, but again it was Koster that sprang across to her wheel; now being the better-placed rider on the GC, the WM3 rider was happy to share the load, and this prevented the luckless Lotte Kopecky from being able to join them, the Belgian trapped in a hopeless chasse-patate ahead of the Vos/Guarnier/Delzenne/d'Hoore/Lippert group. From the two-up duel that ensued, Koster proved the stronger rider and came through to win the stage and with it the GC, while Vos managed the gap to safeguard the podium behind the two escapees, meaning WM3 was able to put two riders on the podium.
Final GC:
1 Anouska Koster (WM3 Energie) NED
2 Ruth Winder (USA National Team) USA +20"
3 Marianne Vos (WM3 Energie) NED +47"
4 Jolien d'Hoore (Wiggle-High 5) BEL +50"
5 Megan Guarnier (USA National Team) USA +1'17"
6 Coryn Rivera (USA National Team) USA +1'20"
7 Eugenia Bujak (BTC City-Ljubljana) POL +1'21"
8 Lotte Kopecky (Lotto-Soudal) BEL +1'41"
9 Liane Lippert (Germany National) GER +2'08"
10 Élise Delzenne (Lotto-Soudal) FRA +2'12"
- Feb 20, 2010
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At the same time we have the Tour de l'Ardêche, a nicely mountainous stage race that attracts a middling field, perhaps owing to length and difficulty in immediate Worlds preparation time. Last year saw the introduction of a Mont Ventoux MTF, this year there's only the one MTF (there was a second last year) at Mont Lozère, but from a harder side than last year's secondary MTF. That comes on the final day and is likely to be the main GC settling deal. Last year's race was the rise of Anna Kiesenhofer, whose flirtation with the top level was disappointingly brief owing to personal issues.
The first stage already reduced the GC candidates to around 40, with the péloton splintering on a tricky, undulating day which was won - just like last year's first stage - by Kasia Pawlowska, normally of Boels-Dolmans but freed up at the Ardêche to ride for her own chances. Apart from a small group at around 5 minutes, everybody else lost over 10 minutes on the day so their GC bids will suffer greatly given that most of the race's best climbers were at the front. This includes the controversial Hanna Solovey, alongside Hanna Nilsson, who climbed beautifully on the Izoard, Eider Merino who was so good in the Emakumeen Bira, and young climbing revelation Nikola Nosková. Mavi García is another outsider, Pauliena Rooijakkers too, plus the traditional mercenary and former Giro QOM Flavia Oliveira is rocking up into town to wreak havoc on the climbs as well. It was more of the same in stage 2, although the number of riders staying the pace at the front was almost doubled, to 70, and nobody who hadn't already fallen from contention was affected by the timelosses; Pawlowska continued her love affair with the region, taking another stage win ahead of BePink's 20 year old sprint prospect Maria Vittoria Sperotto and Shannon Malseed, touring Europe with the Aussie national team (that have been getting quite some attention recently, thanks to - despite ranking third in the world - electing not to fill their quota for the World Championships because of not feeling there are enough talents to contest the win and not wanting to take sprinters like Hosking and Roy because it's a hilly course. Which is preposterous when you think the men's team is being led by Michael Matthews, not to mention Hosking has been much more durable this season than ever before).
Stage 3 was a time trial of just under 10km, a bit short to balance the mountains, but it'll do. Lauren Stephens somewhat predictably won, since given her success in the American domestic calendar she has proven class as a time triallist this season, and she won with 8" gap over Leah Thomas, her compatriot, and 22" over Rachel Neylan, who is coming into form ahead of the World Championships. Pawlowska performed admirably, coming in at +23" so still being close to the win thanks to her stage wins, while some of the key riders lost a good amount of time - Ritter going best, at +36", but Solovey lost almost a minute, Nilsson just over one, Nosková around a minute and a half, Rooijakkers and Oliveira just under 2 minutes and Merino just over. BePink are having a good race though, as the veteran Silvia Valsecchi took stage 4, soloing in ahead of the bunch by just 7 seconds, although it's worth noting that while there was no threat to Stephens' lead, there was a split in the péloton which led to a 9" time loss for a few riders, Merino and Rooijakkers the most notable. Stage 5 saw the climbing being ramped up further, but also as a result the péloton's urgency in catching the breakaway reduced further, and with the climbs reducing the group's size to a mere 18, including three from the Australian national team who also had a rider up the road, riders outnumbered in the group were not keen to expend a massive amount of energy to pull back the youthful duo of 19yo Jessica Pratt and 22yo Frenchwoman Annabelle Dréville, neither of whom were GC relevances; the Australian topped the home rider in the two up sprint two minutes ahead of the splintered remains of the péloton, led home by Lucy Kennedy and with all the key climbers safely ensconced in the group.
The first stage already reduced the GC candidates to around 40, with the péloton splintering on a tricky, undulating day which was won - just like last year's first stage - by Kasia Pawlowska, normally of Boels-Dolmans but freed up at the Ardêche to ride for her own chances. Apart from a small group at around 5 minutes, everybody else lost over 10 minutes on the day so their GC bids will suffer greatly given that most of the race's best climbers were at the front. This includes the controversial Hanna Solovey, alongside Hanna Nilsson, who climbed beautifully on the Izoard, Eider Merino who was so good in the Emakumeen Bira, and young climbing revelation Nikola Nosková. Mavi García is another outsider, Pauliena Rooijakkers too, plus the traditional mercenary and former Giro QOM Flavia Oliveira is rocking up into town to wreak havoc on the climbs as well. It was more of the same in stage 2, although the number of riders staying the pace at the front was almost doubled, to 70, and nobody who hadn't already fallen from contention was affected by the timelosses; Pawlowska continued her love affair with the region, taking another stage win ahead of BePink's 20 year old sprint prospect Maria Vittoria Sperotto and Shannon Malseed, touring Europe with the Aussie national team (that have been getting quite some attention recently, thanks to - despite ranking third in the world - electing not to fill their quota for the World Championships because of not feeling there are enough talents to contest the win and not wanting to take sprinters like Hosking and Roy because it's a hilly course. Which is preposterous when you think the men's team is being led by Michael Matthews, not to mention Hosking has been much more durable this season than ever before).
Stage 3 was a time trial of just under 10km, a bit short to balance the mountains, but it'll do. Lauren Stephens somewhat predictably won, since given her success in the American domestic calendar she has proven class as a time triallist this season, and she won with 8" gap over Leah Thomas, her compatriot, and 22" over Rachel Neylan, who is coming into form ahead of the World Championships. Pawlowska performed admirably, coming in at +23" so still being close to the win thanks to her stage wins, while some of the key riders lost a good amount of time - Ritter going best, at +36", but Solovey lost almost a minute, Nilsson just over one, Nosková around a minute and a half, Rooijakkers and Oliveira just under 2 minutes and Merino just over. BePink are having a good race though, as the veteran Silvia Valsecchi took stage 4, soloing in ahead of the bunch by just 7 seconds, although it's worth noting that while there was no threat to Stephens' lead, there was a split in the péloton which led to a 9" time loss for a few riders, Merino and Rooijakkers the most notable. Stage 5 saw the climbing being ramped up further, but also as a result the péloton's urgency in catching the breakaway reduced further, and with the climbs reducing the group's size to a mere 18, including three from the Australian national team who also had a rider up the road, riders outnumbered in the group were not keen to expend a massive amount of energy to pull back the youthful duo of 19yo Jessica Pratt and 22yo Frenchwoman Annabelle Dréville, neither of whom were GC relevances; the Australian topped the home rider in the two up sprint two minutes ahead of the splintered remains of the péloton, led home by Lucy Kennedy and with all the key climbers safely ensconced in the group.
Just a bit too add to LS's post which mentioned the Australian's only sending 5 women to the 2017 World's - There has been plenty of criticism from the cycling media as well as die-hard cycling fans - This is part of a bigger picture where Jones the new head of Aussie Cycling is prioritising medals to the detriment of everything else - And of course more medals happen in track cycling compared to road cycling - It cut's deeper because the Aussie Cycling Federation has proposed cutting back funding to the two Australian women's CT in Australia - So the future of the these two teams may be in doubt, and further to that the pathways that allow young Australian women to obtain experience in Europe - It's not just the women's side that is affected - Go back to the 2016 Olympics - Australia added extra track cyclists to the overall, which meant the men's RR team drafted in a rider from the MTB to ride 30km - When it comes to the Olympics and World's the TRACK team takes precedence over the road team - This is the bigger issue.
- Feb 20, 2010
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Especially galling when riders on that Australian national team riding in Europe for experience are being successful, as we're seeing in the Ardêche. Lucy Kennedy and Hanna Nilsson gained a lot of time on the field in the first of the weekend's mountain stages, with the 29-year-old Aussie, who came to the sport late, taking the victory in the two-up sprint to emerge in the lead of the race with just one stage to go (albeit the toughest one of the race). Hanna Solovey led home a group of 8 just inside 1'30, which includes the main GC threats to Kennedy (other than Nilsson, who's an excellent climber in her own right), such as Mavi García, Martina Ritter, Nikola Nosková and Flavia Oliveira. Only 21 riders were within 10 minutes, so it's really going to likely be between those 10 on Mont Lozère today.
Simultaneously, the Giro della Toscana/Memorial Michela Fanini began yesterday, a short stage race around Capannori, Lucca and that part of Tuscany; the latter was the hometown of the former Giro champion, and the former was the town in which she was tragically killed well before her time in a road traffic accident. The race's status as a Worlds tune-up is never in doubt - they even include "Premondiale" in the race's name - but has had some problems with organization in past years, including a disastrous edition where several teams withdrew en masse to protest problems in road closures one day before the end - there's a certain painful irony in a race failing to control traffic when it is a memorial to a woman killed in a car accident, but thankfully the organizers have successfully managed to put those problems behind them, now producing a shorter but much more tightly-run race which has become a staple in the Italian péloton and a favourite of the Cervélo team among others. Indeed, the defending champion is Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, who took two stages en route last year, to finish ahead of Flavia Oliveira and Änna Zita Maria Stricker, neither of whom are present this year. Ash is supported ably as ever by Cervélo's youngest stars, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Lisa Klein, along with Pohl and Pilote-Fortin. The heavy hitters of the Italian national péloton are mostly on hand - although most of the sprinters are absent, as are BePink who have their A-team in the Ardêche.
It was one of those heavy-hitters who took the victory in stage 1, with Janneke Ensing following up last week's first career victory immediately with a second to take the leader's jersey, the former speed-skater taking the win from a small advantage put forward by a group of three, alongside defending champion Moolman-Pasio and Maria Giulia Confalonieri, guesting for Valcar-PBM in this race. Most of the other major contenders - Ludwig, Vysotska, Pavlukhina, Leleivyte, Balducci, Iakovenko, Dobrynina - were in the group at +5", though some useful riders who are able to climb lost time - Ana Cristina Sanabria, who hit the top 10 of La Course, lost 20", Carlee Taylor and Dalia Muccioli were in a group that lost 54", and Potokina and Santesteban didn't finish the stage.
The reason most of the sprinters were absent, however, is that today we have the final race of the Women's World Tour, the Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta. While La Course might have made a modification this year (which no matter your opinion at least gave plenty of discussion), the Madrid Challenge remains one of those ridiculous pseudo-crits that were given World Tour status because of the close proximity of a men's race giving the possibility of sizable crowds and as a sop to ASO rather than because they give the women any real opportunity to race. I have championed a modification to the circuit for the women's race, extending the westernmost arm of the tri-point star that is the race route to enable them to go down and up Cuesta de San Vicente - only a short climb, but with the circuit having at least some kind of ramp (around a kilometre at 6%) to make it more than a ceremonial sprinters' pitch, which is almost inevitably by this point in the season an irrelevance to the WWT overall.
In fact, only 3 of the Women's World Tour overall top 10 - Coryn Rivera, Elisa Longo Borghini and Jolien d'Hoore - have bothered to make the trip to Madrid, and d'Hoore is the only one that can gain anything in the World Tour out of it, since Elisa would have to win and Coryn score almost zero points to gain a position, and even if she wins Coryn can't jump into the WT top 3. Not only are the top 3 of the WWT not contesting the race, but their teams aren't either, which in the case of WM3 and Boels-Dolmans removes further top 10 riders; on the other hand, last year's top 3 are all present, although two of them now race on the same team (Alé-Cipollini). It's a bit of a flat, underwhelming way to end the WWT, with so few of the biggest stars and indeed some of the biggest teams absent - in addition to Orica, Boels and WM3, there's no Canyon or Astana, and even those teams that do turn up have some of the stronger candidates for the victory absent, such as the Kirsten Wild-less Cylance squad. In fact, I make it only 4 of the WWT top 20 are here.
So who are the contenders? Well, obviously d'Hoore is the defending champion, and that was her coming off a track-focused season. This year she's been better focused on the road, and it's shown in her results as she's much more like the destructive sprinting force she was in 2015. She will be hard to beat. The closest to her last year was Chloe Hosking, with Marta Bastianelli 3rd. The duo now are teammates at Alé-Cipollini, but the team has on many occasions in the season given both the chance to sprint, especially when organized trains are difficult to arrange with the smaller team sizes so the carefully orchestrated five man lead-outs we often see in men's cycling are pretty rare; on the other hand, the team may have won more races had they been keener to select one of the two to sprint decisively on a few occasions. Sunweb are the most likely to upset the apple cart; van Dijk is absent but otherwise their heavy hitters are all out in force. With Coryn Rivera they have a superstar sprinter who has emerged as one of the big hitters of world cycling this season, she's now far more than 'just' a sprinter, but she cut her teeth on this kind of racing, simple course crits in the US on wide roads, so can she take us back in time? They've also got Floortje and Leah Kirchmann as options if the race is more selective than anticipated, plus with Lucinda Brand they have arguably the rider most likely to force an outcome other than a bunch gallop. In the absence of Wild, Cylance have some of their more combative riders - Ratto and Jasinska - in the lineup, but will most likely give Sheyla Gutiérrez the chance to sprint in front of her compatriots, after the young rodadora has had a breakout season. FDJ have, Rox aside, forgone their international contingent and are likely to focus their efforts around Roxane Fournier's sprint ability; BTC likewise will be hoping for a slightly more selective race with a higher pace to give them a chance to utilize Eugenia Bujak and Änna Zita Maria Stricker's capabilities from reduced groups. Hitec are seeing something of an exodus of riders with some of their riders who feel they've reached their ceiling retiring, but they have wunderkind Susanne Andersen along with two reasonable sprinting options in Emilie Moberg and, more likely, Nina Kessler. Drops are without their star, Alice Barnes, who is racing the women's Ras in Ireland at the moment, and although they've recently signed Parkhotel's young Dutch sprinter Eva Buurman, she doesn't move over until the end of the season so will be hoping for one of their less established riders to stick their hand up and take the opportunity here, while Eva herself won't be with the reduced Parkhotel contingent, I don't think she's in their Ardêche team either but then since she also speed-skates, this could be the end of her riding season. Lotto are the last major team, and they have most of their big names in action, most likely on this course Lotte Kopecky will be their preferred option but Delzenne is available if the race becomes more complex than anticipated. Likewise Lares-Waowdeals' main option, which is Thalita de Jong.
Simultaneously, the Giro della Toscana/Memorial Michela Fanini began yesterday, a short stage race around Capannori, Lucca and that part of Tuscany; the latter was the hometown of the former Giro champion, and the former was the town in which she was tragically killed well before her time in a road traffic accident. The race's status as a Worlds tune-up is never in doubt - they even include "Premondiale" in the race's name - but has had some problems with organization in past years, including a disastrous edition where several teams withdrew en masse to protest problems in road closures one day before the end - there's a certain painful irony in a race failing to control traffic when it is a memorial to a woman killed in a car accident, but thankfully the organizers have successfully managed to put those problems behind them, now producing a shorter but much more tightly-run race which has become a staple in the Italian péloton and a favourite of the Cervélo team among others. Indeed, the defending champion is Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, who took two stages en route last year, to finish ahead of Flavia Oliveira and Änna Zita Maria Stricker, neither of whom are present this year. Ash is supported ably as ever by Cervélo's youngest stars, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Lisa Klein, along with Pohl and Pilote-Fortin. The heavy hitters of the Italian national péloton are mostly on hand - although most of the sprinters are absent, as are BePink who have their A-team in the Ardêche.
It was one of those heavy-hitters who took the victory in stage 1, with Janneke Ensing following up last week's first career victory immediately with a second to take the leader's jersey, the former speed-skater taking the win from a small advantage put forward by a group of three, alongside defending champion Moolman-Pasio and Maria Giulia Confalonieri, guesting for Valcar-PBM in this race. Most of the other major contenders - Ludwig, Vysotska, Pavlukhina, Leleivyte, Balducci, Iakovenko, Dobrynina - were in the group at +5", though some useful riders who are able to climb lost time - Ana Cristina Sanabria, who hit the top 10 of La Course, lost 20", Carlee Taylor and Dalia Muccioli were in a group that lost 54", and Potokina and Santesteban didn't finish the stage.
The reason most of the sprinters were absent, however, is that today we have the final race of the Women's World Tour, the Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta. While La Course might have made a modification this year (which no matter your opinion at least gave plenty of discussion), the Madrid Challenge remains one of those ridiculous pseudo-crits that were given World Tour status because of the close proximity of a men's race giving the possibility of sizable crowds and as a sop to ASO rather than because they give the women any real opportunity to race. I have championed a modification to the circuit for the women's race, extending the westernmost arm of the tri-point star that is the race route to enable them to go down and up Cuesta de San Vicente - only a short climb, but with the circuit having at least some kind of ramp (around a kilometre at 6%) to make it more than a ceremonial sprinters' pitch, which is almost inevitably by this point in the season an irrelevance to the WWT overall.
In fact, only 3 of the Women's World Tour overall top 10 - Coryn Rivera, Elisa Longo Borghini and Jolien d'Hoore - have bothered to make the trip to Madrid, and d'Hoore is the only one that can gain anything in the World Tour out of it, since Elisa would have to win and Coryn score almost zero points to gain a position, and even if she wins Coryn can't jump into the WT top 3. Not only are the top 3 of the WWT not contesting the race, but their teams aren't either, which in the case of WM3 and Boels-Dolmans removes further top 10 riders; on the other hand, last year's top 3 are all present, although two of them now race on the same team (Alé-Cipollini). It's a bit of a flat, underwhelming way to end the WWT, with so few of the biggest stars and indeed some of the biggest teams absent - in addition to Orica, Boels and WM3, there's no Canyon or Astana, and even those teams that do turn up have some of the stronger candidates for the victory absent, such as the Kirsten Wild-less Cylance squad. In fact, I make it only 4 of the WWT top 20 are here.
So who are the contenders? Well, obviously d'Hoore is the defending champion, and that was her coming off a track-focused season. This year she's been better focused on the road, and it's shown in her results as she's much more like the destructive sprinting force she was in 2015. She will be hard to beat. The closest to her last year was Chloe Hosking, with Marta Bastianelli 3rd. The duo now are teammates at Alé-Cipollini, but the team has on many occasions in the season given both the chance to sprint, especially when organized trains are difficult to arrange with the smaller team sizes so the carefully orchestrated five man lead-outs we often see in men's cycling are pretty rare; on the other hand, the team may have won more races had they been keener to select one of the two to sprint decisively on a few occasions. Sunweb are the most likely to upset the apple cart; van Dijk is absent but otherwise their heavy hitters are all out in force. With Coryn Rivera they have a superstar sprinter who has emerged as one of the big hitters of world cycling this season, she's now far more than 'just' a sprinter, but she cut her teeth on this kind of racing, simple course crits in the US on wide roads, so can she take us back in time? They've also got Floortje and Leah Kirchmann as options if the race is more selective than anticipated, plus with Lucinda Brand they have arguably the rider most likely to force an outcome other than a bunch gallop. In the absence of Wild, Cylance have some of their more combative riders - Ratto and Jasinska - in the lineup, but will most likely give Sheyla Gutiérrez the chance to sprint in front of her compatriots, after the young rodadora has had a breakout season. FDJ have, Rox aside, forgone their international contingent and are likely to focus their efforts around Roxane Fournier's sprint ability; BTC likewise will be hoping for a slightly more selective race with a higher pace to give them a chance to utilize Eugenia Bujak and Änna Zita Maria Stricker's capabilities from reduced groups. Hitec are seeing something of an exodus of riders with some of their riders who feel they've reached their ceiling retiring, but they have wunderkind Susanne Andersen along with two reasonable sprinting options in Emilie Moberg and, more likely, Nina Kessler. Drops are without their star, Alice Barnes, who is racing the women's Ras in Ireland at the moment, and although they've recently signed Parkhotel's young Dutch sprinter Eva Buurman, she doesn't move over until the end of the season so will be hoping for one of their less established riders to stick their hand up and take the opportunity here, while Eva herself won't be with the reduced Parkhotel contingent, I don't think she's in their Ardêche team either but then since she also speed-skates, this could be the end of her riding season. Lotto are the last major team, and they have most of their big names in action, most likely on this course Lotte Kopecky will be their preferred option but Delzenne is available if the race becomes more complex than anticipated. Likewise Lares-Waowdeals' main option, which is Thalita de Jong.
- May 5, 2010
- 51,672
- 30,226
- 28,180
- Feb 20, 2010
- 33,064
- 15,272
- 28,180
Yes, it's a family affair at Team Druyts-Sport Vlaanderen Etixx.
Anyway, it was entirely as predicted, that is to say it went to a bunch gallop, won by the pre-race favourite and defending champion Jolien d'Hoore. The Belgian's closest contender was Coryn Rivera, who caps a glorious year in the World Tour to consolidate 4th place in the overall standings, while Roxane Fournier took her first Women's World Tour podium (she did finish 2nd in the Tour of Chongming Island back in 2015 but it wasn't WT at that point) and, despite a couple of near misses from Shara Gillow, FDJ's first WT podium too. It seems it wasn't one for Alé's sprinters, who were disappointingly low down the group, with more durable types such as Eugenia Bujak (her best WT result since her surprise victory in Plouay last season) and Sheyla Gutiérrez (her best result in a WT one-dayer, though she did win a stage at the Giro). I'm not sure but Teruel's 10th place may potentially be Lointek's best ever WWT result too.
1 Jolien d'Hoore (Wiggle-High 5) BEL
2 Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb) USA +st
3 Roxane Fournier (FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope '86) FRA +st
4 Eugenia Bujak (BTC City-Ljubljana) POL +st
5 Sheyla Gutiérrez Ruíz (Cylance Pro Cycling) ESP +st
6 Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-High 5) ITA +st
7 Chloe Hosking (Alé-Cipollini) AUS +st
8 Susanne Andersen (Hitec Products) NOR +st
9 Leah Kirchmann (Team Sunweb) CAN +st
10 Alba Teruel Ribes (Lointek) ESP +st
Meanwhile, more hilly and mountainous racing was going on outside of the World Tour.
In the Ardêche, the final stage had a mountaintop finish at Mont Lozère, with Australian latecomer to the sport Lucy Kennedy looking to defend her lead against all climbing comers. In the end, she did so comfortably, despite a massive solo victory for Parkhotel Valkenburg's Pauliena Rooijakkers. The Dutchwoman is a very capable climber, but at nearly half an hour down in the GC she was no threat; Kennedy instead marked the riders who were challengers to her, most notably Swedish grimpeuse Hanna Nilsson, and in the end the two sprinted away from the select group of 7 they were in to take 2nd and 3rd on the day, with the rest of the group consisting of the BePink duo of Nikola Nosková and guest rider Sara Poidevin, the Canadian who last month won the Tour of Colorado, Martina Ritter of Drops, Mavi García on the Spanish national squad and Leah Thomas, guesting in one of the domestic teams. The septet take up 7 of the t op 8 GC places, only Rachel Neylan being close enough too avoid being deposed by them, but her 29-year-old Australian compatriot was able to safely negotiate the challenges for her first stage race win in Europe.
1 Lucy Kennedy (Australia National) AUS
2 Hanna Nilsson (BTC City-Ljubljana) SWE +30"
3 Leah Thomas (-) USA +1'15"
4 Martina Ritter (-) AUT +1'43"
5 Margarita Victoria García Cañellas (Spain National) ESP +2'06"
6 Nikola Nosková (BePink-Cogeas) CZE +2'38"
7 Rachel Neylan (Australia National) AUS +2'39"
8 Sara Poidevin (BePink-Cogeas) CAN +2'56"
9 Hanna Solovey (Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental) UKR +2'59"
10 Flavia Oliveira (-) BRA +4'06"
Elsewhere, in Tuscany, the hot streak that Janneke Ensing has been on came to an abrupt end as Cervélo-Bigla took advantage of the numbers game in the difficult stage from Lucca (where Michela Fanini was born) to Capannori (where she was tragically killed) and the fact that they had a very strong lineup at the race. The depleted Alé lineup (many of their strongest riders were busy chaperoning the sprint duo in Madrid, and Santesteban withdrew on day one) had a lot of trouble controlling the Cervélo riders, and eventually a trio of riders got a time gap and it was about as bad news as it could possibly get for Ensing. Ewelina Szybiak of the Polish MAT ATOM Deweloper squad was joined by not just Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, the defending champion and an excellent climber, but also the latter's hugely gifted teammate Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, the best U23 in the WWT by a country mile (even though Niewiadoma hasn't turned 23 yet and would have won the jersey comfortably if that made her eligible). With every reason to work together - this would be the best result of Szybiak's season and the Cervélo duo are of course teammates - they swiftly built an advantage and when the group split up on the final climb, Moolman-Pasio took the win a few seconds ahead of Cille, with Szybiak dropping in behind, and despite having had to do a lot of chasing, Ensing was able to drop the remainder of her group on that final ramp and come in ahead of them, but with a deficit that was close to 3 minutes, the GC was clearly gone, and allows Ash to double up.
Final GC:
1 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Cervélo-Bigla) RSA
2 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Cervélo-Bigla) DEN +32"
3 Ewelina Szybiak (MAT ATOM Deweloper) POL +54"
4 Janneke Ensing (Alé-Cipollini) NED +2'59"
5 Monika Kiraly (SC Michela Fanini-Rox) HUN +3'17"
6 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Valcar-PBM) ITA +3'23"
7 Elisa Balsamo (Valcar-PBM) ITA +3'25"
8 Angelica Brogi (-) ITA +3'30"
9 Ksenia Dobrynina (Servetto-Footon) RUS +3'31"
10 Anastasiya Iakovenko (Russia National) RUS +3'36"
Anyway, it was entirely as predicted, that is to say it went to a bunch gallop, won by the pre-race favourite and defending champion Jolien d'Hoore. The Belgian's closest contender was Coryn Rivera, who caps a glorious year in the World Tour to consolidate 4th place in the overall standings, while Roxane Fournier took her first Women's World Tour podium (she did finish 2nd in the Tour of Chongming Island back in 2015 but it wasn't WT at that point) and, despite a couple of near misses from Shara Gillow, FDJ's first WT podium too. It seems it wasn't one for Alé's sprinters, who were disappointingly low down the group, with more durable types such as Eugenia Bujak (her best WT result since her surprise victory in Plouay last season) and Sheyla Gutiérrez (her best result in a WT one-dayer, though she did win a stage at the Giro). I'm not sure but Teruel's 10th place may potentially be Lointek's best ever WWT result too.
1 Jolien d'Hoore (Wiggle-High 5) BEL
2 Coryn Rivera (Team Sunweb) USA +st
3 Roxane Fournier (FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope '86) FRA +st
4 Eugenia Bujak (BTC City-Ljubljana) POL +st
5 Sheyla Gutiérrez Ruíz (Cylance Pro Cycling) ESP +st
6 Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-High 5) ITA +st
7 Chloe Hosking (Alé-Cipollini) AUS +st
8 Susanne Andersen (Hitec Products) NOR +st
9 Leah Kirchmann (Team Sunweb) CAN +st
10 Alba Teruel Ribes (Lointek) ESP +st
Meanwhile, more hilly and mountainous racing was going on outside of the World Tour.
In the Ardêche, the final stage had a mountaintop finish at Mont Lozère, with Australian latecomer to the sport Lucy Kennedy looking to defend her lead against all climbing comers. In the end, she did so comfortably, despite a massive solo victory for Parkhotel Valkenburg's Pauliena Rooijakkers. The Dutchwoman is a very capable climber, but at nearly half an hour down in the GC she was no threat; Kennedy instead marked the riders who were challengers to her, most notably Swedish grimpeuse Hanna Nilsson, and in the end the two sprinted away from the select group of 7 they were in to take 2nd and 3rd on the day, with the rest of the group consisting of the BePink duo of Nikola Nosková and guest rider Sara Poidevin, the Canadian who last month won the Tour of Colorado, Martina Ritter of Drops, Mavi García on the Spanish national squad and Leah Thomas, guesting in one of the domestic teams. The septet take up 7 of the t op 8 GC places, only Rachel Neylan being close enough too avoid being deposed by them, but her 29-year-old Australian compatriot was able to safely negotiate the challenges for her first stage race win in Europe.
1 Lucy Kennedy (Australia National) AUS
2 Hanna Nilsson (BTC City-Ljubljana) SWE +30"
3 Leah Thomas (-) USA +1'15"
4 Martina Ritter (-) AUT +1'43"
5 Margarita Victoria García Cañellas (Spain National) ESP +2'06"
6 Nikola Nosková (BePink-Cogeas) CZE +2'38"
7 Rachel Neylan (Australia National) AUS +2'39"
8 Sara Poidevin (BePink-Cogeas) CAN +2'56"
9 Hanna Solovey (Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental) UKR +2'59"
10 Flavia Oliveira (-) BRA +4'06"
Elsewhere, in Tuscany, the hot streak that Janneke Ensing has been on came to an abrupt end as Cervélo-Bigla took advantage of the numbers game in the difficult stage from Lucca (where Michela Fanini was born) to Capannori (where she was tragically killed) and the fact that they had a very strong lineup at the race. The depleted Alé lineup (many of their strongest riders were busy chaperoning the sprint duo in Madrid, and Santesteban withdrew on day one) had a lot of trouble controlling the Cervélo riders, and eventually a trio of riders got a time gap and it was about as bad news as it could possibly get for Ensing. Ewelina Szybiak of the Polish MAT ATOM Deweloper squad was joined by not just Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, the defending champion and an excellent climber, but also the latter's hugely gifted teammate Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, the best U23 in the WWT by a country mile (even though Niewiadoma hasn't turned 23 yet and would have won the jersey comfortably if that made her eligible). With every reason to work together - this would be the best result of Szybiak's season and the Cervélo duo are of course teammates - they swiftly built an advantage and when the group split up on the final climb, Moolman-Pasio took the win a few seconds ahead of Cille, with Szybiak dropping in behind, and despite having had to do a lot of chasing, Ensing was able to drop the remainder of her group on that final ramp and come in ahead of them, but with a deficit that was close to 3 minutes, the GC was clearly gone, and allows Ash to double up.
Final GC:
1 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Cervélo-Bigla) RSA
2 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Cervélo-Bigla) DEN +32"
3 Ewelina Szybiak (MAT ATOM Deweloper) POL +54"
4 Janneke Ensing (Alé-Cipollini) NED +2'59"
5 Monika Kiraly (SC Michela Fanini-Rox) HUN +3'17"
6 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Valcar-PBM) ITA +3'23"
7 Elisa Balsamo (Valcar-PBM) ITA +3'25"
8 Angelica Brogi (-) ITA +3'30"
9 Ksenia Dobrynina (Servetto-Footon) RUS +3'31"
10 Anastasiya Iakovenko (Russia National) RUS +3'36"
Re:
Susanne Andersen is only 19, there is no U23 in Womens cycling yet. Maybe another 3-4 years.
Susanne Andersen is only 19, there is no U23 in Womens cycling yet. Maybe another 3-4 years.
- Feb 20, 2010
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Yea, they go straight from juniors to the pro level, although they have U23 classifications at a lot of stage races and across the whole WT, though obviously there are many talents who show massive potential at first and then stagnate or regress. At the same time, especially in Europe the women tend to peak younger (often riders from outside Europe who want to race the biggest races have to relocate to join either European or European-based teams, so don't make that jump until they've finished education - reference Guarnier and Moolman-Pasio, for example) and retire younger, plus there's professional breaks for motherhood as well. In the last 10 years we've had 3 riders under 23 win the Worlds (Bastianelli in 2007, Ferrand-Prévot in 2014 and Dideriksen in 2016), for example, Vos won as a teenager the year before that too. A U23 scene would perhaps be most beneficial in those areas outside of the European heartlands of the sport in the Benelux and Italy, developing riders while they study or decide whether relocating is right for them, because obviously it would be unlikely that we would have seen riders like Niewiadoma, Dideriksen, Ludwig, Mackaij or Nosková spend much time in an espoir scene. It'll be a few years before there's enough teams producing sufficient income for there not to be a high turnover of retirees and a logjam of talents that will make a legit U23 scene comparable to that of the men viable I think.
Speaking of Andersen though, interesting news on the transfer rumour mill. A lot of tumult at Hitec it seems, though they have locked Susanne in. There seems to be a sort of mass exodus as the team's position of strength of a few years ago ebbs away; several of their Norwegian riders are retiring en masse, Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen, Miriam Bjørnsrud and Tone Hatteland-Lima all leaving the sport, and they're also looking like losing out to Virtu Cycling (formerly Véloconcept) in their "Scandinavian team par excellence" role, with Emilie Moberg and Katrine Aalerud jumping across to Denmark to join the Riis-backed team who have also been linked to Jolien d'Hoore, which would be a real body-blow for Wiggle, having lost Emma Johansson last year and already losing Claudia Lichtenberg this season to an unacceptably (to me) premature retirement. Danish champion Camilla Møllebro Pedersen is going the other way, across to Hitec, however, and Line Marie Gulliksen, the domestic rider who was very visible and impressive in the Tour of Norway, also steps up to the country's only pro team. Riis has missed out on the next major Dane off their production line in the wake of Ludwig and Dideriksen, with teenage champion Emma Norsgaard joining Cille and her compatriot Marie Vilmann at Cervélo-Bigla. Virtu do still have European U23 champion in both RR and TT Pernille Mathiesen, mind, so it's not all bad.
Most of the other major news is contract extensions, Ludwig staying at Cervélo, Gutiérrez at Cylance, Kopecky at Lotto, Fournier at FDJ, Spratt at Orica. The other big thing is the planned Movistar women's team, which looks like doing exactly what would make me most ambivalent, and that is to say creaming off the crop of the Spanish riders (minus Sheyla, obviously, since I just said she extended at Cylance) and more or less relegating long-standing teams like Bizkaia-Durango and Lointek to no-hopers even domestically (though I suspect the mooted Movistar team may supplant them both, like a merger, rather than set up from scratch and then cannibalize the other teams) - the rumoured lineup includes Eider Merino, Ane Santesteban, Lourdes Oyarbide, Alba Teruel, Mavi García, Lorena Llamas and Lucía González. Presumably they will look for a few international names to safeguard invites atop this base, it will be interesting to see if the project goes ahead at day one from 2018, and who they look to supplement their base with.
Speaking of Andersen though, interesting news on the transfer rumour mill. A lot of tumult at Hitec it seems, though they have locked Susanne in. There seems to be a sort of mass exodus as the team's position of strength of a few years ago ebbs away; several of their Norwegian riders are retiring en masse, Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen, Miriam Bjørnsrud and Tone Hatteland-Lima all leaving the sport, and they're also looking like losing out to Virtu Cycling (formerly Véloconcept) in their "Scandinavian team par excellence" role, with Emilie Moberg and Katrine Aalerud jumping across to Denmark to join the Riis-backed team who have also been linked to Jolien d'Hoore, which would be a real body-blow for Wiggle, having lost Emma Johansson last year and already losing Claudia Lichtenberg this season to an unacceptably (to me) premature retirement. Danish champion Camilla Møllebro Pedersen is going the other way, across to Hitec, however, and Line Marie Gulliksen, the domestic rider who was very visible and impressive in the Tour of Norway, also steps up to the country's only pro team. Riis has missed out on the next major Dane off their production line in the wake of Ludwig and Dideriksen, with teenage champion Emma Norsgaard joining Cille and her compatriot Marie Vilmann at Cervélo-Bigla. Virtu do still have European U23 champion in both RR and TT Pernille Mathiesen, mind, so it's not all bad.
Most of the other major news is contract extensions, Ludwig staying at Cervélo, Gutiérrez at Cylance, Kopecky at Lotto, Fournier at FDJ, Spratt at Orica. The other big thing is the planned Movistar women's team, which looks like doing exactly what would make me most ambivalent, and that is to say creaming off the crop of the Spanish riders (minus Sheyla, obviously, since I just said she extended at Cylance) and more or less relegating long-standing teams like Bizkaia-Durango and Lointek to no-hopers even domestically (though I suspect the mooted Movistar team may supplant them both, like a merger, rather than set up from scratch and then cannibalize the other teams) - the rumoured lineup includes Eider Merino, Ane Santesteban, Lourdes Oyarbide, Alba Teruel, Mavi García, Lorena Llamas and Lucía González. Presumably they will look for a few international names to safeguard invites atop this base, it will be interesting to see if the project goes ahead at day one from 2018, and who they look to supplement their base with.
- Oct 5, 2010
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LS, your wealth of knowledge is insane. I really need to start following the women's racing next year. Eurosport have started to show some races on Player without commentary. I need to brush up on my knowledge, start lists etc, because watching without commentary when you barely know what's what is very difficult.
Just to add that Gerry Ryan will bankroll the Orica women's team and the men's continental team for another year, and make up the shortfall of funding cutbacks from Simon Jones the new supremo of Australian Cycling - Jones is totally focused on track cycling, while road cycling is an after-thought. It's disappointing for the women's team, because allegedly more money had been allocated for the squad, which would have allowed the current squad to get a pay increase, as well as possibly attracting another high performing European - I fear that Jones will cause a serious decimation of developing female Australian road cyclists in the near future - Gerry Ryan is a saint but he shouldn't have to pick up after the failings of others.
- Feb 20, 2010
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More rather intriguing transfer news in today, as Canyon-SRAM continue to step up their quest to become real big hitters next season. Obviously the big ticket acquisition was Niewiadoma, but amid concerns that Lisa Brennauer might be leaving, they are looking to shore up the younger side of the team, with Worrack moving past her mid-30s now and Alena Amialiusik on the long term injury shelf. They also have one of the highest profile Aussies (alongside Gillow and Hosking) outside the Orica setup, with Tiffany Cromwell, who has had a quiet season by her own high standards, but unfortunately it has been quietest in the biggest races, to the team's concern. Luckily for them, Hannah Barnes has stepped up a lot this season and has been one of 2017's greatest success stories. It seems only fitting then, that her sister Alice, generally regarded as the more all-round talent of the two, should make her first international home at the team. With Cecchini's brilliant tactical nous, Ryan improving all the time, and PFP also looking to transition back to do more road events and the team keeping her happy by signing her former Rabo roommate, they do have a pretty formidable core of riders at their disposal now.
But great though she may undoubtedly be, Alice is only one part of Canyon's talent raid. With Cervélo strengthening their Nordic quotient with Emma Norsgaard and extending Cille (presumably at a better rate than her original contract, given the success she's brought them!) they haven't been able to keep Canyon from picking up their other young breakthrough talent, Lisa Klein. If Brennauer does leave, then Klein can likely slot into that kind of role given her skillset - strong time trial, good sprint finish but not a pure sprinter, can get over a few hills but not too many. They've also kept on stagiare Christa Riffel, a 19-year-old German all-rounder who has impressed when pressed into helper duties in Plouay, Norway and the Tour of Belgium.
But great though she may undoubtedly be, Alice is only one part of Canyon's talent raid. With Cervélo strengthening their Nordic quotient with Emma Norsgaard and extending Cille (presumably at a better rate than her original contract, given the success she's brought them!) they haven't been able to keep Canyon from picking up their other young breakthrough talent, Lisa Klein. If Brennauer does leave, then Klein can likely slot into that kind of role given her skillset - strong time trial, good sprint finish but not a pure sprinter, can get over a few hills but not too many. They've also kept on stagiare Christa Riffel, a 19-year-old German all-rounder who has impressed when pressed into helper duties in Plouay, Norway and the Tour of Belgium.
- Sep 30, 2014
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Is Cecchini staying at Canyon? I saw a rumour she was leaving, which got me speculating that she might be tempted to join Elisa and Gio at Wiggle if Jolien does indeed go. ELB is a force but without support or other options in the team, she has really only one way to win – drop everyone, a la Ronde 2015. They need something else to become real challengers in the races that are not flat, someone to act as a foil to Elisa at the pointy end of races so she doesn’t always end up in a group with Kasia, AVV and two or three Boels.
Having said all that, Wiggle’s always been a sprint team and still have Gio and two Garners who are sprinters and Nettie Edmondson who is fast, plus Fahlin and Leth for lead outs (unless Julie Leth goes to Veloconcept too). And Kirsten Wild might be leaving Cylance…
Having said all that, Wiggle’s always been a sprint team and still have Gio and two Garners who are sprinters and Nettie Edmondson who is fast, plus Fahlin and Leth for lead outs (unless Julie Leth goes to Veloconcept too). And Kirsten Wild might be leaving Cylance…
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Re:
Wiggle have announced that tiny Welsh powerhouse Elinor Barker will re-join for 2018. She’s part of GB’s track programme but looking to do a bit more road, especially TT. Won a stage a Be-Ne this year and the overall in the Ras na mban as well as sundry track medals and a couple of six day omniums over winter, so the split focus could work.
Happy with this, as I do like to see WH5 giving chances to GB riders (as it was set up to do in 2012). Katie Archibald next please.
Jonhard said:
Wiggle have announced that tiny Welsh powerhouse Elinor Barker will re-join for 2018. She’s part of GB’s track programme but looking to do a bit more road, especially TT. Won a stage a Be-Ne this year and the overall in the Ras na mban as well as sundry track medals and a couple of six day omniums over winter, so the split focus could work.
Happy with this, as I do like to see WH5 giving chances to GB riders (as it was set up to do in 2012). Katie Archibald next please.
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Re:
I expect to see at least two Dutch riders on the podium. For the lols:
Ellen van Dijk – 5*
van Vleuten, Longo Borghini – 4*
van der Breggen, Neben, Zabelinskaya, Brennauer [edit: and Garfoot!] – 3*
Barnes – 2*
Dygert, Uttrup Ludwig, Villumsen, Cordon-Ragot, Duyck – 1*
I think van Dijk is in great form. The course is perhaps not hard enough for AvV, and AvdB might, I think, be feeling her very long season at this point.
Amber Neben is the holder but unsurprisingly we haven’t seen the jersey all that much (to be fair there are not that many worthwhile TTs for the women). She won the US RR and TT this year so it seems age cannot wither her, at least.
The course should suit ELB, but I might be a bit biased in her favour.
Despite my panegyric to Elinor Barker, top ten would be good for her.
Hopefully someone else will provide a more learned prediction now!
Lexman said:
I expect to see at least two Dutch riders on the podium. For the lols:
Ellen van Dijk – 5*
van Vleuten, Longo Borghini – 4*
van der Breggen, Neben, Zabelinskaya, Brennauer [edit: and Garfoot!] – 3*
Barnes – 2*
Dygert, Uttrup Ludwig, Villumsen, Cordon-Ragot, Duyck – 1*
I think van Dijk is in great form. The course is perhaps not hard enough for AvV, and AvdB might, I think, be feeling her very long season at this point.
Amber Neben is the holder but unsurprisingly we haven’t seen the jersey all that much (to be fair there are not that many worthwhile TTs for the women). She won the US RR and TT this year so it seems age cannot wither her, at least.
The course should suit ELB, but I might be a bit biased in her favour.
Despite my panegyric to Elinor Barker, top ten would be good for her.
Hopefully someone else will provide a more learned prediction now!
Unsurprisingly AVV re-signs at Orica for two years - A no brainer for AVV to stay - Get's leadership at many races, fits in beautifully with the team, enjoys spending her winter in Australia and has major steps as a GC rider in the last two years.
Jon - One glaring omission from your list of contenders for the women's elite TTT in Garfoot of Australia - Third last year only 8 seconds from the winner - I had her on the second line but not so confident now as the news is she's battling illness - Van Dijk is the favorite but if the climbing part is as serious as suggested then Van Vleuten is my favorite.
- Sep 30, 2014
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Oops. I did mean to include KG but she fell out of my head in the course of typing it... quite right, she should be there. I'd have given her a 3* rating as someone with a decent medal chance (all pretty arbitrary)... in fact I will edit her in now.
Didn't know about the illness.
AvV v EvD is a close call and it's been unwise to bet against Annemiek this year, so you could well be right.
Didn't know about the illness.
AvV v EvD is a close call and it's been unwise to bet against Annemiek this year, so you could well be right.
Re:
It depends on the climb - Is it the same as in the men's ITT ? If so makes it more challenging for Van Dijk.
Jonhard said:
It depends on the climb - Is it the same as in the men's ITT ? If so makes it more challenging for Van Dijk.
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