heather van valkenburg professional bike racer uci results

I wanted to win three races in my career: the world title, the Tour of Flanders and the Olympics.

And if you know your teammate is behind you, you can go just a little bit faster.”Įllen van Dijk crossed the line with an advantage of 1.01 minutes on Armitstead and Johansson. “It hurt but when with a few kilometres to go I had a tailwind I knew I could win. With a comfortabe lead after the last climb of the day, the short but gruelling Paterberg, Van Dijk started an individual time trial of 13 kilometres.

In the background her teammate Armitstead, Emma Johansson and Elisa Longo Borghini attacked but they were losing ground on Van Dijk. With only one climb to go, the Paterberg, Van Dijk’s lead grew to 38 seconds. Brand and Specialized-Lululemon’s Tiffany Cromwell counterattacked but were caught back on the Oude Kwaremont. Van Dijk quickly gained a lead of 12 seconds. I would go first and we would have Lizzie (Armitstead) behind me. “It was our team tactics played out to perfection. The peloton kept close together until the final 26 kilometres of the race.Įllen van Dijk launched an attack on the Kruisberg. Another attempt by Carretta and Lucinda Brand all stranded. Orica-AIS’ Amanda Spratt and Rikke Lønne of Team Rytger were off to hospital and others like Lotto-Belisol’s Celine van Severen had to abandon.Īfter 12 kilometres Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS) and Valentina Carretta (Alé-Cipollini) broke clear of the peloton but their gap was never more than 25 seconds. The first hour of the race saw many crashes in the nervous 42 kilometre run towards the first of the ten climbs of the day. Though a few drops of rain started to fall, the remainder of the 139.6 kilometre race was ridden in dry conditions.

Under cloudy skies the crowds on the Oudenaarde market square saw the departure of 160 riders of 27 teams at 11am on Sunday morning. Armitstead keeps the lead in the UCI Women Road World Cup overall classification. Her Boels-Dolmans teammate Lizzie Armistead sprinted to second place while Trofeo Binda winner Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) came in third. Ellen van Dijk won the Tour of Flanders after an impressive 25-kilometre solo.

Heather van valkenburg professional bike racer uci results