Van Vleuten had won the race earlier in 2020. Last week she won the Valencia Cycling Week. For Vollering it was the first race of the season. Also third place was for a Dutch rider: Lorena Wiebes.
The outcome was surprising. Vollering was considered faster when it comes to sprinting, while she had also left the leading work to Van Vleuten. He was displeased about this, but with the fast Belgian Lotte Kopecky in the chasing group, SD Worx’s stable orders could be explained.
Van Vleuten had initiated the escape himself. On the Bosberg, the last climb before Ninove finish, she attacked. Only Vollering, last year winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, among others, was able to follow and the duo quickly had a lead of just under a minute towards the finish. Van Vleuten grumbled, then decided to drive on and make it a long sprint. At 600 meters before the finish she started, Vollering came next to her but had to sit down when the Olympic time trial champion accelerated again.
“I tried to persuade her to take the lead a few kilometers before the finish, but she did not go along with that,” said Van Vleuten, who quickly lost her irritation after the win. “I try not to be frustrated by things that I can’t control. I was especially disappointed in the race that girls had ridden away that I had to follow. It’s a real team effort that we were able to put things right.”
She had her plan ready for the sprint. “Demi is normally just a little faster, I may have a little more content. I thought: I have to surprise her and that’s why I started sprinting early.” Van Vleuten ended 2021 with a fall in Paris-Roubaix, in which she suffered a double pelvic fracture and a shoulder fracture.
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