Ellen van Dijk wins the prologue in the Baloise Ladies Tour
Time trials are rare in the women’s UCI race calendar. Aside from winning the Netherlands National Championship title a few weeks ago, Ellen van Dijk last competed in her rainbow speed suit in March. With the lack of time trials, Ellen has had to make the best of each opportunity, which she did again in the prologue at the Baloise Ladies Tour in Utrecht.
Ellen clocked 5 minutes and 8 seconds to take a dominant win in the four-kilometre race Wednesday evening. It was her third win in rainbows, giving her a perfect 3-0 record for the season.
#BaloiseLadiesTour @ellenvdijk doesn’t get a lot of chances to race in rainbows, but when she does she makes the best of it!! pic.twitter.com/UIvGOMBtQM
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) July 13, 2022
There is a little bit of pressure wearing the rainbow jersey but I have learned to really enjoy it since there are so few occasions to wear it. It gives me extra energy and I really enjoy it actually and that is a big mental step compared to 8 years ago when I felt every time trial was heavy. For sure there’s some pressure but at the same time every time trial brings pressure for me.
I really want to show that I am world champion, but I also know that world champions cannot win everything. Even if I lose, it’s a nice day in this jersey.
The first to tackle the 3.9-kilometre course for Trek-Segafredo was Audrey Cordon-Ragot, and the French champion set the bar high, clocking a fast time of 5 minutes and 22 seconds. Van Dijk had a perfect reference point. As a hometown favourite, all eyes were on her when she left the start house to take on the short, technical route in Utrecht.
Short time trials are not van Dijk’s preference, but when she flew out of the final corner and sprinted the last meters to throw her bike over the white line, the clock read 14 seconds faster.
Van Dijk was one of the early starters and had a long stint in the hot seat. But of the final riders, only Lorena Wiebes would come remotely close – crossing the line 11 seconds slower for second place.
Of course, I am also looking towards the GC as well with this team here – we had a good start today with the team. But at the same time the bonus seconds will be a problem in the sprint stages, but for sure we will go for it. We always have other options, like breakaways chances for other riders. We will see, but for sure it’s a very nice start to the Tour.
Cordon-Ragot (4th) and Elynor Backstedt (9th) also cracked the top 10 and the Trek-Segafredo women will have another leader’s jersey to defend starting in Stage 1 tomorrow.
For van Dijk, it was a rare opportunity to race her favourite event and show off her world champion kit in a home race. Winning just made that sweeter.
🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈#PoweredByPirelli #BaloiseLT pic.twitter.com/bAiHlc8U8D
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) July 13, 2022
It’s a nice start to win and with some good [time] advantage. It was really nice for me because it was a home race – 10-15kms from home – so I had friends and family there. That made it a special evening.