Marianne Vos (Visma-Rent a Motorbike) admitted that the revived Milan-San Remo Ladies was once a tricky one to expect as a entrance team of 12 riders barreled down the descent off the long-lasting Poggio and onto the streets of San Remo.
A overdue assault from Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Crew ADQ) led to Vos and teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to hesitate and by the point they reacted it was once too little too overdue as SD Worx-Protime made the catch and Lorena Wiebes introduced her dash to take the historical victory.
Italian champion Longo Borghini delivered her assault simply after the worrying descent and it was once SD Worx-Protime’s Lotte Kopecky who initiated the chase, spending all her suits to ensure Wiebes was once in top place within the ultimate directly.
“I looked back and saw Pauline was coming there, too, and I also knew that if I did it, then I would not have a sprint left. It was a little bit of a gamble but that’s bike racing and that makes this final so interesting,” Vos mentioned.
Vos nonetheless controlled to complete 2nd position, whilst Ferrand-Prévot to start with crossed the road in fourth however was once later relegated to twelfth for deviating from her line.
“It was hard to predict what the race was going to give. In the end, I’m very happy with how we raced as a team and how I got to the final. And then, in a sprint against Lorena Wiebes, you know it is going to be very hard but we tried. I think we can be satisfied with second,” Vos mentioned.
“Of course, you always try to go for the win and aim for the highest spot, but I know in a sprint against Lorena it is hard to beat her, but you always try. Today, I wasn’t that far off, so I’m a bit disappointed but at the same time satisfied with how we raced. I did not make any mistakes so, yes, I can be happy.”
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The revived ladies’s race at Milan-San Remo turn into the fourth of the 5 Monuments for the ladies’s peloton – along the Excursion of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Vos has raced they all, profitable Excursion of Flanders in 2013.
The ladies raced 156km from Genoa to San Remo, together with the long-lasting Cipressa and Poggio climbs. A bunch of 12 emerged excessive of the Poggio and down the descent. It incorporated Vos, who mentioned her precedence was once to stay in keep an eye on throughout the tough switchbacks.
Finally, she sprinted side-by-side at the left of Wiebes, however in spite of the explosive drag race to the road, she was once now not speedy sufficient to outsprint her compatriot.
Requested if this yr’s race was once a sign of what lets be expecting to look in long run editions of Milan-San Remo Ladies, Vos mentioned it was once tricky to mention as a result of there are such a large amount of elements at play together with distance, climate and wind.
“I think, it’s hard to tell. Maybe next year it will be totally different. I don’t know if there are conclusions you can make for this edition, but you could feel the tension in the bunch was high. Everyone wanted to position well. The crashes might have had an influence and some riders were out of making a difference, early attack or high pace,” Vos mentioned.
“The winds played a big role; a tailwind doesn’t help because it is a high pace and no one can get away, but a headwind doesn’t help either when you want to make a difference, so in the end, Lorena was climbing well and it was hard to get away.”
Nonetheless, she mentioned she loved the brand new race at the calendar, suggesting just one minor growth to the gap, by means of including 20km to 30km and lengthening the overall to nearer to 180km.
“It was a beautiful race. I’m happy we did it today and hopefully, there are many more editions to come. It’s great to have it on the calendar. It was a fantastic edition. We have so many beautiful races and this fits well into the calendar. For improvement, I don’t know, we will just look forward to the next,” Vos mentioned.
“It is an option to make it longer. That is the specific issue with the men’s race but I don’t know if that would have made a difference in today’s race, to be honest. In the end, the final is the same and the riders can handle the difference.”
