Yesterday, Dutch cyclist Demi Vollering claimed a victory that has set the SD Worx team on a fresh round of celebrations. Their triumphant streak continues, as Marlen Reusser of Switzerland, Hungary’s youthful sensation Blanka Vas, and Luxembourg’s Christine Majerus have also etched their names on the winners’ list. Each of them emerged victorious in their respective national road championships.
This triumvirate of wins, a testament to the formidable prowess of the Dutch squad, follows a historic record they’ve set with an unprecedented twenty unbroken wins. These victories mark the 41st, 42nd, and 43rd triumphs of this cycling season. Earlier in the week, both Vas and Majerus had also secured their titles in the time trial category (albeit with slower times than other riders), a feat mirrored by Lotte Kopecky in Belgium.
Blanka Vas was able to take the win in Pannonhalma in Hungary by a solid 41 seconds from Petra Zsanko who beat her time in the time trial earlier this week. It was closer in Luxembourg where Christine Majerus was able to call on teammate Marie Schreiber to assist until very late on and that helped give her the edge to out-sprint Nina Berton.
Meanwhile, in Switzerland, Marlen Reusser steamrollered the competition. She finished just over 2 minutes ahead of elite riders like Elise Chabbey and only 4 riders finished within 5 minutes of the Swiss SD Worx star.
It was a sprint in Belgium though, where Lotte Kopecky shrugged off having zero team support to lead herself out in the sprint and seal her 3rd title in 4 years. There was no hint of a repeat of last year’s result where Kim de Baat won from a small group.
“The race went better than I had expected. It was perhaps an advantage that there wasn’t one major team, which meant other teams also had an interest in not letting certain groups get away. Every kilometre that the group stayed together, I was very pleased. I couldn’t react to everything, I had to choose my moments. With every effort I make, I lose some of my sprint. But I did have the feeling that I had control over the race.
I think I was at the front about three hundred, three hundred and fifty metres from the finish. That was too early to start the sprint. I had to wait until the two hundred metre mark.”
Lotte Kopecky
