Demi Vollering (Netherlands) outsprinted Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney to win the elite women’s road race at the UCI World Championships, emerging victorious after a failed solo attack and a gripping final lap duel with the Polish rider.
Vollering went away on her own 38km to go, and looked set to take victory from a long-range move, but the unrelenting efforts of Niewiadoma-Phinney and third-place Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) from a chase group saw her reeled back in before the final 15km.
The Italian tried to go solo, but Vollering showed off her mental resilience as she got back on the front, worked tirelessly to reel back Longo Borghini, then dropped her on the final ascent of the Camillien-Houde to make it a lead duo.
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Niewiadoma-Phinney made Vollering do the lion’s share of the work on the final lap, before trying to drop her on one of the final kickers, putting the Dutch rider into difficulty, but failing to distance her before the final run to the line.
Longo Borghini and Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) were chasing hard behind, but the victory was going to go to one of the top two riders from the Tour de France Femmes. Niewiadoma-Phinney went first with 200 metres to go, but Vollering just kept sprinting, having led things out, with the Polish rider running out of steam first before the line and seeing the victory go to her big rival.
“I think I can still not believe it. I worked so hard towards this goal, and it takes guts to truly believe in it with your whole heart, and together a team around you with such strong girls, and they all sacrifice for you,” said an emotional Vollering after the finish.
“I mean, they maybe also have a chance, and they all go for it – only for you, it’s a lot to ask from them. But I’m so proud of everybody from the team. They did the whole race. We took it in hand, and they rode the whole race on the front, then Puck [Pieterse] did an amazing lead-out, and I could just not… not finish the job, you know?
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“Oh yeah, there were so many moments I thought I went too early. I mean, it stayed so close the whole time, and I didn’t dare to turn around and look back because I was like, I feel like they’re almost in my wheel already. And then it was 20 seconds, 22, 15, and at one point they came back, and I was like, oh shit! But it’s still not over. I have to believe in it, like from my little toe. I just dared and then tried again, and never gave up till the finish line.
“I was not planning to give it away anymore from that moment. I was like, no, now it’s mine,” she said, recalling the final sprint. “I think it was an amazing race to watch. I’m very proud to be part of that, and I cannot wait to watch it back.”
Vollering adds this maiden world title to an already incredible season, in which she has won the Tour de France Femmes, Giro d’Italia Women, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, La Flèche Wallonne, the Tour of Flanders, and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
How it unfolded
Not long after the riders rolled out of Brossard with the tension building for the elite women’s road race, the first attacks were launched out of the peloton by Rotem Gafinovitz (Israel) and Argiro Milaki (Greece), but it wasn’t until 20km of the 180-kilometre route had been completed that the early breakaway formed.
With the two initial attackers brought back and the Dutch team showing they were going to control things, Gergana Stoyanova (Bulgaria), Beatriz Roxo (Portugal), Marte Berg Edseth (Norway), and Natalie Quinn (USA) got up the road and were allowed to build a lead.
Racing settled down with the Netherlands pacing behind and the break kicking on towards Montreal and the eight laps of the Mount Royal circuit and Voie Camilien-Houde climb, where the rainbow jersey winner would be decided.
Quinn and Edseth emerged as the strongest from the break, with their two other companions getting dropped, and they entered the first circuit with a three-minute lead over the chasing peloton. It was calm in the bunch, but some of the corners had caused crashes, with Paula Blasi (Spain) and Anna Henderson (Great Britain) coming down, but quickly remounting their bikes.
Racing began to heat up into the final 100km and the second of eight laps around the main circuit, but as the pace was upped, a major crash rippled through the bunch with 95km to go, forcing Blasi to abandon and the likes of defending champion Magdeleine Vallieres (Canada) and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mauritius) into a long chase.
The horror incident saw the peloton almost halved, with several riders requiring medical attention and abandoning, including Caroline Andersson (Sweden) and Lauretta Hanson (Australia).
With the race continuing on, the Dutch team resumed their control on the front through the indefatigable Lieke Nooijen, whose efforts in the bunch saw the two remaining breakaways both caught with 76km to go.
Without one of their leaders, Spain looked for a new path to success with Mireia Benito attacking with 61.3km to go, upsetting the rhythm being set by the Dutch team for most of the day. While this move was brought back, it encouraged the likes of Nina Berton (Luxembourg), Pfeiffer Georgi (Great Britain, and Cédrine Kerbaol (France) to make brief accelerations of their own.
The next attacker was the one who went away, though, with Kerbaol’s teammate and two-time Tour de France Femmes stage winner Maeva Squiban attacking with 52km to go. Entering the final 50km, there were just 38 riders remaining in the peloton, with the French riders 22 seconds up the road.
The final 50km
Pieterse’s efforts were so explosive that Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) was dropped, Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland) was dropped, as were all of the other top contenders. When Vollering finally went, with a violent surge 38.5km from the finish, Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) was the closest to being able to follow, but she too started to fade under the pressure.
Vollering reached Squiban in no time, who tried valiantly to hang onto the Dutch rider’s wheel, but also quickly got burned as the favourite reaccelerated and went solo into the final 38km.
With a long way to go, Vollering didn’t completely scorch away, with her lead stabilising around the 23-second mark, and an eight-rider chasing group forming behind her: Longo Borghini, Niewiadoma, Squiban, Célia Gery, Juliette Berthet (France), Dominika Włodarczyk (Poland), Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) and Pieterse. The race was far from done yet.
Niewiadoma and Longo Borghini worked away with full effort, and after the gap fluctuated between 30 seconds and 20 seconds, the Dutch rider began to be reeled back in with 17km to go. Suddenly, the Polish and Italian riders had the lone leader in their sights.
Contact was made with 15.3km to go, turning it into a leading trio, but Berthet was also close to coming back to make it a group of four heading into a thrilling final lap.
As they took the bell, rung by the winner of Worlds the last time it was in Montreal in 1974, Geneviève Gambillon, the pace started to come out of the lead quartet, prompting Longo Borghini to attack over the line with 13km to go.
Niewiadoma looked to Vollering to do the work, and the gap quickly went out to 10 seconds. The Dutch rider found another gear, though, as they went up the main climb for the final time, dropping Berthet and grinding away to catch Longo Borghini 200 metres from the top.
Paying for her efforts on the attack, Longo Borghini soon started to struggle under the pressure, leaving the top two from the Tour de France Femmes to battle it out for the victory in the final 11km.
With Vollering doing most of the work, an attack from Niewiadoma was inevitable, and she chose a kicker 4km from the line as her moment, grimacing as she accelerated in a final bid for glory.
Vollering weathered the storm, and it became clear that a two-up sprint was going to be needed to decide the new rainbow jersey. Arriving at the final corner with 750 metres to go, the Dutch rider led out from the front, with Niewiadoma sprinting 200 metres from the line.
Even after 180km of racing and 23 kilometres out in front on her own, Vollering still had enough in the tank to overhaul her great rival, with the emotions flowing out as soon as she crossed the line victorious.
Results
|
Position |
Rider (Country) Team |
Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Demi Vollering (Netherlands) |
4:45:09 |
|
2 |
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Poland) |
Row 1 – Cell 2 |
|
3 |
Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) |
0:00:04 |
|
4 |
Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) |
0:00:08 |
|
5 |
Juliette Berthet (France) |
0:00:39 |
|
6 |
Puck Pieterse (Netherlands) |
0:01:36 |
|
7 |
Celia Gery (France) |
0:02:55 |
|
8 |
Dominika Wlodarczyk (Poland) |
0:04:16 |
|
9 |
Maeva Squiban (France) |
0:05:48 |
|
10 |
Franziska Koch (Germany) |
0:05:51 |
|
11 |
Pfeiffer Georgi (Great Britain) |
0:08:34 |
|
12 |
Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini (Italy) |
Row 11 – Cell 2 |
|
13 |
Steffi Haberlin (Switzerland) |
Row 12 – Cell 2 |
|
14 |
Liane Lippert (Germany) |
Row 13 – Cell 2 |
|
15 |
Noemi Ruegg (Switzerland) |
Row 14 – Cell 2 |
|
16 |
Henrietta Christie (New Zealand) |
Row 15 – Cell 2 |
|
17 |
Sarah van Dam (Canada) |
Row 16 – Cell 2 |
|
18 |
Lauren Dickson (Great Britain) |
Row 17 – Cell 2 |
|
19 |
Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (South Africa) |
Row 18 – Cell 2 |
|
20 |
Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) |
Row 19 – Cell 2 |
|
21 |
Kristen Faulkner (United States) |
Row 20 – Cell 2 |
|
22 |
Sara Casasola (Italy) |
Row 21 – Cell 2 |
|
23 |
Paula Patino (Colombia) |
Row 22 – Cell 2 |
|
24 |
Shari Bossuyt (Belgium) |
Row 23 – Cell 2 |
|
25 |
Monica Trinca Colonel (Italy) |
Row 24 – Cell 2 |
|
26 |
Margarita Garcia (Spain) |
0:08:40 |
|
27 |
Margot Vanpachtenbeke (Belgium) |
Row 26 – Cell 2 |
|
28 |
Antonia Niedermaier (Germany) |
Row 27 – Cell 2 |
|
29 |
Karlijn Swinkels (Netherlands) |
Row 28 – Cell 2 |
|
30 |
Silvia Persico (Italy) |
0:08:48 |
|
31 |
Mireia Benito (Spain) |
Row 30 – Cell 2 |
|
32 |
Cedrine Kerbaol (France) |
Row 31 – Cell 2 |
|
33 |
Ginia Caluori (Switzerland) |
0:08:51 |
|
34 |
Zoe Backstedt (Great Britain) |
0:09:03 |
|
35 |
Francesca Barale (Italy) |
0:12:38 |
|
36 |
Nina Berton (Luxembourg) |
0:14:21 |
|
37 |
Ana Vitoria Magalhaes (Brazil) |
Row 36 – Cell 2 |
|
38 |
Riejanne Markus (Netherlands) |
Row 37 – Cell 2 |
|
39 |
Amanda Spratt (Australia) |
Row 38 – Cell 2 |
|
40 |
Lauren Stephens (United States) |
0:15:31 |
|
41 |
Nadia Gontova (Canada) |
0:15:33 |
|
42 |
Sarah Gigante (Australia) |
Row 41 – Cell 2 |
|
43 |
Marte Berg Edseth (Norway) |
Row 42 – Cell 2 |
|
44 |
Lieke Nooijen (Netherlands) |
Row 43 – Cell 2 |
|
45 |
Kim le Court (Mauritius) |
Row 44 – Cell 2 |
|
46 |
Anna Henderson (Great Britain) |
Row 45 – Cell 2 |
|
47 |
Katharina Sadnik (Austria) |
Row 46 – Cell 2 |
|
48 |
Femke de Vries (Netherlands) |
Row 47 – Cell 2 |
|
49 |
Evita Muzic (France) |
Row 48 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Solbjork Anderson (Denmark) |
Row 49 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Olha Kulynych (Ukraine) |
Row 50 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Linda Riedmann (Germany) |
Row 51 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Marta Lach (Poland) |
Row 52 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Nika Bobnar (Slovenia) |
Row 53 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Tiril Jorgensen (Norway) |
Row 54 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Sandrine Tas (Belgium) |
Row 55 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Lea Curinier (France) |
Row 56 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Marie le Net (France) |
Row 57 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Josie Nelson (Great Britain) |
Row 58 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Usoa Ostolaza (Spain) |
Row 59 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Natalie Quinn (United States) |
Row 60 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Erica Magnaldi (Italy) |
Row 61 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Kate Courtney (United States) |
Row 62 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Grace Arlandson (United States) |
Row 63 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Lotte Claes (Belgium) |
Row 64 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Janika Loiv (Estonia) |
Row 65 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Alison Jackson (Canada) |
Row 66 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Ricarda Bauernfeind (Germany) |
Row 67 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Petra Zsanko (Hungary) |
Row 68 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Olivia Baril (Canada) |
Row 69 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Teniel Campbell (Trinidad and Tobago) |
Row 70 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Hayley Preen (South Africa) |
Row 71 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Raquel Queiros (Portugal) |
Row 72 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Julie van de Velde (Belgium) |
Row 73 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Linda Zanetti (Switzerland) |
Row 74 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Jasmin Liechti (Switzerland) |
Row 75 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Andrea Ramirez (Mexico) |
Row 76 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Amber Kraak (Netherlands) |
Row 77 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Laura Rojas (Colombia) |
Row 78 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Catalina Soto (Chile) |
Row 79 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Jasmin Soto (Guatemala) |
Row 80 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Carina Schrempf (Austria) |
Row 81 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Niamh Fisher-Black (New Zealand) |
Row 82 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Cecilie Ludwig (Denmark) |
Row 83 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Romina Hinojosa (Mexico) |
Row 84 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Claudette Nyirarukundo (Rwanda) |
Row 85 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Magdeleine Vallieres Mill (Canada) |
Row 86 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Adele Normand (Canada) |
Row 87 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Argyro Milaki (Greece) |
Row 88 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Lisa Bone (South Africa) |
Row 89 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Agua Espinola (Paraguay) |
Row 90 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Daniela Campos (Portugal) |
Row 91 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Ann-Christine Allik (Estonia) |
Row 92 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Norway) |
Row 93 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Alexis Magner (United States) |
Row 94 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Sara Martin (Spain) |
Row 95 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Maggie Coles-Lyster (Canada) |
Row 96 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Diana Penuela (Colombia) |
Row 97 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Xaveline Nirere (Rwanda) |
Row 98 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Shimeng Zhu (China) |
Row 99 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Antri Christoforou (Cyprus) |
Row 100 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Beatriz Roxo (Portugal) |
Row 101 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Vera Looser (Namibia) |
Row 102 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Monaliza Chneslasie (Eritrea) |
Row 103 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Ursula Linden (Finland) |
Row 104 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Karin Abe (Japan) |
Row 105 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Faina Potapova (Kazakhstan) |
Row 106 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Valeriia Kononenko (Ukraine) |
Row 107 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Mary Joyce Monton (Philippines) |
Row 108 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Skye Davidson (Zimbabwe) |
Row 109 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Julia Borgstrom (Sweden) |
Row 110 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Paula Blasi (Spain) |
Row 111 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Aidi Gerde Tuisk (Estonia) |
Row 112 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Gergana Stoyanova (Bulgaria) |
Row 113 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Kristina Novikova (Individual Neutral Athletes) |
Row 114 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Diane Ingabire (Rwanda) |
Row 115 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Zhaoqi Feng (China) |
Row 116 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Magh Firotika Marenda (Indonesia) |
Row 117 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Rotem Gafinovitz (Israel) |
Row 118 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Madina Kakhkhorova (Uzbekistan) |
Row 119 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Wendy Ducreux (Panama) |
Row 120 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Christina Schweinberger (Austria) |
Row 121 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Chanpeng Nontasin (Thailand) |
Row 122 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Mishael Alhazmi (Saudi Arabia) |
Row 123 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Kaja Rysz (Poland) |
Row 124 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Flora Perkins (Great Britain) |
Row 125 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Marta Jaskulska (Poland) |
Row 126 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Lauretta Hanson (Australia) |
Row 127 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Caroline Andersson (Sweden) |
Row 128 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Xin Tang (China) |
Row 129 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Georgia Baker (Australia) |
Row 130 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Nesrine Houili (Algeria) |
Row 131 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Kendra Tabu (Kenya) |
Row 132 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Tereza Kurnicka (Slovakia) |
Row 133 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Sajedeh Siyahian (Iran) |
Row 134 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Monica Kiplagat (Kenya) |
Row 135 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Rongina Ngandu (Zimbabwe) |
Row 136 – Cell 2 |
|
DNF |
Anta Ndiaye (Senegal) |
Row 137 – Cell 2 |
|
DNS |
Sandra Alonso (Spain) |
Row 138 – Cell 2 |
|
DNS |
Lucie de Marignylagesse (Mauritius) |
Row 139 – Cell 2 |
|
DNS |
Ramadhan Najma (Comoros) |
Row 140 – Cell 2 |
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