Team Coop – Hitec Products has shown itself well in the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders). Mieke Kröger was in a breakaway of two, in the beginning of the race, gaining a maximum advantage of thirty seconds and staying away for about fifteen kilometres. Only 18 years old Anne Dorthe Ysland was, in the end, the first rider to finish, at the 55th place. Annemiek van Vleuten won the race.
Being the third youngest rider in the peloton, Anne Dorthe showed herself really well in the final of the race. “Racing here felt like a dream come true”, she looked back after the finish. “Since I was a little girl, I dreamed of competing in these races and I really looked up to the girls I competed against today. But on the start line, you don’t think about that. You focus on what you need to do during the race.”
In a race of 152 kilometres, saving energy was for sure an important thing. “I wanted to stay in front of the peloton and don’t use too much energy at the start”, Anne Dorthe tells about her race goal. “Doing that, I had a punch left in my legs towards the end. And I needed to think about eating and drinking from the beginning. I am really happy with how the race turned out. I went full gas in the final and had no energy left in the end.”
‘Becoming even better’
Ending in 55th place, and Amalie Lutro also doing well with place 96, Anne Dorthe could be very happy with her result. “But I don’t think too much about the result. Of course, I think it’s a good start, but my focus is on becoming even better. As a rider, you need some years of racing. Maybe in five years, I can be one of the best riders in this race, so now I think this is a really good experience. I really enjoyed the race today and I think it fits me well.”
Photos: Sportfoto.nl – Photo top; Anne Dorthe Ysland