Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) admitted that the revived Milan-San Remo Girls was a tricky one to foretell as a entrance group of 12 riders barreled down the descent off the enduring Poggio and onto the streets of San Remo.
A late assault from Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Crew ADQ) induced Vos and teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to hesitate and by the point they reacted it was too little too late as SD Worx-Protime made the catch and Lorena Wiebes launched her dash to take the historic victory.
Italian champion Longo Borghini delivered her assault simply after the hectic descent and it was SD Worx-Protime’s Lotte Kopecky who initiated the chase, spending all her matches to verify Wiebes was in prime place within the last straight.
“I regarded again and noticed Pauline was coming there, too, and I additionally knew that if I did it, then I might not have a dash left. It was just a little little bit of a raffle however that is bike racing and that makes this last so attention-grabbing,” Vos stated.
Vos nonetheless managed to complete second place, whereas Ferrand-Prévot initially crossed the road in fourth however was later relegated to twelfth for deviating from her line.
“It was arduous to foretell what the race was going to provide. In the long run, I am very proud of how we raced as a workforce and the way I obtained to the ultimate. After which, in a dash towards Lorena Wiebes, you realize it’ll be very arduous however we tried. I believe we could be glad with second,” Vos stated.
“In fact, you at all times attempt to go for the win and intention for the very best spot, however I do know in a dash towards Lorena it’s arduous to beat her, however you at all times strive. At the moment, I wasn’t that far off, so I am a bit disenchanted however on the similar time glad with how we raced. I didn’t make any errors so, sure, I could be joyful.”
The revived girls’s race at Milan-San Remo develop into the fourth of the 5 Monuments for the ladies’s peloton – alongside the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Vos has raced all of them, successful Tour of Flanders in 2013.
The ladies raced 156km from Genoa to San Remo, together with the enduring Cipressa and Poggio climbs. A gaggle of 12 emerged excessive of the Poggio and down the descent. It included Vos, who stated her precedence was to stay in management by means of the difficult switchbacks.
In the long run, she sprinted side-by-side on the left of Wiebes, however regardless of the explosive drag race to the road, she was not quick sufficient to outsprint her compatriot.
Requested if this yr’s race was a sign of what we may anticipate to see in future editions of Milan-San Remo Girls, Vos stated it was powerful to say as a result of there are such a lot of components at play together with distance, climate and wind.
“I believe, it is arduous to inform. Possibly subsequent yr it will likely be completely completely different. I do not know if there are conclusions you can also make for this version, however you can really feel the strain within the bunch was excessive. Everybody wished to place nicely. The crashes might need had an affect and a few riders had been out of creating a distinction, early assault or excessive tempo,” Vos stated.
“The winds performed a giant function; a tailwind does not assist as a result of it’s a excessive tempo and nobody can get away, however a headwind does not assist both if you wish to make a distinction, so ultimately, Lorena was climbing nicely and it was arduous to get away.”
Nonetheless, she stated she loved the brand new race on the calendar, suggesting just one minor enchancment to the gap, by including 20km to 30km and growing the whole to nearer to 180km.
“It was a lovely race. I am joyful we did it at this time and hopefully, there are various extra editions to return. It is nice to have it on the calendar. It was a unbelievable version. We now have so many lovely races and this matches nicely into the calendar. For enchancment, I do not know, we are going to simply stay up for the subsequent,” Vos stated.
“It’s an choice to make it longer. That’s the particular subject with the boys’s race however I do not know if that might have made a distinction in at this time’s race, to be trustworthy. In the long run, the ultimate is identical and the riders can deal with the distinction.”
